Where Do You Buy Your DC Ductwork?

[Larry Frank]

A metal Wye was quoted at $41.05 and a Wye for the DWV at Menards was $20.45. Certainly a lot cheaper.

[Julie Moriarty]

I had DWV pipe and fittings in the last shop. I wrapped it with bare #12 copper for static discharge but could still see static dust collecting on the outside. I never found, or seen, a DWV Y fitting like the metal one in the picture above, or long sweep DWV wyes, so I used standard wyes.

I brought all the fittings to the new place but when I remembered the so-so effect of wrapping the plastic pipe with copper, I decided to change over to metal. There is no sign of static dust collection on the metal pipe.

The challenge with HVAC suppliers for the special fittings is that what they typically have are "backwards" from what dust collection wants relative to crimps, etc., because the air flow for DC is the opposite direction from HVAC systems.

Jim, I have an HVAC end crimper that I use when I need to reverse the crimps or add crimps on cut ductwork. It's one of the basic tools for tin knockers and they come in pretty handy for the rest of us.

[Jim Becker]

I


Jim, I have an HVAC end crimper that I use when I need to reverse the crimps or add crimps on cut ductwork. It's one of the basic tools for tin knockers and they come in pretty handy for the rest of us.

I also have a crimper that I used to "re-engineer" some fittings during some system modification. But those fittings still don't compare to the "real" DC type wyes that I bought way-back-when from Oneida. (at great expense, of course) No matter...there are many ways to accomplish this task and each person has to "pick their poison". There are pros and cons to all of the choices, but largely it's efficiency/function vs financial investment.

[Julie Moriarty]

Kencraft

Just checked them out and they are less than half the price of AHS. Thanks, Jim!

[Mike Heidrick]

Ebay and amazon and grizzly and zoro. Nordfab. I buy used when I can. I make sure i have a protected shipping option with hassle free returns when buying it online as it does get damaged in shipping.

[Andrew Seemann]

Spiral Mfg is where I got mine. Really nice stuff, plus they are local for me, so no shipping to worry about. They even made up a fitting for me that was out of stock while I waited. I found the spiral pipe easier to work with than heavy gauge HVAC pipe I got with my Dust Gorilla because it was rigid enough to use a sawzall on rather than than messing around with tinsnips or airplane shears.

[Mark Bolton]

I had DWV pipe and fittings in the last shop. I wrapped it with bare #12 copper for static discharge but could still see static dust collecting on the outside. I never found, or seen, a DWV Y fitting like the metal one in the picture above, or long sweep DWV wyes, so I used standard wyes.

We dont have PVC but if you run your static wire inside the pipe and then out to ground you may find your static goes away. We have one small run of PVC in a concrete trough in the floor and isolated it with an internal discharge wire and its fine.

Your exactly right in that you'll never find a true Y like your image from the homecenter or even in a manufacturers catalog (PVC). Stop in to a few of your local HVAC suppliers in the area and just explain to them what your doing. Several in our area will only sell to the HVAC trade for many items but with regards to sheetmetal if your willing to pay cash they will sell to you at reasonable rates. The hard thing about odd shapes that arent available locally is that even for the HVAC stuff ordering online the freight can be a bear. We have brought in some odd round stuff from our local suppliers that had to bring in a case (4pcs) for an odd fitting and even buying the four was cheaper than ordering a single on-line or paying the nordfab/onieda prices.

Another good option for you is to look into printable cutout generators so you can print the shape on paper and cut your own wyes into your run's. Its a bit more work but if you have some odd terminations/transitions to make and they will cost in excess of a hundred bucks a sheet of paper, some snips, rivets, and a bit of time, can save you a bit. With your electrical background should be relatively easy.

We piped our entire shop here for pennies on the dollar compared to Onieda/Nordfab. I would have loved to have one of those systems, and we'd probably be a touch more efficient with our pickup, but when you compare 2-3k for a small run as compared to a couple hundred bucks from the HVAC its a tough pill to swallow and we dont have a unit in the shop that will collapse our 8" pipe so thats the route we went.

[Tom Wassack]

Spiral Manufacturing for me - https://www.spiralmfg.com/. Custom fittings, good customer service, reasonable shipping...

Tom Wassack
Asheboro, NC