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ceiling mounted dust collection recommendations

Joined
Oct 22, 2009
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Location
Milford, PA
I have decided to add a ceiling mounted dust collection to my 18'x11' basement shop. Since the "chip crisis" has slowly abated, I am now facing the "dust crisis." I wear a dust helmet, so it is more for keeping the dust down in the shop and minimize the escape into the heating system. Also, when cleaning up after turning, I use the air to blow off the lathe and any metal parts and a fair amount of dust is stirred up. I realize that for the long haul, the less dust in my lungs the better.

Looked at Delta, Jet, Grizzly, and PSI. Any thoughts on what works best?

Best buy?
 
Joined
Jul 28, 2005
Messages
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Location
Alexandria, VA
Keep in mind that the vibrations of the unit will be transmitted throughout the house unless you isolate the unit.
I have a Delta unit that has served me well for years.
Check the costs of replacement filters.
I found that the Delta has a slightly different sized measurement than stock filters, just enough to be 'custom'.
Not sure about the others.
I opted to place it on top of a shelving unit instead of hanging it.

Mark.
 
Joined
Apr 29, 2004
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Location
Hanover, VA
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www.abhats.com
The best approach for a shop in your house is to mount the collector so it exhausts out of the house leaving your shop with negative air pressure. This will keep any dust from migrating into the rest of your home as it will draw clean air from it into the shop. I've a single speed Delta in my small basement shop that does this (and uses standard sized filters I get online by the case). I've a same physical sized Jet in my garage shop that's mounted on the ceiling that I use in the winter when I can't blow everything out an open garage door without freezing. That one is three speed with timer and uses the same standard sized filters as the Delta.
 
Joined
May 7, 2004
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Location
Lincoln Hills, CA (At the foot of the Sierra Nevad
Website
jerryhallstudio.com
Ceiling Filter? or...

dust collector? If what you are talking about is a ceiling filter with one or more layers of flat filters I question their effectiveness unless you spend a lot of time blowing out and cleaning the filters.

There is so little square footage on the filter, and the exchange rate is often so little that they might well stir up more dust than they capture. It is far better I believe to capture at the source to the extent possible.

The dust raised by blowing out your shop for cleaning is unlikely to be captured by a ceiling filter before it settles again, and invades your heating system. I remember a research article on this but can't find it.

Others mileage may vary... But I got rid of mine and don't seem to be the worse for it. But then I still have a somewhat dusty shop ): I honestly think that the only way to blow out your shop is with two doors open and a cross breeze to aid in sending the dust on its way. Otherwise just vacuum the surfaces every so often with a hose connected to your dust collector or with a shop vacuum.
 
Joined
Jan 19, 2010
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I have the three-speed, ceiling-mounted PSI (similar to the Jet) that does an excellent job of cleaning out airborne dust - it will recycle the air in my 3 car garage almost 8 times an hour. This air cleaner isn't just "flat filters" - it has a flat, 5 micron pre-filter and a 1 micron internal bag filter - and both filters can be cleaned. I certainly notice the difference in air quality when it is running. Personally, I think it's worth the money.
 
Joined
Nov 21, 2005
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Location
Oshkosh, WI
I've got the Jet 1000B ceiling mounted just to the left of the lathe headstock in my 24x24 shop. Just after I bought it I saw a product test that rated it second to the JDS unit. Running these air filters on high speed can possibly blow more dust around as a result of the outflow so I run mine on low. If I recall correctly it exchanges the air once every ten minutes. I've hung about a 12" piece of yarn about 12" in front of the inlet to indicate when the filters need cleaning. When the yarn is no longer pulled toward the intake at a strong angle I blow out the filters and replace the outer filter with a standard 12"x24"x1' furnace filter after about every third cleaning. It has a timer so when I leave the shop I set it continue to run for 2 hours.

Is it perfect? No. Does it help? Yes.
 
Joined
Jun 16, 2009
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Location
Southern California
Website
www.californiawoodartist.com
I have the JDS 750 with the electrostatic prefilter and it has run 3-4,000 hours. After a year, I had a problem with the bearings in the motor. I called JDS in South Carolina and described the problem. They sent a whole new motor ASAP and it has been running flawlessly ever since. When the prefilter becomes visually dirty, I reach up with a brush attachment on my 6hp shop vac and gently vacuum the filter. Once or twice a year, I slide out the electrostatic filter and wash it. I took the bag filter out once and shook it out but it wasn't very dirty as the electrostatic filter catches most of the dust. I still get a layer of dust on everything in the shop, but you can only breathe what floats in the air and these units progressively make the air cleaner as they run. With this unit in place, I can brush spar varnish and get a dust free finish even with a layer of dust on everything in the shop. It is truly amazing. Some people install two of these units in a 4-600 sq. ft. space. When I visited Sam Maloof, he had two JDS 750s in his sanding room.

http://jdstools.com/air-tech750-er.aspx
 
Joined
May 7, 2004
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Location
Lincoln Hills, CA (At the foot of the Sierra Nevad
Website
jerryhallstudio.com
Here is the "Research" on Whole Shop Filtration

Well, I found it. Below is Oneida's opinion, and the link to a good full discussion on the value of such systems is at:
http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=19830

Bottom line, there is no shortage of opinions and the jury is still out. The truth is somewhere in the middle no doubt, and it depends on your situation. Such is life.
________________________________________________________________
Overhead Shop Air Cleaners Can Increase Airborne Health Hazards in the Woodshop

The ubiquitous air cleaners that hang on shop ceilings do not improve shop air quality. A scientific look at how they work and the percent of fine material actually filtered indicate that in the best case they do not improve shop air or in the worst-case scenario increase the fine airborne particulate in suspension. Recently a national wood working magazine published 3<SUP>rd</SUP> party filter efficiency tests of these units using a 1-100 micron test material dust. The results were misunderstood.

The test data actually presents a strong argument as to the ineffectiveness of these units. ASHRAE and other recognized tests use a test powder between 0.3 - 10 microns in size. The ASHRAE test measures the filter efficiency by measuring and counting all the particles that migrate through filter. It is the 1-10 micron particle size range industrial hygienists consider the most damaging to human health. This size has the ability to lodge into the deepest recesses of the lung, and is very difficult for the body to excrete. It is also the predominant size range floating for hours in your shop air. The test results indicate that even the best machine tested did not filter the finest and most lung-damaging material. If a one-micron particle is the size of a " BB" then a 100-micron is a bowling ball. The best filtering machine tested allowed 0.1 grams out of 80 grams through the filter. This might sound good on the surface but assuming a fairly even size distribution of the test dust (no size break down was given) the 0.1 grams represents the entire weight of all of the 1- 15-micron dust in the sample. Actually, calculating by average weights of the size distribution, it is possible that none of the material in the 1-15 micron range was filtered on the most efficient unit tested. It is precisely this range that constitutes the worst health hazard. A 100-micron particle, assuming stoke equivalent or roughly spherical, is one million times heavier than a one-micron particle, and has a settling velocity of about 10 inches a second, about the same as a falling cotton ball. Large particles this size are far too heavy to float up to the ceiling where the units are typically positioned.

Another misconception in the same article is the idea that the proper size air cleaner will filter all the air in your shop in 6 minutes. The example given: a 15 x 20 x 8 ft shop contains 2,400 cubic feet of air, divide this by 6 to get the minimum CFM required, which would be a 400 CFM air unit. Ventilation engineers use a factor for incomplete mixing which in this case would be a factor of somewhere between 7- 10. In other words, based on this formula the real length of time to filter all the air in the shop would be between 42 to 60 minutes, and this would only be valid if the offending external source of dust emission is shut down. Even assuming an ideal 100% filtration the removal process is much slower than the dust generation process. Meanwhile, you are in the shop breathing contaminated air.

Commonly woodworkers will comment, "when I look in the filter I see trapped dust, isn't it beneficial to collect at least some dust?" In this case the answer is no. Not with the machines tested here. The dust accumulated on the filter is only a fraction of the total dust drawn into the unit. The remaining dust is passed through the filter and exhausted. The circulating fan keeps this dust suspended and aloft in the air you are breathing. The dust on that filter is evidence that too much dust is in your shop air to begin with. Quoting American Governmental Industrial Hygienists, "When toxic contaminants are evolved in the workroom, recirculation must be avoided." This is why these units are not used in industry.

A properly designed dust collection system lowers airborne particulate to safer levels no higher than 5mg/M3. It does this by entraining the dust with air near the source of dust emission and then filtering the air to near 100%. Air quality testing in industry is performed routinely where workers wear dust monitors on their collar. It is not uncommon for well-designed dust collection systems to lower airborne dust levels by 10 to 30 times over uncontrolled environments. Get the facts and protect your health.

Sincerely,

Robert Witter

Oneida Air Systems Inc
 
Joined
Dec 18, 2007
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Location
Kingwood, TX
Interesting Jerry

I use a Jet unit and it does help but I never use it while im in the room - I turn it on timed mode when Im done for the day - seems to help with the dust that would have settled all over the room - I let it run for like 2 hours but Im not in the room at that time. I think for that the unit is great - however best to collect it at the turning while you create dust using a large intake
 
Joined
Apr 25, 2004
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Location
Milkyway
I have an old JDS. I bought it to reduce the dust migrating into the house. For this purpose the air cleaner does a terrific job. Because the "filter" stirs up dust and keeps it airborne, I turn the unit on when I leave the shop and try to remember to turn it off an hour or two latter.

This air cleaner has had a HUGE impact on dust migrating into the house.

Dust abatement needs a four pronged approach.

1. Collect dust at the source.
2. Filter the dust before you breath shop air (a respirator).
3. Clean the air. Personally I think the only therapeutic value the air cleaners have is to reduce the ill effects from the spouse complaining about dust in the house.
4. Monitor the air quality (some folks use the nose debris the monitor, there are more quantitative measures)
 
Joined
Nov 26, 2009
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Location
Rockingham, Virginia
Delta unit cleans shop air

My Delta has an electrostatic filter on the outside, and a pleated bag 3 pocket filter on the inside that does scrub the air in my small shop [14x20] and does a good job in quick order of removing airborne particles.

I also run a dust collector and have it hooked up via a pvc ductwork system with blast gates at all my major dust producing machines. My biggest problem is the lathe. I need a stand to put a big gulp style hood in place between my lathe and the wall behind it.

The overhead unit is a good thing for keeping your lungs in better shape, but it must be combined with good dust collection at the source, and a respirator is definitely a must at the lathe.
 
Joined
Jan 4, 2006
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Location
Goodland, Kansas
I use a PSI unit that does a good job. It has a electrostatic filter and a 3 pocket filter inside. I also use a DC and a Airstream respirator.
 
Joined
May 30, 2004
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Location
prairie village. kansas
i have a ceiling mounted jet which works well in my basement shop. i would like to have an air compressor BUT i forego this convenience as i think it is not wise to blow dust sround any basement.i use a large vacuum as an alternative.
 
Joined
Dec 8, 2009
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Location
Littleton, CO
ceiling air cleaners

Here is my take on it. if you want to save some money and get a better filter out of it build your own. Get a used blower motor out of an old furnace build a box for it and add the size and quantity of filters you wish. If memory serves either wood smith or fine woodworking had plans for building one. And that is my 2 cents worth.
 

Steve Worcester

Admin Emeritus
Joined
Apr 9, 2004
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I use an older Jet AFS1000.
Just get two washable filters, one to have while the other is drying, and rotate them.

I just noticed the newer version uses disposable electrostatic filters, but the Woodcraft site says they are washable?
 
Joined
Nov 8, 2006
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Location
Stillwater, MN
One of the major woodworking magazines, American Woodworker I think, ran a comparison test. Just for fun, they included a box fan on the floor with a furnace filter or two attached.
Interestingly, the box fan did as well as the best ceiling mounted unit. I use a box fan with a high quality filter taped to it, and a cheaper prefilter over that. I also use a dust collector all the time (almost), but turning throws stuff in all directions.
I had a startling example of effectiveness one day. I had sprayed some items with black lacquer in the shop, assuming that the overspray would dry instantly and fall to the floor. I had my fan on, and later on, I noticed that the prefilter was BLACK. I had no idea there was that much paint overspray in the air.
I guess I'll keep that fan running.\

Bob
 
Joined
Sep 8, 2006
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Location
SoCal
I've got the Jet, and despite what PR Oneida might be putting out, in my shop, it reduces the airborne particles more quickly than not running it. (I have a Dylos particle counter and have compared repeatedly.)

I agree that catching dust at the source is ideal, but when you're blowing dust off a bowl, or chips out of a hollow form, absolute containment is not possible.
 
Joined
Apr 29, 2004
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Hanover, VA
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I've no idea what the scientific basis is for the claims that filters don't really help - maybe my garage and basement shops are somehow exceptions to them, because the two filters I have really do help considerably. There isn't anything that will filter ALL particles ALL the time, but getting the vast majority out of the air is a major step in itself. The better the filter quality, the more that gets removed.
 
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