Dust Collector Piping

[James Baldwin]

Hi, Just upgraded my dust collector. Picked up a used one and the seller included all his piping. He was using 4 inch thin wall PVC drain pipe. He had it grounded because it produced static electricity. He had wrapped copper wire around it. I need to do this when I install it so how do I go about doing this? Where do I terminate the grounding our shop is all metal ( United Steel Building type) My original set up was the 4 inch heavy plastic dust collector hose the clear type. Thanks, Jim

[Andrew Seemann]

I have my dust collection piping grounded at an electrical box near one of the pipes. Mine is metal piping, but grounding/bonding would be the same for a wrapped wire on plastic. I just ran a 12ga green wire from the piping to the ground connection in the box.

[Richard Coers]

Grounding PVC duct work is a fools errand. The only thing it does is make the owner feel better, it will not change the possibility of any type of dust collector ignition. Every shop vac in the world has proven it unnecessary. I've gotten huge shocks off a vac hose, I've never had an explosion or fire. Of course this a controversial subject, and will have answers positive and negative (see what I did there?). Your biggest problem will be the restriction of a 4" main line to the dust collector. 6" main line makes a big difference.

[Andrew Seemann]

Grounding PVC is probably unnecessary for fire prevention, but it isn't a bad idea just to keep from getting zapped. I have the steel wires in my DC hoses grounded to the system for that reason. I've been zapped and fried enough times by enough things (static, 120V, 240V, ignition coils, etc) that I really don't enjoy that sensation anymore.

[Todd Mason-Darnell]

As others have said, grounding is not necessary for a safety issue.

I have the exact same type of PVC pipe for DC in my shop. I do not have problems with static shocks with PVC. I get it from flex pipes on some machines, but never from the PVC.

[James Baldwin]

Thanks for all the replies. I won't be grounding it so that's one less thing to do when I set it up. Jim

[Ole Anderson]

As others have said, grounding is not necessary for a safety issue.

A static electricity shock while working next to a spinning blade can indeed be a safety issue. The fire/explosion issue has been thoroughly beat down, the static electricity shock, not so much.

[Frank Pratt]

A static electricity shock whole working next to a spinning blade can indeed be a safety issue. The fire/explosion issue has been thoroughly beat down, the static electricity shock, not so much.

This is very true. When humidity is very low, plastic pipe can build up a tremendous charge. It won't injure you, but can pack quite a jolt that can make you jump.

If static build up is a problem, then wrapping the pipe with a grounded wire will definitely help. I did some work in a tire retreading plant & they had about a 10" PVC pipe for dust extraction on the tire scrubber. That thing would bite you from a foot away & was painful. We just did a spiral wrap of bare #6 copper & grounded it. End of problem. Of course you could still get a bit of a zap if you were dumb enough to touch the pipe anywhere not close to the wire, but it was not nearly as bad.

If I was to use PVC pipe (I wouldn't) I would just put it up & then address static if it proved to be a problem.

[Michael W. Clark]

The other issue with static is that it can inhibit flow in the ducting. The static charge is not just on the outside, its also on the inside and, in a severe case can cause material to build up in the ducting. Probably not a problem in a home shop, but if you cut something metal by accident and the sparks stops in the duct half full of material, could be a fire hazard. You would hope the spark gets blown out or goes to the collector where it can be dealt with more easily than in the duct.

We have had cyclones get plugged due to static build up. We were collecting plastic fines in a SS cyclone. Grounded the cyclone and problem was minimized (eliminated).

May not be a bad idea in most home systems to put another blast gate near the collector inlet so if you got a duct fire, you could close all the gates and starve the fire to extinguish/control it. I've seen this done on industrial baghouses that caught fire and it worked well.

[Julie Moriarty]

In my last shop, I used 4" DWV pipe and wrapped bare #12 copper around it to dissipate static. I had the #12 bonded in several places including metal electrical boxes and at the DC. In time, you could see the dust on the outside of the pipe standing on end. The copper wire was pretty useless.

[Bob Riefer]

This is very true. When humidity is very low, plastic pipe can build up a tremendous charge. It won't injure you, but can pack quite a jolt that can make you jump.

If static build up is a problem, then wrapping the pipe with a grounded wire will definitely help. I did some work in a tire retreading plant & they had about a 10" PVC pipe for dust extraction on the tire scrubber. That thing would bite you from a foot away & was painful. We just did a spiral wrap of bare #6 copper & grounded it. End of problem. Of course you could still get a bit of a zap if you were dumb enough to touch the pipe anywhere not close to the wire, but it was not nearly as bad.

If I was to use PVC pipe (I wouldn't) I would just put it up & then address static if it proved to be a problem.


This is where I would be... if a problem, then deal with it. Personally, I have 3 hp dust collector and 6" PVC and have never been zapped (knocks on wood), although there have been times when I can visibly see that static is present (dust dancing on the pipes).

For the OP... since you're doing this from scratch, consider if 6" piping would be supported by the DC that you purchased. Might be worth doing the job once with the bigger pipe than having to redo it later. (Then again, if the DC isn't powerful enough, sticking with 4" may be the best option).

[Malcolm McLeod]

In my last shop, I used 4" DWV pipe and wrapped bare #12 copper around it to dissipate static. I had the #12 bonded in several places including metal electrical boxes and at the DC. In time, you could see the dust on the outside of the pipe standing on end. The copper wire was pretty useless.

I was considering PVC for my ducting, and thought of using aluminum foil tape as a charge drain. Just run a strip down the outside of the pipe; ground one end. No idea if or how effective it might be..?

Since PVC is an insulator, static change doesn't 'flow', it just exists as a point charge. So, short of wrapping the entire surface, you can have a charge on a small area, literally right next to the drain wire (or tape).