Out-Of-Shop DC Options?

[Rick Hubbard]

I’m delighted to have a 1.5 HP Jet Dust Collector and am pleased that does EXACTLY what I expected it to do, HOWEVER, I am not happy with the amount of space this thing takes up!
I’ve been thinking about a couple of options-the one most favored is building a “lean-to” type thing on the outside wall of my shop and stuffing it and my compressor there. The only draw-back I can think of to doing this is that I would need to go outside to empty it (probably not a pleasant task from December to March here in Maine).
Here is my question- Has anyone else done this and, if so, do you have any advice or cautions?
Thanks,
Rick

[Jamie Buxton]

To avoid going outside, you could put a door in the wall between the shop and the shed, or even just leave an open hole. If you don't touch the framing, the maximum hole width is likely to be 14". But if you're willing to cut a stud and put in a header, you can get 30", which would be much nicer.

[keith ouellette]

I have done this and for the same reasons you have plus the noise level. Your biggest concern is loss of ac(in my case) or heat (in yours). At 1200cfm you will pull the air out real quick. A 24' x 20 with 8' cielings only has 3840 cubic feet of air in it. I built an insulated closet with a door that revented back to my shop with a filter. I used it a few times befor I put the vent in to see if my theory was right and the temp. started to change pretty quick. You also want to keep it out of the elements as much as possible. I took my motor and fan off its stand and bolted it on a shelf as high as I could and ran 4" pvc along my cieling as duct to save money. Putting it up high shortened the length of run. If I wasn't concerned about loosing my ac I would not even use the filter and pipe the dust outside to a nice pile.

[Roger Newby]

I mounted my Delta between the rafters in the shop. The bag bottom hangs down about eye level and doesn't get in the way. This unit in very quiet so I don't have a problem with that. The only hassle is getting on the step stool every few months to empty the little beggar.
Roger

[Chris Parks]

You could do it the way you want and not lose heated air or not too much. Build an oversize leanto as you describe and exhaust the air back into the shop through filters. What will happen if the leanto is big enough is the air will slow down, the micro duct will tend to stall and drop out in the leanto and the filters will stop what doesn't drop out. The filters will have to be BIG so you get the air back with minimal resistance. The adjoining wall between the two would be all filter if I were doing it, the filters could be made into an openable frame so that access could be internal from the main shed. You can buy filters of this size for paint booths (or could).

[James Reichman]

I'm in the same boat. My shop (garage) is 19x19. I have roughly 30 inches on the outside rear between my property and the neighbors fence. I was thinking of building a 72"h x 5'w lean -to type shed. My shop is cinder block construction. Figured make the shed and knock a small hole in the wall for the intake to run up to ceiling and drops to the tools.Also put a small door on the shed and do the bag change from the outside. Any suggestions? Concerns with winter weather on the blower motor?. I really do not want to break to much of the wall and put a door in.
thanks

[sascha gast]

done the same thing and love it, now all I hear is the sucking noise but the cyclone and compressor don't bother me anymore and lets not even talk about the space I saved

http://www.pbase.com/saschagast/shop_update_52307

just go to the bottom of the page, the 8" pipe wasn't installed when I took those pics, but it was very easy. Hilti expanding foam is your friend:D

[Cary Swoveland]

Space permitting, build the outdoor shed to accomodate a larger DC if you decide to upgrade in future. My 2hp Oneida with a 45-gallon drum, e.g., is about 99" tall, though the top of the motor can go between studs.

Cary

[David Cramer]

Just curious, how is the air being returned to the shop? I assume your doors outside doors are closed and locked during use, so is there a section of filters where it returns to the shop? I couldn't see it in your pictures.

Thanks, Dave

p.s. Outstanding shop!!!

[Ed Peters]

Enough already with the Festool pictures OK?

Ed

[Rick Hubbard]

You could do it the way you want and not lose heated air or not too much. Build an oversize leanto as you describe and exhaust the air back into the shop through filters. What will happen if the leanto is big enough is the air will slow down, the micro duct will tend to stall and drop out in the leanto and the filters will stop what doesn't drop out. The filters will have to be BIG so you get the air back with minimal resistance. The adjoining wall between the two would be all filter if I were doing it, the filters could be made into an openable frame so that access could be internal from the main shed. You can buy filters of this size for paint booths (or could).

Thanks for this advice, Chris. These are exactly the kinds of little things that give me pause when I start planning to do something fairly radical (like building new exterior structures, cutting holes in walls, etc).

The idea of using filters between the outside structure and the shop makes a lot of sense. I was going to simply install a couple of cold air return vents and call it good.

Now, here is another question: I wonder just how big the lean-to would need to be to achieve the desired effect of “slowing down the air”? I-d like to keep the foot print fairly small (maybe like 4X6), but I could build it close to 12 feet tall if I really needed to since I plan to locate directly below the roof gable).

Then there is the filter issue. Do you suppose two 16X25 inch HEPA furnace filters would do the trick. The answer I’m looking for is “yes” because I already use them for my shop air filter set up (and, of course, for the house furnance).

[David Giles]

A 4x6 lean-to should work. I put a similar DC in a 3x6 plastic shed and the dust dropped out .... all over the blower, the motor, the floor, the door hinges. It stuck to the roof and the walls. It coated the internal ductwork and the electrical cords. Nothing like sweeping 2" of dust off the floor only to have a big wad fall off the ceiling and down your neck.

IF you have a woodstove or big radiant shop heater, I think you could direct vent to the outside without a return air duct. Yes, you will expel warm air, but many of those woodstoves throw off so much heat that you need to open a window anyway. Install a giant trashcan as a preseparator to collect 99% of the chips and dust. I see very little dust on the ground from my outside setup. If you heat your shop with gas or a forced air system, it's probably not a good idea.

[sascha gast]

Just curious, how is the air being returned to the shop? I assume your doors outside doors are closed and locked during use, so is there a section of filters where it returns to the shop? I couldn't see it in your pictures.

Thanks, Dave

p.s. Outstanding shop!!!


I am not venting back in the shop, I live in Los Angeles and have no seasons:D . I also only work with the garage door open. if I had to protect heat/cold to get outside, I would have just run aonother 8" pipi into the shop and hung the filter. but let me tell you how nice it is to not ever getting a clogged f ilter

[Rick Hubbard]

There may be another factor to consider here. I have extremely effective shop-built air filter that hangs from the ceiling very near where the filter openings to the DC lean to would go. This air filter is amazing! It’s “guts” (Motor and Fan) were salvaged from a fume-hood setup in a chemistry lab. I have no idea at all what the CFM specs might be on this thing, but I will tell you that when the sun is shining in through the windows you can actually see dust rising from the floor up to the filters (which are, as I said double 16X25 Furnace Filters- outside is a regular filter while the second layer is HEPA).

Anyway here is my thought: if I locate the filters between the shop and the DC very near to the shop-built air filter, I have a hunch the dust in the DC structure will be drawn toward the air filter.

It’s a little hard to explain- I’ve included a Visio sketch showing what I mean…. The big red thingie in the sketch is the air filter

Rick