Air cleaners safe?

[Pat Salter]

was browsing around and I came up with this article http://www.oneida-air.com/airfilterspop.htm (did I do that right?)

I was going to convert an old swamp cooler fan into an air cleaner. Now I'm not sure. Any thoughts on this? I was hoping to get away from having to wear a respirator all the time. I guess not.

[Dennis Peacock]

Pat,

I converted an old furnace squirrel cage blower to a air cleaner. It does work and works well at clearing the air......but you will still need to wear a respirator while doing sanding and such operations that will generate fine dust. Good dust collection will go a LONG way to improve the air you breathe in the shop. An air cleaner helps and a respirator is the best you can do to best protect your lungs and health from fine dust.

[David Rose]

Pat, I'll argue for the air cleaner keeping the shop cleaner. And I think it might get the air in better condition after a couple of hours of running with no dust production going on.

What really makes the most sense is to get all the dust possible at the source. This keeps it away from the breathable air. I believe that but am only in the process of getting there. Go for the best dust collection you can get, then use the air cleaner for what it might miss. Just don't expect much health impact from an air cleaner.

David

[John Miliunas]

Pat, an air cleaner was one of the first projects I built in my old shop. Like Dennis, a converted air furnace blower was used and I have a 3-stage filter built into it. How well does it work? Just super. I'm always surprised at what those filters look like after a few weeks of use! But, what Dave indicates of getting the dust at its source is still the best way to do it. That's one of the main reasons I upgraded my hand-held sanders to Festool and use them in conjunction with a high-filtering shop vac (Fein mini-turbo, in this case.) BUT, even using both of those dust collecting/filtering systems does NOT eliminate it all. I admit (somewhat sheepishly), that I probably don't use a mask as often as I should, so the above methods are doing much of the "smart" work for me. There is still little substitute for a decent dust mask. :cool:

[Dennis McDonaugh]

I guess Oneida doesn't sell air filters

[Jim Becker]

I don't particularly like that page at the Onieda site, largely because it can be easily misunderstood. Here's my take:

1) You really must collect dust at the source. Once it's in the air, you're going to breath it. A well-designed dust collection system with effective hoods will deal with that quite nicely in most cases.

2) Air cleaners are not going to protect your health all that much, but as mentioned they do scrub out the fines that did make it into the air from sanding operations and less-effective hood designs on the DC system. In a nut-shell, they help keep that fine material from migrating to other areas, such as your home if your shop and it are integral, and helps reduce settled dust. In my shop, I really capture a lot of the fine material with the air cleaner that gets in the air from spraying water-based finishes, as well as dust that gets in the air when sweeping piles of shavings to the floor sweeps. Etc.

So, my opinion is that air cleaners are good to have as long as you have them for the right reasons and expectations. They do not remove the need to use proper personal protection nor do they take the place of a good dust collection system. And, it doesn't matter whether you buy one or build one...both versions can work well if designed right and put in the right position(s) in your shop.