Grounding dust collector?

[Chris Oakley]

I have a 1 1/2 hp dust collector with 4 inch plastic flexible tubing reduced to 2 inch at the tool (planer and table saw). Should I ground it? My workshop is in my basement near my heater, is this an issue? Thanks.

[Jim Becker]

I have a 1 1/2 hp dust collector with 4 inch plastic flexible tubing reduced to 2 inch at the tool (planer and table saw). Should I ground it? My workshop is in my basement near my heater, is this an issue? Thanks.

Grounding is purly for personal comfort. You might want to read Rod Cole's article on the subject.

BTW, a 2" connection to a too with a DC is not going to do the job. Dust collectors work differently than a shop vac and require at least the 4" duct; most are more efficient at 6". DCs work by moving air, not creating "suction" at high pressure levels. In order to move air... you need to HAVE air. A 4" duct has four times the area of a 2" pipe and hence, can move more air.

Change the hoods on your tools to accomodate a 4" connection to avoid starving your DC of air and causing poor performance, especially with your planer.

[Mike Schwing]

Jim, every time I see that new picture of you I think we have another Jim Becker!

I'm glad to see people not going ape***t over the grounding issue. There are still plenty of people on either side, but as you have pointed out - it appears to largely be a comfort issue. If your DC gives you shocks occasionally and you hate them, you may be able to alleviate the problem by grounding in certain areas. It gets tricky - PVC is an insulator - you cannot ground an insulator!

My DC used to give me shocks, or more truthfully, the collector hose did, but something I changed unintentionally remedied the problem.

[Jim Becker]

My DC used to give me shocks, or more truthfully, the collector hose did, but something I changed unintentionally remedied the problem.

And that would be? :D

The pic change was somewhat at the request of others...the other one was very old and still had those glasses on my face. I "lost" them in January after LASIK. The "new" picture used to have glasses, too...but I edited them out when I re-did my web site. Technology is such a wonderful thing!

[Mike Schwing]

And that would be? :D


Actually Jim, I have NO idea what change it was. My post was poorly worded, it should have said - I unintentionally corrected the problem somewhere along the line, but I have no idea what change remedied the shocking issue.

Lasik - good for you. I bailed on the procedure TWICE. Both times I went through all of the prelims and cancelled the surgical appointment. Just can't do it, and as a long distance triathlete I put some serious abuse on contact lenses with chlorine, sun, sweat, wind..grime.. Just can't handle the thought of it.

[Jim Young]

I've had a basement shop now for five years with a 2hp DC and 4" PVC. No grounding wire. Never had any problems. For the last year my DC has been next to the furnace in an enclosed room with no problems. Rod Cole's site was an eye opener and did make me question the importance of the grounding.

[Dale Thompson]

Chris,
As has been said, dust collectors don't work very well by reducing the suction hose at the tool. My thought is to leave the hose size the same and use gates to isolate your suction requirements. A shop vac will act as a positive displacement pump and soon burn out if you plug the input. A dust collector is like a window fan which is totally different. It will bypass air for a long time before any damage occurs. Therefore, reducing your input line at the tool will simply result in very little, if any, suction at the tool. DON'T REDUCE YOUR PIPE SIZE TO THE TOOL!! A shop vac creates PRESSURE. A dust collector creates VOLUME! Let the collector do its job.

Also, get rid of as much of that "flexible tubing" as you can. The pressure drop through that stuff is 6 to 10 times as much as through a smooth plastic pipe.

Lastly, grounding a home shop collector is a joke. It is also an impossibility. Sure, you can have an explosion with your collector next to the furnace. However, it means that your furnace is leaking gas at a high rate and the motor on you collector catches on fire. Whatever, grounding is not going to help in that situation.

Again, as has been said, you can't ground an insulator. In addition, your probability of getting the right concentration of dust (fuel), energy (spark) and oxygen (air) in a home shop is about 1% of your odds of winning the Power Ball Lottery ten times in a row.

Dale T.




I have a 1 1/2 hp dust collector with 4 inch plastic flexible tubing reduced to 2 inch at the tool (planer and table saw). Should I ground it? My workshop is in my basement near my heater, is this an issue? Thanks.
:rolleyes: :) :)

[Chris Oakley]

Thanks for all the help, I got rid of the 2 1/2 and the difference in my planer is night and day. The only question is what do I do with the reducers I bought! Oh well, live and learn.

[Mike Schwing]

Thanks for all the help, I got rid of the 2 1/2 and the difference in my planer is night and day. The only question is what do I do with the reducers I bought! Oh well, live and learn.

You can send them over to me and I'll take them to the dump with mine.

[Jim Becker]

Thanks for all the help, I got rid of the 2 1/2 and the difference in my planer is night and day. The only question is what do I do with the reducers I bought! Oh well, live and learn.

The real shame about this is how the industry keeps promoting crappy solutions to unsuspecting folks. Dust collection remains an afterthought and therefore, a source of impulse income for them. Rather than developing and promoting quality solutions for woodworkers and promoting them as an important first consideration when building a shop, they just stick with the status quo and myths. The mags are starting to pick up on this, but not fast enough or strong enough, IMHO.