Blower Options...
 

Would something like this work for an exhaust system at my workbench?

http://fans-plus.com/products/powercat.htm

Thoughts?

Many thanks!

Hi there! I have questions....Do you have a hood yet? Which of the two fans were you considering? How long will your ductwork be?

The SuperCat looks really nice, but you might check prices at Grainger... I can't remember offhand if the prices were any better.

Pm me if you want!

The 1200XL looks like it would work, but I think it's more than you need depending on the size of your hood. Have you looked into the hydroponic blowers like the Can Fan or Vortex that are available at places like www.mdhydro.com and other hydro suppliers? I have the 8" Vortex that is 747 CFM which works very well with my hood that has a 3'x2' opening. The low profile Can Fans are supposed to be a little quieter, although I have no complaints about mine.

-Diane

I don't have a hood, I wasn't planning on getting one, but rather using a metal ductwork system of 90 degree elbow and a flange that would start just behind my flame. It shouldn't end up being more than 6' in length. I was considering the larger one at 1200 CFM.

Thanks so much for taking the time to reply!

I was thinking that the duct system I was considering would be better for me than a hood as I am a cancer patient, and although I'm doing great now (ALL CLEAR!), I don't want to take any chances with the hood not drawing enough away from me.

Thanks for the link! Will check those out too.

I am super sensitive to fumes, so I went for a larger fan myself. Since the larger one you are looking at has two speeds, you could always turn it down if you felt like it was going to pull your bead off the mandrel ;-) Plus with a 90 degree bend, that will slow down the airflow somewhat.

Wow, glad to hear you got through everything and are doing ok now! I can understand why you are concerned with safety. Make sure to do some searches and check out some of the safety information that is out there!

Thanks Beth, yes, all is well now and I plan to keep it that way! Don't want to go thru that again for sure.

I have looked at some of the safety info on this forum, its really been helpful. I'm sure I'll come up with the right solution very soon. I have a couple other leads and need to send some pics of my basement studio to one of them for his advise.

Thanks again for your help!

Plynnt - In addition to the Vortech and can fans mentioned by Diane, Fantech looks like it makes a great line of fans, also. There are many squirrel cage fan options, too.

As a recovering cancer patient, a barley box style vent hood system, like Beth has, might be a wise consideration. Beth has a picture posted elsewhere here in Safety. Looks like a nice design, and she made sure she has more than enough fan power. Robert Simmons also has a good design, which he's posted as well.

I've asked around, and no one I've talked with on LE knows how calculate the true safety level of the venting approach in which the flame is positioned to face directly into the vent duct (with no hood). I'm not saying that this approach can't be made to work, I just have no idea how to calculate the proper fan size, or how to know whether the full combustion plume around the flame has truly been captured. As interesting as this approach is, I'm always mindful of some of Robert's posts, in which he notes that the super hot air around the torch rises very, very quickly, which has always left me wondering if the no hood/vent duct approach can adequately capture all the combustion plume....

Linda

Schlerien optic images allow you to observe (among other things) changes in the density of air that you would not otherwise be able to see clearly. The heat plume from a torch changes the refractive index of the air air it is heated and using this technique you can actually image the air currents as they flow up in the space above the flame. I've seen images of several different types of flames (torches included)and IMHO the no-hood approach often fails to capture the entire torch plume. The bigger the torch, the more heat and turbulence there are to deal with. There are some of these systems that work OK, but these are usually in a high end studio or industrial setting. Home built systems often tend to be underpowered and under sized. My personal opinion is that a properly powered and vented hood is the better option for a small studio. You should also smoke test any ventilation system (with a real tester) with the torch running and you in working position to be sure that you really know where your torch plume is going.

Robert

Very helpful information everyone. Thank you so much for your advise.