Air Filtration Location

[pack04]

To reduce the amount of dust in the non-shop part our basement, I recently purchased a Jet Air Filtration System (AFS-1000B) and need some advice on the best place to the set the unit in my shop.

My basement is about 28' x 40' and is pretty much open, except for the stairwell wall which extends 18' from then end of one wall. The stairs are centered in the basement.

My shop is 12' x 18', with the 18' on the opposite side of the wall for the stairs.

Dust does tend to creep to the other rest of the shared half of the basement, especially when working with MDF. I use a table saw, miter saw, routers and sanders and currently have no other dust collection systems.

Where should I place the Jet? The directions are limited and suggest avoiding corners.

1) Place the Jet on the edge of the shop, near the shared part of the basement and direct the exhaust to the other 22' of the basement. This will create a pretty good draft and some noise for others in the basement. The air would be pushed towards the area I want to protect.

2) Place the Jet centered in the shop and several feet from the exterior wall, with the exhaust directed to the wall. The biggest problem that I see with this choice is the Jet would be pulling air from the entire basement which could possibly reduce the effectiveness.

3) Any other suggestions would be appreciated.

To add another twist, the ceiling height is only 7'5" and the Jet is 12" high. I'm tall enough to hit my head but I need clearance for moving stock and not block light.

[LarryG]

Odd you should ask this just now, because I'm wondering the same thing myself as I iron out the final details of the power plan for my new shop building.

Most of the installations I have seen in magazine photos or on the Internet have the filter hanging more or less out in the middle of the room, perhaps cheated toward the area where the bulk of the dust is produced. That seems to make sense, and so I was planning to locate a ceiling outlet at the appropriate location. In my case that was centered across one direction of the shop, but a couple feet off center the other way.

But only two days ago I was leafing through one of my books and found a recommendation to locate the filter against one of the two long walls in the shop (assuming a rectangular space, which I will have), with the intake 1/3 of the way out of the corner from the dustiest end of the space, and the exhaust directed along the remaining 2/3rds of the wall -- the idea being that this will help promote a circular airflow around the room. If the object is to filter ALL the air in the shop, this seems to make even more sense than a central location.

So, further investigation is needed, something I've not yet had time to do. If I find anything more, I'll post it here.

[steve-norrell]

I have a similar situation and use the Jet air cleaner in my garage / shop. I have hung the cleaner from the ceiling with the intake facing my table saw and router. The intake is about four feet from the out-feed side of the saw and about seven feet from the floor. I have had the unit in place for about two years.

While the unit does not prevent dust from reaching into all corners of the garage, it does reduce the problem. Its most noticeable effect is to clean the air relatively quickly and effectively as judged by the accumulation of dust on the pre-filter and my lack of reaction to airborne dust.

I also use a #650 Jet dust collector, with one micron canister, and the two devices work together to produce an almost dust free environment. I also use a face mask when cutting or routing MDF and for most sanding.

My guess is that you are not going to prevent ALL the dust from reaching into the far corners of the basement, but you should be able to stop most of it.

Good luck, Steve.

Added Note: Larry makes a good point about air circulation. In my case, there is a fair amount of air circulation and I find the air cleaner useful in distributing warm around the garage when the heat is on. I neglected to note that the air cleaner is just a little off the middle of the room. SN

[pack04]

Larry and Steve,

Thanks for your info, the comments about airflow circulation was helpful. I'm going to place it a little off center of the room about 4' from the edge of my shop with the intake facing the shop. Then create a cloud of dust and see what happens.

Thanks again, Brian

[cgallery]

I think you've gotten excellent advice for placement of the unit.

I'm just going to add that a shop vac that can accommodate a bag (most Shop-Vac brand and many Ridgid units) can do a lot to prevent dust from becoming airborne.

It might not get everything that your routers generate, and might only get half from your miter saw, but whatever it DOES get has no chance of swirling around in the air.

I know the DeWalt 618 and 621 routers have nifty hose fittings on their plunge bases. Not perfect, but it does capture a lot of dust.

If your current router has no dust port, I've seen shop-made sub bases that are designed to hold a hose and they've worked very well.

Just a thought.

[Tom Slick]

I suggest a regular fan in your option 1) position blowing towards the air cleaner's filter side in your 2) position. That way dust is controlled and traveling toward the filter and away from the shared area.

The problem with the "air cleaner" boxes is they (by function/design) blow air/dust away from the filter area. They need to be installed in pairs, exhaust ducted to the other side of the room, or at least have a fan on one side of the room blowing toward the filter.