Boxing in Blower

[Jared Greenberg]

I am having problems with the blower (as it is not not very well boxed in) blowing dust around in the room where the laser is.

Any suggestions on what works best to minimize this. I have though of building a cardboard box to go around it or some sort of plywood box to contain the air that is turning up the dust.

[Craig Matheny]

Where is the air coming from if it is vented out side the only air should be from the cooling vane inside the motor

[Jared Greenberg]

Its almost like it comes out by the on/off switch. Maybe I should look at the flange again.

[Craig Matheny]

There should be some air coming out around the motor somewhere but I would not think it is so much to kick up dust. If you box it in it still has to have air to cool so air in air out dust will follow maybe a pad or something around the unit that is easy to keep clean.

[David Fairfield]

Your best option, if at all possible, is to place the blower unit outdoors, at the exhaust end of the duct. That way you only have negative pressure inside the ducting, which means no smoke leaks into your shop area. Also reduces noise and eliminates your problem with dust blowing around. You need to put it on a firm footing and protect it from the elements of course. You can DIY a shelter, or get a plastic dog house, or child's play house. Not too expensive.

Dave

[Jared Greenberg]

Your best option, if at all possible, is to place the blower unit outdoors, at the exhaust end of the duct. That way you only have negative pressure inside the ducting, which means no smoke leaks into your shop area. Also reduces noise and eliminates your problem with dust blowing around. You need to put it on a firm footing and protect it from the elements of course. You can DIY a shelter, or get a plastic dog house, or child's play house. Not too expensive.

Dave

Dave or anyone else have a picture of this by chance?

Right now in my set up, the blower is below the table that the laser sits on and we installed a dryer vent to the outside when we built the shop. One duct is hooked up to the laser the other to the vent out side.

I felt the air last night and it is coming from the motor area.

There is a wood shop located on the other side of the finishing area, it is seperated by a door, but dust is still a little bit of an issue.

[Mike Chance in Iowa]

Jared,

I made a quick shelter by using a cheap plastic storage container that was large enough to hold the blower & the remote control unit. It was fairly easy to cut 2 holes in the sides for the in/out ducts. When I need to do any maintentance, it's quick & easy to unsnap the lid and lift the blower out. I glued some cheap, plastic blast gates over the holes to make it easy to secure the duct hoses and keep bugs out if necessary. I would go out and take a picture for you, but an active swallows nest is above it right now and as you can all guess, the container looks really gross right now with all the droppings on it!

[Tony Lenkic]

Jared - Here is ULS suggestion on blower installation.

[Jared Greenberg]

Thanks...

So for those of you that have it outside:
Are you just using a plug in on an outside wall?
And what about frigid temps in the winter for the blower being outside? Is the box you use insulated?

[Richard Rumancik]

I doubt that you will have problems starting an electric motor at -40 degrees C. You could look at the motor specs and see if you can get any info. Often they will have maximum operating temperatures and not spec a lower starting temp. The only issue is the initial start-up. If the bearing grease was heavy I suppose it could lock up but I have my doubts that would happen with most motors. Once it starts, the bearing temp will rise very quickly. If it is a capacitor-start motor, I suppose you could change the capacitor value a bit if you needed some extra kick on start-up for winter operation.

Insulating the box would only help if it was also heated. In -40 weather an unheated box will be -40, insulation or no insulation.

I have my blower in a garage attic and have not had any problem starting in winter. In winter the attic will be at the same temperature as the outside air (at least in the morning.)

[Jared Greenberg]

I have my blower in a garage attic and have not had any problem starting in winter. In winter the attic will be at the same temperature as the outside air (at least in the morning.)

This is interesting...I assume you just have it blowing in the attic and not venting outside?

[Tony Lenkic]

Mine is also in garage attic close to external wall. From blower I installed short pipe to the vent. Something you would do for range hood.

[Jared Greenberg]

Mine is also in garage attic close to external wall. From blower I installed short pipe to the vent. Something you would do for range hood.

What vent or did you install a vent to the garage roof?

I'm just having trouble picturing it.

[Richard Rumancik]

This is interesting...I assume you just have it blowing in the attic and not venting outside?

No, I vent to the outside and I would not recommend venting to any part of the attic of a building as there is too much risk of fumes escaping back into the building.

The advantages of placing in an attic are:

• Noise is removed from the shop area
• Most of the duct is under vacuum (low pressure) not high pressure
• No physical space is lost
• No need for separate box outside

The disadvantages I see are:

• You need to ensure attic temperature is controlled. Most motors are rated 40C ambient but my garage attic gets to 50C in summer. I have a 50 cfm blower bringing in fresh air into the motor enclosure in summer, and a powered vent on the roof in summer.
• Servicing is more difficult
• You should have a high-temp cutout switch on the motor to prevent operation if overheated.

Overall I am happy with the implementation I chose and have had no problems with it.

[Mike Chance in Iowa]

So for those of you that have it outside:
Are you just using a plug in on an outside wall?
And what about frigid temps in the winter for the blower being outside? Is the box you use insulated?

I originally ran an extension cord since the external outlet was on the other side of the building. It worked, but it was not the most efficient set-up. Now I have an external outlet on the building right next to the blower.

I have not modified my plastic storage container other then cutting holes for the vents. I have not had weather-related issues, but I can see that over time, the plastic will become brittle and crack from exposure to the sun. So far, it's held up 2-3 years, but I do put potted plants in front of it to not only shade it a little, but to not draw attention to it since it's not the most attractive setup. When the new dream shop with living quarters is finally built, I plan to enclose the blower with siding that matches the building and put a hinged lid on top so I can easily access it.