Anyone see

[Keith Christopher]

The mythbusters episode on PVC and static buildup to combustion/deadly shock ? Pretty interesting, they couldn't get either to happen.


I was watching a TIVO of it today and was thinking hmmm didn't we have a thread about this on SMC. :)


Keith

[Kelly C. Hanna]

I had a felling that one was BS...I've never had a shock that even hurt from static electricity.

[Bruce Shiverdecker]

Kelly, I did not see the program, but I know Dust will explode when it's in the right mix and even a Static electric charge is initiated. This works for wood dust, coal dust, grain dust, and even silica sand dust! The key here is "THE RIGHT MIX". If the mix is not right, it won't explode.

But I have a question - Is your house, garage, shop and possible the lives of you and your family worth taking the chance?

[Kelly C. Hanna]

I'm sure it can Bruce, but when the odds of winning the lotto are better than the odds of having dust explode in a plastic hose (that has wire in it), I tend not to worry about it. I have yet to see or hear of anything close to this happening in anyone's shop.

[Rob Bourgeois]

Bruce...I think you have a better chance of hurting yourself with the table saw than having an dust explosion. So do you think having a table saw is worth it.

Until now I never thought about how that episode relates to wood working.

[Jim Becker]

For those concerned about PVC and dust collection in a home shop situation, here is a good reference page: http://mywebpages.comcast.net/rodec/woodworking/articles/DC_myths.html

While I'm not personally fond of using PVC for dust collection due to the lack of choice when it comes to size (metal has a huge advantage in that respect), I would not rule it out for reasons of "explosion" or "shock". Our small home-shop systems just don't do enough work to create a problem.

[Carl Eyman]

The concentration of sugar dust must be so great that you cannot see your hand at arm's length or a 100 watt light bulb at 3 feet. The chance of getting that kind of concentration in a dust collection pipe is (imho) impossible, because the air to dust ratio necessary to convey the dust through the pipe is much greater. In other words with a dust concentration that high there is not enough air movement to keep the dust suspended; so no movement no static electricity generated. I was just reviewing the other day a bunch of notes concerning a fire and/or explosion that occurred in 1979 in a factory I managed. OSHA helped me do some homework on this subject.