I want to move my dust collector and air compressor outside for space and noise reasons. I’m thinking about a small shed about 5x7x7′ tall next to the shop.
Are there any ventilation considerations I need to address such as venting slots, windows etc. I will have a full size door which I can open when using the dc and compressor.
Then I am thinking of drilling holes in the shop wall for the air hose and dc pipe.
Any suggestions and recommendations would be appreciated.
Walt
Replies
Heat/cooling losses
As far as the DC goes , are you returning clean air back to the shop ? If not you will be waisting an awful lot of cooling or heat. Is the air compressor going to be housed in a dusty atmosphere? (not good)
Lots of folks have the dust collector outside of the shop. It's efficiency is lessened by length of ducts and fittings. It can pull inside conditioned air out. If there is an air return, that can introduce unconditioned air. Since it will be out of sight, you can't let it be out of mind. Check the air filter on the compressor regularly.
Moving DC outside
I wasn't planning to put a return air hose back into the shop, just a intake line to the dc and an output line from the compressor into the shop.
As is gets pretty hot/humid near Shreveport, La I want to allow for plenty of ventilation but am not sure the best way to do that.
Want to do the same!
Been wanting to do the same as well.
But mostly becauseof the bag letting loose twice now (many years apart) being my main motivation.
Up here in New England heat loss is an issue. So I'm looking for a practical means of returning the warm air to the shop.
I keep going back to enclosing it right where it sits now. Using a quick breakdown and or movable surround.
Not sure of the logistics of your shop but here's a thought for you.
I've also been considering "attaching" the shed to the shop esentialy creating a DC room with an access panel made of filters.
It would be nice to have it out of the shop - I'd be inclined to use it more as well.
Ah yes, I also saw someones cleaver idea of removing the motor from the roll around base and mounting the motor to the ceiling, reducing the footprint
Walt, I am planning a new shop and have decided to locate my dust collector in a closet that is adjacent to my shop. My A/C guy was concerned about pulling out all of my cooled air and taxing the air conditioner. The fix was to put an A/C return in the common wall and I will put a filter in it to catch a little more dust. I will also seal the closet door to avoid losing cooled air or putting dust in my garage. I am also putting my air compressor in the garage but out of my shop for noise reasons. I would love to hear any comments on my proposed approach if anyone has any thoughts on it.
I was in the same situation--but not the same state--four years ago. I have three suggestions. First, make your shed or lean-to big enough to work around the dust collector e.g., you have to change bags or pull the collector out of the shed and get it back in and have room to manoeuver. Second, at first for ventilation, I cut a sizable hole in the wall and screned it, but the noise from the collector was about the same as having the thing in the shop. So I put a "baffle" over it--just a 3/4" plywood box open at the bottom and fastened over the hole I'd cut in the wall--maybe 1 ft high by 3 ft long. This made a huge difference for noise. Third, becasue of the extra distance to the collector and the sharp bends going through the wall, I got "one size bigger" dust collector than everyone recommended and I have never regretted it for a minute.
Jim
and on the legal front...
Walt,
A note from my experience doing just what you propose: in my county any attachment to a main structure is viewed as having to abide by the code governing the main structure. This means my little shed attachment in the back of my garage had to be retrofitted with a stem wall, code complient roof framing, drainage, etc. Also, code required an escutchon around the dc pipe and fireblock caulking where it penetrated the shop wall.
All this assumes an inspection is an issue for you, which it may not be. In my case the inspector was here for a different reason and had to comment on the dc shed. And in his defense, he was far more helpful than hindersome.
I also reiterate the comments about conditioned air being sucked out, with an additional point. I heat my shop with a woodstove and when the dc gets cranked up, the easiet path for makeup air into my shop is via the stove chimney so if I forget to open a door when I turn on the dc, the shop is fiiled with smoke instantly. I am trying to figure out a way to return conditioned air. I may just put a window in the wall leading to the dc shed. Thus, in the winter I'll open the window and deal with the noise and otherwise keep it closed. At least that's the current plan.
Good luck!
Steve
Step Up a Bit....
All this talk about cutting holes or sucking in poisonous gasses is crazy. Crazy, but true. The way the world at large handles this is with return air filtration. My collector sits in an adjacent little room, with shavings falling into a section below the cyclone, and the return air - heated or AC'd or not - comes back into the shop via a plenum / bag filter set-up, just like any professional installation.
No windows to remember to open, no shavings flying around outside, no noise, no hassles. The inside and outside pressures are equal, with negative pressure in the DC where it needs to be. Call Oneida and tell them what you are looking for and quit trying to engineer it on your own. Your health is worth it.
People have died from the heat source backing up into a shop. Anyone is crazy to live/work that way. Or perhaps already damaged by oxygen starvation.
To damaged to respond?
Hey Acornw,
I'm glad you had an extra little room to put your dust in collector in, that is surely the optimum solution.
Steve
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