Air Filtration/Exhaust System Question

[Danomite]

Hi Everyone,

I am trying to set up a shop of my own, and I have a question about polishing/air filtration.

I currently do not do enough polishing or soldering (right now) to justify spending the money on an expensive air filtration system, so my plan was to just use a fan with duct work system to move fan out the window as exhaust.

I was planning on using this fan (or something similar) to move the air.

http://www.hydroponics.net/i/139779

One of the things I noticed was that this fan requires only 1.9 amps, whereas a system from Rio Grande moving a similar amount of air would use 10-15 amps.
I'm wondering if I'm missing something that the fan I linked uses so much less power compared to other systems. I've never set up my own system before, so any insight would be greatly appreciated.

Dan

 

[krisf]

i used to have a homemade polishing unit that was nothing more than a box and small fan with a cheap furnace air filter on the back. sent that to the refiner when i was done and had 600$ in gold in it after 5 years of light home work.

 

[Ron Spokovich]

The fan motor shown on the hydroponics site doesn't seem strong enough, unless it's for very small work as the jewelers would do such as ring work. You do not want to duct any grease, abrasives, or finding material through the motor itself. . .too much gunk and slop to clean. A filter of some sort should be between the buffing wheel and the fan motor. You can clean the duct work, and filter, from time to time until you get enough to justify sending to a reclaimer. A jeweler friend of mine does just this. Importantly, you need to keep the flying particles from migrating all over your shop, and out of your lungs. I have a couple of machines with shrouds and duct work for this purpose. You may choose to, because of infrequent work, just to clean up often and disregard ducting/fan costs. It's up to you. Do some checking first with a few jewelers and see what they're doing. It may help you decide.

 

[Danomite]

Thanks for the responses so far. I didn't think about putting the air through the filter before the fan, but that makes a lot of sense!

I also have a box fan just sitting around doing nothing at the moment, so that might be a viable option to get me started. I realistically plan to be doing less than 2-3 hours of polishing/soldering a week, as this is more of a hobby than a profession at this point.

The particles flying around are really what I'm worried about. I don't want to find out 10 years from now I should have used a better fan! I was planning on using en enclosed hood with the duct work hooked up, and then having another open vent directly above the soldering station to draw any fumes out.

I'll have to check around to see what some other people are doing in their shops.

Thanks,
Dan

 

[dlilazteca]

I'm interested also, when I use the buffing wheel I do it outside in the open, never in the shop so many particles in the air.

Saludos,

Carlos

 

[Marrinan]

I use salvaged range hoods mounted above soldering and polishing stations and chemical working station. work fine for me. Fred

 

[atexascowboy2011]

For my soldering, I use a 6" Elcheapo ,set to low speed, positioned to blow across the soldered piece ABOUT A FOOT ABOVE IT. Cadmium is a nasty thing which leads to COPD/cancer down the road. Yeah you can get solder Cad.- free, but then again, any fumes/smoke,will basically do the same.
Like Carlos , my buffing setup is on a rollered workbench ( 4 buffers and a 2"×72" belt sander ). Put your wheels , compounds and wrenches in the drawers and every thing is readily accessible. Don't forget the fan to blow the dust away.
Likewise my soldering stand is portable. The flux fumes/ liquid are very corrosive. Since Napalm is Geneved, they need to look at Handi-flux as an alternative.

 

[diandwill]

My first buffing machine was a motor that turned at 1250rpm, with a belt that lead to the polishing spindle. I used stove pipe to fashion a dust collector, pierced the back into a four piece section and fitted the hose from a shop vac into that, with a small piece of screen covering the end. I wired the plug on the shop vac into an on/off switch with the buffer so they both came on off at the same time. Still have it in case all goes under water, and I need to be able to polish at home. I did use it daily for 3-4 years. Worked great.

 

[Jahn Baker]

40 years at primitive benches and a diagnosis of COPD motivated some research and development in exhaust systems on my part. I like the high efficiency Elicent brand fans. Much like your Vortex fan, they are designed for green-house use and can move a lot of air using little electricity. My jewelry shop has a 200 cfpm fan which draws 72 watts and .6 amps at full speed. Combined with hybrid, flexible and rigid home made duct-work for the soldering station, the kiln and the polishing machine the fan is on a rheostat and rarely has to be run at full speed.The EPA will probably be all over me now for adding my toxic fumes to the atmosphere. I might have to consider adding an air-scrubber to my set-up LOL. Best of luck to you.

 

[dlilazteca]

40 years at primitive benches and a diagnosis of COPD motivated some research and development in exhaust systems on my part. I like the high efficiency Elicent brand fans. Much like your Vortex fan, they are designed for green-house use and can move a lot of air using little electricity. My jewelry shop has a 200 cfpm fan which draws 72 watts and .6 amps at full speed. Combined with hybrid, flexible and rigid home made duct-work for the soldering station, the kiln and the polishing machine the fan is on a rheostat and rarely has to be run at full speed.The EPA will probably be all over me now for adding my toxic fumes to the atmosphere. I might have to consider adding an air-scrubber to my set-up LOL. Best of luck to you.

post some pictures

Saludos,

Carlos

 

[Danomite]

How loud does the Elicent fan seem to be? Sound is somewhat of an issue for me, as there is a yoga studio two doors down. I figure in the end it doesn't really matter, but I'm willing to spend a little extra for good neighbors. That is what initially drew me to the Vortex, is that it appeared to be low power, and also pretty quiet compared to other units.

Thanks,
Dan

 

[Karl Stubenvoll]

An inline fan like this is quiet, but the airflow will stall out easily if there is enough of a pressure drop across any filter. Try Grainger.com for heavier duty squirrel cage blowers that can move much more air. Some are belt driven, while others have attached motors, but in both cases, the motor is out of the air/residual dust flow.

 

[DakotaDocMartin]

Here is what I use: Handler Model # 550 Porta-Vac Bench Top Dust Collector