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So, my shop is 24x24. I am tired of saw dust getting everywhere and want a central DC. I have machines that run down both sides and the center. Maybe 10 in all that I would like to hook up. I have a good run down the center of the ceiling. Will use vac stops at each station. How big should the main trunk be? What do you use? Metal HVAC pipe? Flex hose for attachment?

Oh yeah, what DC?

Here’s what I’ve got in my 19’x 32’ tool room.

It’s a 3hp Oneida cyclone. I used 6” ASTM PVC, grounded both internally and externally. The 6-inch-to-double-4-inch gates are made by Clearvue. I’ve been running this system for the last 10yrs without any issues.

I got a grizz 3 hp cyclone because of the "on-sale" price at the time. Works OK, but there are better units out there. I got 7" metal ducting from a AC supplier. The fittings were available sealed inside and flexseal was sprayed on the joints. Being metal, grounding didn't need to be added. Not as pretty as Micheal's, that's for sure.

I've got a one car garage sized shop, no overhead access (garage door) and a roll around dust collector that I hook to whatever machine I'm using at the time. And a bit of envy...

Dave

I've also got an Oneida cyclone, 6" metal ductwork. Shop is 15' x 22'. Most expensive tool I've bought and worth every penny.

Shop layout has been reworked since this photo but you get the idea.

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I have a Clear Vue cyclone, and I run 6" sewer and drain PVC as far as I can go to each machine. Some machines I have modified to accept a 6" connection. Those are the best performing connections, obviously. I do 4" drops where I have to, and keep the flex hose to a minimum. It kills efficiency.

I put some pics of my setup in this thread. It's more DIY that you might like, but it's cheap and works well.

viewtopic.php?f=10101&t=53500&hilit=bcombs510&start=25#p702552

Brad

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I’m running a 5hp Oneida with 7” ducts to the drops. Minimal flex hose. Dustiest machine is only a few feet from the impeller. It’s fun to watch the dust fly of the edge sander roller and do a u turn, lol...



It seems I need to clean the shop...


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Same Oneida Cyclone as the other guys. 6" Oneida pipes stepped down to mostly 4" for the machines with Oneida gates. Oneida offers a planning service for routing the piping I believe.

Don't pinch pennies here, get the best you can afford. Mine has been great. One caveat, I bought the Oneida remote and if there is a power surge or a brief flicker the receiver will burn out necessitating an expensive replacement. After the second one I had an electrician install a good quality surge protector and that fixed the problem.

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A couple of other things, I built a 4'x8' shed off the side of the shop and put the DC out there. MUCH quieter! When I first ran it, I sucked the smoke back down the chimney of the woodstove. So, cut a hole in the wall and made a frame for 2 furnace filters to equalize the pressure and pump the filtered (and conditioned) air back into the shop. Worked fine. It came with a IR activated on/off switch that was mounted inside the shop. Works great.

For you folks using steel piping I have a few Oneida pipe fittings - Wyes, stepdown adapters, etc. of various sizes. It's all "new old stock". I had planned a system and started to collect the parts but we ended up moving to another house before I built it. A few years later, built a new shop and installed a system with PVC piping. The fittings have been stored in a dry location so are not rusted and they have no dents. With a little effort I can post a list of the fittings in the classifieds or here, if anyone is interested. Wouldn't mind recapturing some of my cost but mostly want to get them out of my way and into the hands of someone who'll use them so shipping will dominate the cost. If I remember correctly (always a dicey proposition) Oneida offers 2 quality levels of fittings and these are the heavy duty ones.

If you’re not in a super panic to get them gone, I’d be pretty interested in that list. I have a pretty extensive outfitting in my nearish future...

I’ll get it together tomorrow and PM you. No rush on my part. Stuff’s been hanging around for some years...

Sweet!

How do you ground PVC to avoid shocks? These things turn into mini van degraff generators

My PVC has been in use for years, and I have never had a problem with this. If it is a problem that is actually experienced by someone, that person can run bare wire along the pipe and ground it somewhere. I would recommend hanging the pipe on its own and not running the wire unless a static electricity problem actually presents itself.

I don't dispute that some folks get nuisance shocks, but I think it is a lot less prevalent than the online discussion fora make it sound.

The bare wire is terminated at each machine as well as the DC itself. All of the pvc connections are held together with 1-1/2” Lath screws, and the bare wire is then wrapped around the head of each screw then tightened. The screw stick into the duct by an inch or so, further transferring the static charge in the system. I’ve never been whacked with this setup.

M

I was under the impression that the grounding wire was installed to keep sparks from setting off a dust explosion. Like overspray explosions it is probably a less likely event for a home shop than a commercial operation. As long as you're not sucking up corn or corn whisky you're probably O.K.

I've ruined two small FM radios with wired earbuds when I forgot to take them off before running my shopvac to pick up sawdust and the static electric spark through my ear blew the circuitry.

Ouch!

Have gotten lots of shocks from the shop vac but never from the Clearview with pvc drain pipe ducting.

When I was researching a shop build-out for my own use, it seemed like the break-point between the need for metal ducting was largely a question of CFM...short of collectors running 8" or larger mains and motors larger than 5 HP, any internal ducting static discharge risk is so negligible that it becomes a cost and design choice for duct material, rather than safety. If concerned about static discharge, just buy metal ducting...PVC cannot be grounded in any meaningful way short of covering both interior and exterior with conductive paint or foil (thus, creating a room-sized capacitor should the ground path fail).

One note...having been gifted the job of cleaning out a full cyclone after Mr. Verhoeven dropped by for a brief job on the shop's planer (and departed before we identified the over-full bin and clogged cyclone), a dust bin level optical sensor should be considered a requirement if the system does not exhaust to an open air dump bin.

I researched, sourced, and assembled the sensor - about $50 in parts and an hour of time - and had the distinct pleasure of ensuring it was unplugged the next time we had a visitor over to utilize the stationary tools. After the culprit finished the clean-out task, he mentioned that if we had actually plugged the sensor in, it might have saved him a few hours of disassembly and clean-out.

Indeed.

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