On Mon, 15 Nov 2004 13:41:22 GMT, "Keith Carlson"
wrote:

"Unisaw A100" wrote in message
.. .
What do the experts have to say on this?


To date none of the experts have come up with a single
itty-bitty bit of evidence that PVC piping will lead to a
dust collector explosion.

That's the facts, the whole facts and nothing but the facts.

UA100, stopping at the Lancome' counter after suiting up to
go fly with Grandma, over the Sinai of course...

Interesting. So.....

In the book Woodshop Dust Control, Sandor
Nagisygnskfiwef(something-or-other) recommends that the reader NOT use
plastic pipe for the DC system, and shows a lot of detail on grounding
plastic pipe to prevent an explosion. He seems to consider it a real risk.

yup. he bought the whole load of BS too. it's a shame, 'cause he's a
pretty good teacher.





Yet the concensus here is that it's not a risk in a small-shop environment.
(also other threads have pointed to some good sources of info on why an
explosion is unlikely).

In that book, he also recommends that a DC not be located near a furnace or
water heater - appliances with a pilot light. Is he being overly cautious
in this warning, too? As long as the DC has decent bags so it's not blowing
dust right through, how likely is it that there would be a high enough
concentration of dust to be ignited from a pilot light?


let's make a clear distinction between production shops and home shops
here.

in production shops there are large machines, multiples of them,
running continuously, each making lots of dust. this is an environment
where plastic piping is a hazard and AFAIK illegal.

in home shops this is not the case.

there are plenty of non-static discharge hazards associated with dust
collectors in home shops. big bags of sawdust are a ready source of
fuel just waiting for a source of ignition. vacuum up a cigarette butt
or a nail that sparks off of some metal part inside the DC and you
could have a smouldering fire inside the DC that erupts into full
ignition hours after you've shut off the lights and gone to bed.

I fail to see how a pilot light could do this short of sucking big
piles of dust through the piloted device, but someone somewhere might
be able to pull it off ; ^ ) more likely is that the DC would blow
out the pilot...