Vacuuming Small Amounts of Spilled Powder

TJCote

TJCote

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I was at the reloading bench today and the hopper of my powder dispenser became partially dislodged, spilling a few grains (maybe 1-200 kernels) of smokeless powder on the reloading bench. I have a small 20V vacuum at my bench for quickly cleaning up brass shaving and errand cleaning media. Honestly, my first reaction was to reach for the vacuum to clean up the spilled powder but thought better of it and swept it into a pail instead.
i know that all the “wise advice” from the manufactures say to not use an electric vacuum to clean up spilled powder due to the potential of static sparks or electrical sparks igniting the powder.
My question is: Has anyone used a vacuum to clean up small amounts of powder and had an incident? Do any reloaders have firsthand experience with this happening? What was the outcome? I’m curious
 
My 20V Dewalt vacuum eats powder regularly. After a reloading session, the bench gets a good clean with the vacuum. I don’t allow a build up of anything on the bench, so normally it would just be a few grains at most of powder. If I was to spill a larger amount of powder, broom or brush and dust pan would be used.
 
TJCote said:
I was at the reloading bench today and the hopper of my powder dispenser became partially dislodged, spilling a few grains (maybe 1-200 kernels) of smokeless powder on the reloading bench. I have a small 20V vacuum at my bench for quickly cleaning up brass shaving and errand cleaning media. Honestly, my first reaction was to reach for the vacuum to clean up the spilled powder but thought better of it and swept it into a pail instead.
i know that all the “wise advice” from the manufactures say to not use an electric vacuum to clean up spilled powder due to the potential of static sparks or electrical sparks igniting the powder.
My question is: Has anyone used a vacuum to clean up small amounts of powder and had an incident? Do any reloaders have firsthand experience with this happening? What was the outcome? I’m curious
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There are a few flake powders and all black powders that I would identify as verboten.... or you could experiment in a controlled environment....
Hold my beer please...
My dad was a pyrotechnical engineer.. one of my first lessons after burning my fingers in the candle on my first birthday cake was " That's good.. don't start a fire you can't control..." I had stuffed the candle into the cake after burning my finger... watched it on super 8 lol..
Play safe kids... Have fun... Don't hurt yourselves this Halloween...
PS.. all powders require compression for explosive ignition.. in an uncompressed environment they burn very differently. Putting a match to smokeless is like trying to light oil with a match sometimes. Don't ask how I know...
 
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Hmmm…interesting posts. Basically it’s “do as I say and not as I do”. Note to self…go on Amazingon and order a small yet high capacity unregistered portable vacuum cleaner with a Dlask 12” threaded hose an A4 style pistol grip. Our grand daddy didn’t worry about static electricity. He reloaded safely by candlelight while smoking his pipe. Cheers.
 
TJCote said:
I was at the reloading bench today and the hopper of my powder dispenser became partially dislodged, spilling a few grains (maybe 1-200 kernels) of smokeless powder on the reloading bench. I have a small 20V vacuum at my bench for quickly cleaning up brass shaving and errand cleaning media. Honestly, my first reaction was to reach for the vacuum to clean up the spilled powder but thought better of it and swept it into a pail instead.
i know that all the “wise advice” from the manufactures say to not use an electric vacuum to clean up spilled powder due to the potential of static sparks or electrical sparks igniting the powder.
My question is: Has anyone used a vacuum to clean up small amounts of powder and had an incident? Do any reloaders have firsthand experience with this happening? What was the outcome? I’m curious
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remind me to tell you my experience of cleaning ash out of the wood stove with my central vac system.
 
warzaw said:
Did the Insurance company buy you a new house ? My buddy cleaned oily car parts in the basement with a pale of gas until the furnance kicked in.
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it never come to that, but it sure sure gave me a scare. Just to be clear, I wasn't stupid enough to actualy stick the vacuum into the ash, I was just using it to catch the ash that come floating out of the metal pail I was adumping the ash into. A glowing ember floated up and into the vac she went. Needless to say I pay much more attention when cleaning the stove
 
1oldfart said:
it never come to that, but it sure sure gave me a scare. Just to be clear, I wasn't stupid enough to actualy stick the vacuum into the ash, I was just using it to catch the ash that come floating out of the metal pail I was adumping the ash into. A glowing ember floated up and into the vac she went. Needless to say I pay much more attention when cleaning the stove
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^^^ Oh crap… I just cleaned my woodstove and chimney pipes. A vacuum cleaner was involved. On a side note the brand new Bog Death Grip tripod I got was pressed into service as its first job holding up the pipe for reattachment to the chimney. What a sacrilege. IMG_1149.jpeg
 
I mean, lots of things can be flammable or even explosive when finely powdered. Old grain elevators were notorious for exploding. I don't see how powder is substantially different than vacuuming up some spilled flour or something.
 
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