DIYbanter - View Single Post

Jerry S

Quote:

Originally Posted by Vic Baron

"Astriapo" wrote in message
...

I bought a dust collector tonight. What is the idea behind grounding
the hose? I assume to reduce friction. So do I connect it to a pipe
and hook it to the tool itself or what?

Gee - I'm really sorry you asked that question. Prepare for a lot of pro's
and cons. For in depth information, search for info. Otherwise, *some*
people content that static electricity could generate a spark which will
ignite the dust in the hoses and start a fire in your workshop. Others
quickly point out that there is NOT ONE documented case of this happening in
a home workshop. Dust explosions in a commercial environment are another
matter but still not relative to the dust collector and static electricity.

If you want to do it, run a copper wire through the hoses and ground them. I
did it that way and it was a real PITA. When I moved and redid the system, I
did not ground the hoses/pipes.

IMHO, ignore the grounding - it really falls under the urban legend heading.

Vic

Gents,
I have no knowledge of static electric build-up causing explosions. However, please be advised that static electric in an ungrounded vacuum system can be substantial. Just last week, my son "fried" a Dewalt plunge router while using its dust collection connection in conjunction with his home vacuum system.
He was running the router while connected to his operating home vacuum sytem. The plastic hose connected to the vac and the router was draped over his shoulder. After running the setup for only 10 to 20 seconds, he felt a tremendous shock in his shoulder at which time the router stopped running. Previously, he had used the router extensively with the home vacuum in another location where the vacuum outlet was grounded.
The router was deemed not repairable by the Dewalt service center. The center personnel stated that the router had been damaged by an external electric source; the router checked out as properly insulated.

Please be careful.