Dust collection hook up

[Chip S.]

Hello, We are getting our Stinger II 4x4 going and I have some questions about dust collection......

We ran a 4" diameter duct from our dust collecting system to about 5 feet above the center of the working area. A flex hose runs down from there to the dust boot. However the flex hose tends to interfere with the gantry at some points in its travels. So I am thinking of running straight duct from the dust boot to above the gantry, and using flex hose from there. Does this seem OK?

How do people do it? Is there a light weight flex hose that would work better than the heavy blue wire stuff that we have?

Any advice is greatly appreciated. Thank you! -Chip

[Logan Y]

Yes, running a solid vertical piece to get the hose above your gantry and wire harness is perfectly fine. I would say that most of us do it in some form or another.

Make sure to read and follow the instructions in this thread on how to properly ground your ducting so you don't have static monsters down the road.

https://camheads.org/showthread.php?t=8650

[Chip S.]

Thank you, that was extremely helpful!

[Charlie_L]

Chip,
On a 4 foot table, having the flex hose connection at the ceiling NOT centered on the table helps some too. Having the metal pipe end near the end of the table, centered over the control box, means that the flex moves in fewer directions. Because it is only 4 feet in the Y direction, it isn't much of a stretch either.

[gtgmarine]

My Stinger 1 arrives on Monday (hopefully), so I have similar questions about my dust collection.
I was thinking about running a clear acrylic 2-1/2" tube up from the dust boot to above the gantry and then connecting to the 4" flex hose with a 4" to 2-1/2" cone reducer. I'm hoping that will work with my 650 CFM DustRight / Cyclone separator that I've setup.
As far as the overhead hose drop down location goes, I was hoping that having the drop portion of the hose directly above the right rear of the table would be OK.

[Chip S.]

Originally Posted by Charlie_L

Chip,
On a 4 foot table, having the flex hose connection at the ceiling NOT centered on the table helps some too. Having the metal pipe end near the end of the table, centered over the control box, means that the flex moves in fewer directions. Because it is only 4 feet in the Y direction, it isn't much of a stretch either.

Wish I had asked about this sooner seeing as I spent fair time making the duct sturdy over the center. I might see how it goes there before moving it over the control box. Thank you!

[Logan Y]

It's not going to hurt to have it over the center of the table. You won't need very much flex hose to reach the ends of the table which is great.

[Xray]

Originally Posted by gtgmarine

My Stinger 1 arrives on Monday (hopefully), so I have similar questions about my dust collection.
I was thinking about running a clear acrylic 2-1/2" tube up from the dust boot to above the gantry and then connecting to the 4" flex hose with a 4" to 2-1/2" cone reducer. I'm hoping that will work with my 650 CFM DustRight / Cyclone separator that I've setup.
As far as the overhead hose drop down location goes, I was hoping that having the drop portion of the hose directly above the right rear of the table would be OK.

Avoid any reductions if possible, very inefficient and will downgrade the sucking ability/volume of your whole system [in other words, use all 4" if able]
No need to overthink, if you have a solid overhead hookup with enough flex to reach all areas, thats all you need [I have mine hooked up to an eye bolt in the ceiling, connected to that is a heavy duty 1ft spring with a velcro strap on the other end which wraps around the hose]. Spring gives it a little extra flex if needed as does the velcro, hoses tend to go a bit rigid if you have an unheated freezing cold garage like me and need more slack in the winter.

[gtgmarine]

I've read the paper here on dust collection, grounding, etc. which makes it clear that metal pipe is the best option to prevent static problems.
What about a system that combines 4" metal pipe and 4" plastic sewer pipe?
I was going to incorporate a four foot run of metal pipe on the ceiling above the machine that then connects to about 7' of plastic sewer pipe down to the Oneida cyclone separator which is connected to the 650 CFM DustRight system less than 2' away. I was also going to run some stranded 14 ga non-insulated wire inside the entire run from the dust boot all the way to the grounded motor's fan housing.
BTW, I'm in SE FL so high humidity is the norm here. Even in the air conditioned garage bay housing the Stinger it will rarely fall below 60% relative humidity.

[Logan Y]

Plastic pipe generates more static than metal but if you mitigate it properly you should be okay. Make sure the wire you run inside your dust collection piping is UNinsulated (bare). You want the wire to grab the static charge from the air so you can run it to ground and get it away from your machine.