30 guage galvanized steel snaplock duct for DC ductwork?

[Mike Gager]

my local lowes has 6" snaplock ducting and fittings (Ys, transitions, etc) but its 30 guage. ive tried doing a search to see what the consesus is on whether this would be ok to use but im still lost

the plan is for a delta 50-760 1-1/2 hp dust collector with blast gates to a couple different machines (used 1 at a time) i would like to run all 6" pipe as everybody sugests but the S&D PVC stuff is hard to find around here and very expensive for fittings

i guess the concern is whether the 30 guage steel would collapse. i highly doubt it but would like to hear you guys take on it

[Rod Sheridan]

I've used the snaplock pipe in two installations with Oneida cyclones, with no problems in 6 years of operation.

I made hangers from MDF/plywood that have a fairly snug hole for the pipe to fit through. This increases the pipes resistance to crushing. I used a hanger near each joint, and one in the middle of 5 foot lengths of pipe.

A crimper is required for installation to correct the airflow direction of "Y" fittings.

Regards, Rod.

[Jim Becker]

While some folks have successfully used the 30 gage HVAC pipe, I strongly suggest you use 26 gage (commonly called stove pipe) for your duct to insure you have no collapse issue. It's available from HVAC suppliers as well as many dust collection specialty suppliers.

[Travis Porter]

I bought all of my pipe from Lowes and Home Depot and all of my joints from Oneida. I sealed every joint and every fitting with tape and/or silicon and have had no issues with pipe collapse in 5 years with my 3 HP gorrilla.

[Jason Beam]

I bought all of my pipe from Lowes and Home Depot and all of my joints from Oneida. I sealed every joint and every fitting with tape and/or silicon and have had no issues with pipe collapse in 5 years with my 3 HP gorrilla.

Just to clarify for the sake of argument. Not all of the duct work at HD/Lowes is created equal. My local stores both have 26ga as well as 30ga stuff. I was careful to pick the 26ga stuff myself because the 30 just felt real flimsy.

[Clay Crocker]

Mike,

I used 6 inch 30 ga snap lock with a 1-1/2 HP Delta in my last shop and it worked fine for 5 years. It would flex a bit when I closed all of the blast gates but never came close to collapsing.

Clay

[John Keeton]

30 ga will collapse on a gorilla
http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=79131

[Pete Kurki]

And definitely collapsed with my 5 hp Oneida Pro. I bought most of my ducts from Oneida (24 gauge? snaplock), but during the installation noticed that I was 10 feet short of the 8" duct. Went to the local borg and bought their standard 8" snaplock (28 gauge??) pipe. Had everything installed ready to go and even left one 5" hose end wide open to make sure not to create any disasters when I started the cyclone for the first time. It took about 0.005 seconds and the 10 ft length I had got locally was flat like a sheet. Well, then I made a few calls to the local HVAC installers and found one who carried an inventory of 20 gauge and 24 gauge pipes. After replacing the flattened length everything has worked like a dream for six months now.

The funniest part is that when I first went to the borg and saw how the 8" diameter ducting they were carrying was about $5 per 5 foot length vs. $30 for the stuff I had bought from Oneida, I thought I should have bought it all from the borg and saved hundreds of dollars. Well, a few hours later I quickly changed my mind again...

Pete