shocking

[gene]

I have a corner of my shop that I vacuum often. I have to drag my shop vac to that corner each time.

I put 20 feet of rigid plastic pipe along the wall. I have a hose permanently attached to the end in the corner, and whenever I need to vacuum all I have to do is plug in my shop vac to the other end of the plastic pipe.

Does anyone know if there will be a problem with static electricity?

I have read a lot about grounding pipes used for compressor lines. I'm just wondering if I need to do anything with my plastic tubing.

Thank you.

gene

[Mike8560]

I don't k now about needing to be grounded but I'd have gone PVC

[Grebo]

Interesting, I would say possibly. But will ask the OH he's a sparks.  ;)

Suzi

[Eric]

When pvc is used as a dust collector sytem in woodworking shop, you run a copper wire down it, to act as a ground for the static electricity.
Eric

[byhammerandhand]

There has been a lot of discussion over this topic in the last 25  years since dust collectors were offered to small woodworking shops.   I've never seen any scientific evidence presented that shows this is a real problem.  I've seen suggestions to run copper down the inside, wrap the outside, and run a strip down the outside and put a penetrating screw every few feet.

http://www.rockler.com/blog/index.cfm?mode=entry&entry=7F49013C-1372-6771-F61DF1DDCE112A26

[gene]

Thanks for your replies. I just wasn't sure if this was a big deal or not.

I'm vacuuming pieces of fabric so I wouldn't want to have anything, such as a wire or ends of screws, inside the tubing.

The next time Mr. byhammerandhand comes to my shop I'll have him shuffle his feet across the carpet and then touch the plastic tubing. I'll let you know how loud he yells, if at all.

gene

[SHHR]

Most modern plastics are made with an anti-static additive in them and should suffice no more than you're using your vacuum. If you're concerned about a possible fire in the vacuum tank from static, instead if trying to insulate or ground the pipe on your wall and worry about fabric and such hanging up on a wire inside of it, drill a hole in the side or bottom of your vacuum tank and place a steel or copper bolt or all thread in the hole with a washer and nut on each side with a little sealer to keep it water tight if it's a wet or dry. Then get a length of copper wire (#8 should work) and fasten one end to the central ground in your shop (somewhere out side of your breaker box and meter there should be a copper rod driven into the ground). you can leave your new ground wire coiled up hanging on a wall with an alligator clip attached to the other end. When you need to vacuum simply clamp that wire to the bolt in your vacuum tank. That should ground away any static you may get from the air flow into the tank. As a bonus; if you do any painting in your shop on metal items, you can ground them to the wire before painting and it will keep dust out of your paint too.
Kyle

[mike802]

Other than the possibility of getting a shock it shouldn't be a real problem.  In a wood working environment with misty wood dust in the system a large spark could theoretically cause a fire, but I think the possibility is very small, but you can get a nasty shock.  I have read about people who used the copper wire method with less than favorable results.  In my wood shop I have a substantial dust collection system, it is powerful enough to run 6" pipe to each machine and is plumbed with 6" plastic sewer and drain pipe.  When I put the system together I used aluminum tape.  It is sort of like duck tape but looks like chrome, I taped it to both the inside and outside of the pipe in the same location, so the inside and outside were over top of each other.  On each end I drilled a hole for a #10 bolt with nut and washers, each pipe was connected with a ground wire to the bolts.  I then grounded the pipe to each machine, I thought I would have to ground the wire to a ground rod outside the shop but have not had to do so, I think because the machines are grounded through the electrical system.  I never get any static, or shocks the system works very well.

[byhammerandhand]

I have a high threshold for pain.   I almost stopped by today, but then they dragged out several 350 lb desks, a set of bookcases and a couple more hours worth of stuff to do.

The next time Mr. byhammerandhand comes to my shop I'll have him shuffle his feet across the carpet and then touch the plastic tubing. I'll let you know how loud he yells, if at all.

gene

BTW, I got one of these last month.  It does a great job of filtering out stuff before it hits the shop vac and is easy to empty.


http://www.rockler.com/product.cfm?page=30068&rrt=1

[gene]

I bought a Vortex yesterday. It does a good job of keeping fabric pieces and fabric dust from going into my shop vac. I'll also use it to vacuum the saw dust from making cornice boards.

I had been looking at making a cyclone myself, but this is a good alternative.

I'll see if I can run the static electricity generated from the pvc pipes to a little LCD light I'll mount on the Vortec. That would be kool! LOL

Thanks for the link.

Gene

[gene]

One unexpected benefit of this Vortex is that I am able to vacuum up a lot of scraps of fabric, batting, cotton, cambric, and welt cord that I would have otherwise have had to pick up before vacuuming. All this stuff goes in the Vortex and not my shop vac, which used to always clog my shop vac.

Also, pieces of silk film would stick to the filter on the shop vac. The Vortex does a good job of keeping this stuff, especially the big stuff, out of the shop vac. 

It does not, however, do a good job on feathers. They go straight into the shop vac. I didn't expect it to collect feathers, but it would have been nice if it did. And I'm sure if the feathers are ever still attached to the duck, then the Vortex would probably keep those feathers out of the shop vac.

I built a tray on casters that I can roll around and both the shop vac and the Vortex sit in the tray together.

gene

[fragged8]

this brings back memories,
when i worked in plastics we used to suck bottle tops along
9" drain pipes. On the odd occation they would jam up
and need to be unblocked.

if you put an arm into the pipe without grounding it first
you could get a 2ft static spark coming off the end of your fingers.


Once it actually made the inside of my stomach hot ??

not to mention the yelping like a puppy heheh

[lruthb]

Sounds like a great " central " shop vac system. My shop is attached to the house and our central vac works the same. It is grounded, but electricity is needed for the brush tool. I've never had any problems with picking up all the rif raf.