I can't remember the sources for this but it was heavily discussed in Fine
Woodworking and other periodicals in the 80,s and early 90's. I did remember
a couple of shop owners responded to the discussions that this had happened
to them. Adding a grounding wire through the pipes is cheap insurance to
possibly prevent an explosion or even just a fire. I am sure Oneida can ad
to this discussion if any one from that company is in this group.
I am not trying to scare or mislead. The information I had access to at the
time was pretty convincing.
max


"max" wrote in message
...
If any one uses plastic pipe for their dust collector you have to make
sure
to ground it or it can explode. Plastic is an insulator and the friction
of
the dust moving through it can cause a static buildup and then an
explosion.
There are many documented incidents of this happening. I run a bare metal
wire through all of the pipe and attach it to the dust collector housing
and
the tool housing to pick up the static discharge, This is a serious issue.
max

If you can point us to a documented incident of an explosion happening in a
small-shop environment from a dust collection system using plactic conduit,
you would be the first. Contrary to what you're saying, this is NOT a
realistic risk. This has been reported in Fine Woodworking and other
woodworking magazines. Using a ground wire is necessary only to avoid
build-up of static charge on the pipe. The worst that will happen is you'll
get a mild shock. The REAL danger is in the location where the dust is
stored. If you allow metal objects to enter the system and hit the impellor
or your dust collector, a spark could ignite the stored dust and start a
fire (not an explosion).

Explosions from dust happen in things like grain silos, not in home shop
dust collection systems.

Here is a very good link to an article covering the subject at great length:

http://www.woodcentral.com/cgi-bin/r...e=articles_221
.shtml

This IS a serious issue. SERIOUSLY miscommunicated.

Mike