Ventilation. This might be useful to some

[Shooterz]

You need as much free flowing intake as exhaust to make any system preform at it's optimal level.
By free flowing I mean no intake fan.
It is referred to as " passive intake "

Best fans are from old furnaces and can be found free or cheap from furnace stores.
Put an inline $20 reostat to lessen the power as they tend to be from 1000cfm on up.

If you build a fully in closed hood with just a frontal opening the recommended cfm for exhaust is 100 cfm per square foot of opening......
There are calculations online for said hoods.

Also choking down any bigger opening ie: putting a 4" duct on a 6" fan lessens the cfm output exponentially!

There are generally 2 types of fans.
1 : Ones meant to pull air ( furnace fans ) those would be put at the END of an exhaust run ie: closest to the outside
2 : Inline fans which are a balance of a push / pull type of system . These can be placed pretty much anywhere in the duct line itself.
Most prefer to put them towards the end as well due to noise.

The 2nd fans called co-axial fans can be very expensive but work well.

You have to decide what your health is worth to you and build accordingly....

If anyone has any questions regarding such matters send a pm my way and I'll see if I can help.

 

[Shooterz]

Speaking of ventilation. This is my casting station. It exhausts to the outside via 8-9 feet of 4" dryer ducting.

View attachment 128999

Currently a 4" 80CFM duct fan is installed just before the ducting exits the house.

Would it be more effective if I moved the fan closer to the pot?

Thanks,

M

80cfm is far too underpowered for that type of system.
It helps a wee bit but personally I would look to build something more of an enclosed system.
Top , sides and back with only a frontal opening.
Exhaust port either right above and behind the pot or better yet , exhausting the box directly from top center.

 

[fingers284]

Just setting up a new casting station and have given this topic a little thought,cant decide to go with the 110 set-up...a Polynesian version with one palm frond waving softly behind me...or the 220 "Russian with a mud flap" version, or I could add a couple more Polynesians and call it a "3 phase".

 

[10x]

Just setting up a new casting station and have given this topic a little thought,cant decide to go with the 110 set-up...a Polynesian version with one palm frond waving softly behind me...or the 220 "Russian with a mud flap" version, or I could add a couple more Polynesians and call it a "3 phase".

3 Phase? A lady, a gentleman, and an "Other"?
Please be specific

 

[fingers284]

You know what...that's one question I didn't expect to have to answer.

 

[10x]

You know what...that's one question I didn't expect to have to answer.

No one on CGN expects a pop quiz on three phase electric

 

[gunsdora]

Delete

 

[yomomma]

not really, if you get a down draft.

 

[gnmontey]

Brazing activity just set the smoke alarm off again. Have to do something to rectify this situation?

M

 

[yomomma]

Brazing activity just set the smoke alarm off again. Have to do something to rectify this situation?

M

Making steel core ammo again?

 

[gnmontey]

Making steel core ammo again?

Miniature 50 cal BP cannon. An ugly one at that. Silver soldering (brazing?) the trunnions on.

M

 

[Spawn-Inc]

Miniature 50 cal BP cannon. An ugly one at that. Silver soldering (brazing?) the trunnions on.

M

brazing fumes are good for you, make you strong like bull!! you might try building a booth like yomamma did which would help contain the smoke as it gets sucked up but a bigger fan is the way to go.

 

[gnmontey]

brazing fumes are good for you, make you strong like bull!!

Ya, I hear you about the fumes. The fact that I'm setting off the smoke alarm tells me I'm being exposed. A bigger fan goes in tomorrow.

M

Update:

Sheesh how hard is it to find a 6" booster fan anyway..... PA is out and won't be getting more. Rona doesn't carry booster fans period. HD had a 5" but no 6". CT has nothing. Lowes doesn't list any.

M

 

[Gun5tuff]

Princess Auto will search for an item that might be in stock at one of their other locations. They can search for you and bring it in if it's at another PA store.

 

[willisjake]

You ever worry your pets will get sucked up with that much cfm

If you turn the fans on first and then open a window, you're getting a face full of shop dust......
Agreed, total overkill....but I can run a two stroke on my bench and still have clean air...
Thanks Princess Auto.....


Edit: My garage door installer voided my warranty as there was some concern with the fans running as the doors open....they worried the flex would derail off the tracks. Ffs...
But seriously, the more the better.

 

[pr connection]

Saw this thread and thought I'd share some pics of the casting station a fabbed up in the shop and the ventilation fan I built too

Here is a pic of the complete reloading area

 

[yomomma]

Looking at your shop...i hate you.

 

[pr connection]

Looking at your shop...i hate you.

Lol..... I'm quite found of it myself

 

[10x]

Looking at your shop...i hate you.

It is interesting that the horizontal surfaces and floor are not too cluttered to work

 

[gnmontey]

So, I finally sourced a 6" duct fan on Amazon and got some time to install it. I decided to make a case study of what effect going from a 4" fan to a 6" fan might have. Pics are of the outside exhaust vent for reference.

#1 - NO FLOW



# 2 - 4" FAN WITH INTAKE DUCTING



#3 - 4" FAN WITH NO INTAKE DUCTING



#4 - 6" FAN WITH NO INTAKE DUCTING



#5 - 6" FAN WITH 4" INTAKE REDUCER



#6 - 6" FAN WITH 4" INTAKE DUCTING



#7 - THE 6" FAN



As you can see the 6" fan is moving more air. I normally prop the exhaust vents open with a piece of wire when I'm casting to get as much air flow as possible. I'm now curious as to what would happen if I front end the intake ducting with the 4" fan running both the 4" and 6" in series. Any guesses?

BTB - The intake ducting amounts to about 8' of that expandable 4" dryer ducting.

M

EDIT: Well curiosity got the better of me and I mocked up running the 4" in series with the 6" fan. It does appear to increase throughput all though the exhaust vent doesn't indicate any significant gain. Well.... maybe a little, unfortunately I can only upload 7 images per post. I may install the 4" permanently, beats having it sitting around doing nothing.

M