Hey Chris- California spiral pipe source-pics

[JOHN HANCOCK]

Chris, in Franks thread on DC we talked about the source for spiral pipe in Hayward (CA). You asked if it was true DC pipe (right airflow direction). It is DC pipe but it isn't crimped on one end. The pipe fits over a lip on the fittings. So, I guess it is going the right direction on one end and the wrong direction on the other end of the fitting. You can see the lip on the pictures. The lateral wyes go in the right direction, as you can see. The Ells are long radius. I showed the closeup of the 90 so you could see the crimps on the inside of the curve. I noticed this after I got them home. Only some are like that. I don't know how much difference it will make, if any, in creating turbulence. If I was picking them out again, I think I would look through the bin and pick out the best ones with the least crimps just because. The Wyes are spot welded and they paint the inside with duct sealant. I was disappointed when I saw this. I had hoped they had a continuous weld. But, I checked Oneida today and this appears to the same construction as their category one fittings that are $32. Their continuous weld fittings are $50-60 I think.

I don't really have a frame of reference to judge their quality. Perhaps some more experienced creekers could say where they fall on the scale, low or average.

[JOHN HANCOCK]

A couple of more pictures. I am not sure how tight they should fit either. They certainly aren't perfect. I don't know how much you can tell from the "down the throat" picture but they don't always fit so tight they would fall off if hung upside down.

[Chris Padilla]

Hey John,

I spy a Yellow Lab there? :)

Thanks very much for the pics. Man, 6" ducting is HUGE! :) I have to admit, the fitment is a bit disappointing there.

Overall, are you happy with the product from this place in Hayward?

[Jerry Olexa]

Handsome looking dog there... I mean the yellow one

[Bob Dodge]

Hi John,

Thanks for those pics. Great post.

I've never seen "crimped" fittings, for spiral pipe. All the ones I've seen, use that "raised ring", like your photos illustrate. I know Oneida shows those crimped fittings on their website, but I'd think those are HVAC fittings, Could be wrong.

When joining straight lengths of spiral pipe, end to end, a short sleeve is usually provided. That sleeve is maybe 5-6" long, and has that "raised ring" in the middle. Both ends of the sleeves, are smooth, no crimps, and fit inside the lengths of pipe. Very inexpensive, too. A couple of dollars each. I also found them to be a loose fit in many instances.

Shouldn't really be a concern, unless the velocity is quite high. If I was pulling 950+ cfm, through 6" pipe, I'd probably start to consider increasing the "Main" diameter, to 7". That would provide roughly 3560 FPM velocity, and very low resistance. Roughly 0.03"SP/ft. 3500 fpm, through a horizontal pipe, is fine.

All the best, Bob

[JOHN HANCOCK]

First,

The dog, no, the yellow one, is Sam. Coming on 2 years. We are toll addicts and Sam is a ball addict. He waits at the door about 6 o'clock and won't let me rest until I toss a few.

About the fit. Like I said, I have never seen anything else so can't compare. The 90 I posted was the worst with the crimps. I bought 7 and maybe 3 had crimps, with the other 2 less than half that amount and the others perfect. I am sure that is a quality issue but not sure how much difference it would make. Also there is some variation in the fit. some fit loose enough to fall apart when held upside down and some are tight.

As to happy, I wanted to go metal since I was a little worried that if there were even a fire, for any reason, I was a little worried that my insurance company might use that to weasel. The metal should give them one less opportunity. When looking at metal, everything else looked like a lot of money. Shipping costs are just about prohibitive, for me. I had budgeted $800 for my cyclone and about $500 for piping (a guess), before I really started to get serious and price it. When I did get serious, the piping turned out to be $800 for bare minimum and will be about a thousand when I add 3 more Wyes and blast gates so I dont have to switch flex hose connections between some of my machines that I run off a common branch (MS & DP, Jointer and Router Table, BS and Scroll saw). I guess I won't really know until I fire it up see what the system draws. I plan on sealing every joint with metal duct tape and if I get good suction, I will be happy with the cost, compared to buying from Oneida with shipping.

I was hoping to finish up the system this weekend, but LOML was looking for some forward progress on our remodel so we started sanding floors in our bath and sitting room. Quite a job taking out old linoleum. It looks like I have to get back at the DC during the week and finish up next weekend.

Bob, the couplings are as you described. Although my runs weren't long enough to need to join two pieces of pipe, I did find them necessary around the blast gates. The blast gates fit best in the fittings, with a very loose fit in the pipe so I went pipe, coupling, BG, coupling or fitting, and flex. My flex from Wynn Environmental was too small to fit over the pipe so it has to connect to a fitting or a coupling.

By the way, Chris, their price on 6" flex in 25 foot lengths was pretty good ($84, I think) and shipping was only $10. They are in So. Cal. Price per foot was less than Oneida. I also got their name from Bill Pentz's website.

[Chris Padilla]

Thanks, John...appreciate the info. Sigh...just gotta figure it all out now! :)

[Chris Goodman]

Chris, in Franks thread on DC we talked about the source for spiral pipe in Hayward (CA). You asked if it was true DC pipe (right airflow direction). It is DC pipe but it isn't crimped on one end. The pipe fits over a lip on the fittings. So, I guess it is going the right direction on one end and the wrong direction on the other end of the fitting. You can see the lip on the pictures. The lateral wyes go in the right direction, as you can see. The Ells are long radius. I showed the closeup of the 90 so you could see the crimps on the inside of the curve. I noticed this after I got them home. Only some are like that. I don't know how much difference it will make, if any, in creating turbulence. If I was picking them out again, I think I would look through the bin and pick out the best ones with the least crimps just because. The Wyes are spot welded and they paint the inside with duct sealant. I was disappointed when I saw this. I had hoped they had a continuous weld. But, I checked Oneida today and this appears to the same construction as their category one fittings that are $32. Their continuous weld fittings are $50-60 I think.

I don't really have a frame of reference to judge their quality. Perhaps some more experienced creekers could say where they fall on the scale, low or average.

John,
Can you tell me where you shopped for your spiral pipe in Hayward?