Need recommendations for a Dust Collection unit.

[JMRoberson]

Thanks everyone for the advice. Our computer crashed on Wednesday (literally, it got knocked over ) so we've been dealing with it's replacement and all the fun stuff that entails. We definitely want to move the carving operation out of our living area as quickly as possible. When our lease is up in March we will be moving somewhere else. Right now we are still learning the machine and doing starter projects on pine. We live near Louisville KY so we have a few more weeks of warm weather and we are doing what we can outside. However, because of the weight, and a step into our duplex moving it outside to carve is not really an option, our neighbors are also likely to walk off with it. When the machine is running I generally play with the boys outside or in their room. I will also carve during their nap time when the door can be shut. I really liked the idea of venting to the outside and I'm thinking we could probably modify one of the DC hood designs to fit into our open window while we are carving. From the stuff I've been reading the length of the venting and the number of bends/adapters decreases the machine's effectiveness. Do you think it would be better to run the vent hose outside and roll the DC outside when carving or would it be better to vent from the DC inside out the window. Either way, we will need to store the DC inside.

Our local Woodcraft has a Rikon 60-100B 1HP 650CFM on sale for 229.99 (reg 279.99) and a 60-200B 2HP 1250CFM for 299.99 (reg 399.99). Both have 5 Micron top bags. My brain is still trying to wrap itself around what all that means but I have a very fuzzy idea of what is going on . I'm sure it will come. LOL.

My husband and I will also be considering the Ebay link but it might be a bit more than we need right now for just the one machine .

Thanks again!
Jen

[cnsranch]

FWIW - there's a Grizzly dust collector on CraigsList in Louisville for sale - he wants $175 for it - sounds like a good deal (runs on 220v, though).

Here's the model from Grizz:

http://grizzly.com/products/G1029Z2

and here's the link to the CL ad:

http://louisville.craigslist.org/tls/2599692437.html

CraigsList is a great place to find WW tools.

Hope this helps.

[DickB]

A consideration when venting outside: If you do so, are you not pulling in 650 CFM from the outside? Wouldn't that add significantly to HVAC load?

[cnsranch]

Hi, Dick

You aren't pulling the cfm in, but you are venting that much outside. That's something to consider - in the Summer, you're pushing air-conditioned air out, and in the Winter, you're sucking heated air out. Makes those elec and gas bills go way up.

[jaroot]

Yes but if you are sensitive to the dust the reduced health care costs may off set the HVAC costs. it could probably also be run through and air to air heat exchanger to recover some of the heating/cooling costs.

Not that I do this. My shop is unheated except for a cat heater when I'm in the shop when it is cold but I am working on moving the DC unit outside of the shop or at least vent it out.

With the CT installed the CW is quite pleasant to work around so I'd really like to get the noise of the DC out of the shop.

Hi, Dick

You aren't pulling the cfm in, but you are venting that much outside. That's something to consider - in the Summer, you're pushing air-conditioned air out, and in the Winter, you're sucking heated air out. Makes those elec and gas bills go way up.

[DickB]

Hi, Dick

You aren't pulling the cfm in, but you are venting that much outside. That's something to consider - in the Summer, you're pushing air-conditioned air out, and in the Winter, you're sucking heated air out. Makes those elec and gas bills go way up.

I don't agree - if a volume of air is going out, then that same volume of air is coming in from somewhere. If not, you're lowering the pressure in your building, and I don't believe that is possible, as there are many, many places for air to enter even in a tight building.

[cnsranch]

You're right, Dick - I wasn't tracking with you.

I think we both agree that pulling 650 Cf of air out of a dwelling, and replacing it with the same amount of air from the outside will stress the HVAC system.

My son designs HVAC for the Feds, I'll get some numbers from him for the fun of it.

[cnsranch]

Probably waay more than you wanted to read:

Just one engineer's opinion, feel free to throw this straight on the forum as a response if you'd like:


___________________


CNSRanch posits that throwing the dust collector discharge outside will push 650 CFM of the heated/cooled air out of the house--he's on the right track.

If you pull 650 CFM from the house, it will cause a negative pressure situation inside the house and, as a result, will pull 650 CFM from the outdoors. If you're lucky, this "makeup air" will come through the cracks around windows and doors, etc. If you're not lucky, this makeup air will be sucked down through the flue for your gas-fired water heater or furnace (blowing the pilot light out on older units) or sucking the plumbing traps dry in sinks, floor drains, toilets. etc.

If you're set on throwing dust collector air outside, may I suggest adding an outside air system to your home/shop furnace? A great way to mitigate these pressure situations is to purposefully add fresh, outside air to your house (at a rate greater than that which your DC is discharging). That'll assure you won't have the nasty "negative pressure" situation described above. By adding this outdoor air into the return side of your home/shop furnace, it'll have the added benefit of keeping indoor air fresh and indoor air contaminants to a minimum. It's as simple as adding a louver to an exterior wall and sending a small, 10" to 12" round (insulated) duct right into the return side of the furnace. A balancing damper in the new duct and one in the existing return duct (I'll bet you've already got one installed) and you'll be in business!

Furnace manufacturers automate the process and call them "economizers." We can do it on the cheap for a few dozen bucks by manually adjusting it. And, the shop stays safe and clean--what more could you want?


I also pressed on the issue of HVAC recovery:

You'll pull 650 CFM of 30 degree air into the house--house temp will go down, furnace will have to use more gas/electricity to heat it and probably not keep up.

[JMRoberson]

Since we rent, we really can"t mess with the furnace any. It looks like we're going to keep it inside and find one that runs on 110v with a good enough filter for now.