Silicone Turbo Hose for Dust Collection Joints
Curious if anyone has used silicone hose or fittings like the ones used for truck turbo systems for making joints in dust collection systems. I needed a couple of couplings so ran to the old Amazonian free delivery shop and found that they’re out of stock. PVC sewage pipe is 4 inch ID so the connectors like a fernco that the box stores sell aren’t really sized right so that was out and I only need a couple and didn’t want to pay freight to order them from my usual woodworking supply sources.
Then it struck me to check something else. I’ve worked in the diesel truck repair field and the aftermarket parts field for them and silicone hose is used a lot both for hoses and for charge air/ turbo systems. They are sized by ID so that should fit, they have different ones for the hot and cold sides of the turbo system so they’ll hold a pretty decent amount of pressure (and unrelated for dust collection heat) and depending on what you get they’re relatively inexpensive. Depending on how you buy it the price is about 25 dollars for a foot and that would give me at least 3-4, maybe 5 couplings which is comparable or less than I’d pay for the regular rubber even after picking up some clamps to go with them.
That made me curious if anyone has used it before as couplings or for longer sections. I dont think there’s any issue for couplings since the size is simply right but while it’s fairly stiff hose, it’s made for pressurized systems not vacuum ones. On a short coupling that’s not a problem and it’s too costly for long runs but I could see it as maybe being useful for places where there’s a foot or two between fittings like a couple of hard 45s or 90s or a blast gate that you want a little further away for convenience like when it’s attached to something with an outfeed table but the longer the length the more chance of suction collapsing it. The biggest advantage on the other hand is that it’s got flex and is smooth so you don’t have the losses and turbulence of traditional flex hose.
So just wondering if anyone has used it at all and can speak to how far you can take it without it collapsing. Could see it being useful in the right places, and it helping optimize flow.
Replies
I have never used this product, but it seems reasonable.
I should think that the short distances involved for an elbow would not cause problems. It's also not expensive if it turns out to be a mistake.
Fittings for 4" pipe are ridiculously expensive, especially if you buy the push-fit types.
I use the box store elbows and junctions intended for gluing, but mostly don't glue them - the friction fit is sufficient for all except where there is a risk of the system falling apart. I don't find the resulting air leaks to be significant.
I grabbed an 8 inch length for 20 bucks to make a few couplings and try, make sure the dimensions are accurate though I can't imagine even if they're off that it would be enough to matter. I used to do outside sales for a parts supplier so if it works I can probably call in a favor and grab a full 3 foot stick of it at cost and experiment with longer runs. Would be a good alternative for transitions and isolating vibration between hard pipe and machines if it doesn't collapse under suction. It's 5mm fiber reinforced so it's fairly stiff, I've never measured how much vacuum my system pulls and that really varies by what it's connected to so it might not even be an issue for longer sections.
It also brought up that exhaust pipe is 4 inch OD. If I can call in a favor and get it at cost it would still be double what pvc is but would save buying fittings or making janky connections with PVC that's 4.25-plus OD, and not too much more than metal duct pipe and its annoying seams. Plus it'd be super clean to sooth my OCD...
Use PVC pipe you find in the garden center used for drains. Stong enough for dust collection and significantly cheaper that the schedule 4 stuff. I have used the rubber fittings plumbers use to repair small sections of black pipe. I used them to make the jump from the PVC to blast gates. No problems with leaks. Most leaks are on the machine itself. I started with a small 600 CFM collector so I sealed the heck out of my machines to get the max CFM possible.
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