Dust Collection

[George M. Perzel]

Does anyone have any experience using flexible aluminum dryer hose for dust collection purposes? This stuff is a lot cheaper than steel ducting and would not have any of the staic charge issues encountered when using pvc.
A second related question:
Assuming a standard two bag dust collector, can you remove the top bag and replace it with a cover containing a 4" hose outlet and connect it to pipe venting outside? I know that you are taking inside air and exhausting it but I'm not talking about running it more than 10 minutes , 2 or 3 times a day.
Any help is appreciated
George M. Perzel

[Jack Wood]

I have used it on a few things but find that it is very delicate and will punture and dent in a NY second. In addition if you move the hose a lot it will "crack" at the joints:( . So if you have a situation where it won't get moved once installed then it' OK. But I would rather have DC flex hose if given the choice.

[Dave Moran]

George, I am afraid that it would collapse, it really isn't made for vacuum, now if you are looking for cost saving, one person found that the cardboard rug tubes work well and are generally available free from carpet dealers.

Dave

[Jamie Buxton]

George, if you remove the top bag and pipe the exhaust outside, a good deal of your sawdust will go outside. A little bit may settle in the lower bag, but most will just keep going. If a sawdust cloud doesn't bother your neighbors, go for it.

[Jack Wood]

Well that would be the best way of doing it, but in NY you would seriously miss that warm air leaving your shop in the winter time:D

[Bob Hovde]

George, if you remove the top bag and pipe the exhaust outside, a good deal of your sawdust will go outside. A little bit may settle in the lower bag, but most will just keep going. If a sawdust cloud doesn't bother your neighbors, go for it.

To solve this problem, you could leave the top bag on, but cover it with a plastic "sleeve" that you taper down to the exhaust pipe. Duct tape works great!

Bob

[Jim Becker]

To solve this problem, you could leave the top bag on, but cover it with a plastic "sleeve" that you taper down to the exhaust pipe. Duct tape works great!
Given that the bag passes air (and very, very fine dust) through it's fibers, this wouldn't make much sense if the intention is to exhaust outside. Ideally, the exhaust duct would connect directly to the blower with no bags involved. "Double ideally", there would be pre-separation before the blower so that only air and small fines go to the outdoors, unless this is a rural area where the "big pieces" will not be a problem spewing forth into the air.

[Rob Russell]

... Assuming a standard two bag dust collector, can you remove the top bag and replace it with a cover containing a 4" hose outlet and connect it to pipe venting outside? I know that you are taking inside air and exhausting it but I'm not talking about running it more than 10 minutes , 2 or 3 times a day. ...


George,

While you may not be overly concerned about blowing heated or cooled air outside, you need to be concerned with where the makeup air comes from.

If you have either an oil or natural gas heating system and it's not one of those direct vented tube-in-a-tube sort of things, you'll likely be sucking the contents of your boiler/furnace's output right into the house. If you have a wood stove or fireplace, I wouldn't suggest that you turn on the DC while you have a fire burning, either.

Rob

[Bob Hovde]

Given that the bag passes air (and very, very fine dust) through it's fibers, this wouldn't make much sense if the intention is to exhaust outside. Ideally, the exhaust duct would connect directly to the blower with no bags involved. "Double ideally", there would be pre-separation before the blower so that only air and small fines go to the outdoors, unless this is a rural area where the "big pieces" will not be a problem spewing forth into the air.

Jim,

My point is (I borrowed this idea from someone else) that leaving the top bag on provides filtering so that there wouldn't be a big dust cloud outside. The really fine dust that passes through the bag would go outside instead of back into the shop. Putting it through a better filter and back into the shop would be better. Since SWMBO says my shop is already exceeding the budget, I'll probably try that until I can get a cyclone during the next budget cycle.

Bob

Bob