spark arrestor

balibalistic

balibalistic

Joined
Jul 14, 2004
Messages
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I'm started to spend more time cleaning then i am working anymore. so its time i rig up a dust collection system.

I came accross this spark arrestor the Charles Marlowe drew up and uses. so i rigged one up last night to hook my shop vac up to. i've been grinding TI all day and no fires.., although i think it'd be safe to empety daily.

watertrap.jpg


My question is: could i use a simple blower like this, hooked up through the spark arrestor?? the shop vac just does'nt have enough power to inhale the majority of dust.

http://busybeetools.ca/cgi-bin/picture10?NTITEM=CT126
 
I think something like that would work just fine. Make sure the bag filter is of a good quality/rating so that you're not just blowing the super fines back into the air. The water trap will actually catch quite a bit of the debris. Add some antibacterial dish soap to keep the critters from growing and also to break up the water's surface tension to let stuff settle to the bottom. You may be surprised at how often you have to empty the bucket of the slurry.

--nathan
 
Thanks Shawn, I was in the middle of building two spark arrestors. I was going to make one divided from middle and a gap at the water level, but your's look much more easy to make.

I bought a powerful blower motor, with much vacuum pressure. I'll connect that one to my dust collection piping and it will pump all the crap out to a barrel filled with water. I tested the motor and it works real well ...

Emre
 
They are quite quiet :)

Mine is a cheap one, it is about 60-70 db (I don't mind as I'll put it outside of my shop), but i guess at 150 $ range you'll find some good blower motors running quietly at 50db... Be sure it is about 1 HP or more, with high cfm...
Emre
 
Heres the specs on it!!

FEATURES
Motor: 1 HP, 110V.
Air Suction Capacity: 600 CFM.
Static Pressure: 8".
Noise Level: 65 db.
Bag Volume: 2.67 cubic feet.
Duct Size: One 4" diameter.
Weight: 60 lbs.
 
Here is a drawing of a spark arrestor bucket we've been using for several years. The difference is the blast gate on the outlet. Our dust collector is 1800 cfm. It will pull all of the water out of the bucket in a few minutes. We use the blast gate to reduce airflow until the water stays in the bucket.

Be sure to keep water in the bucket. We've had some exciting fires when the bucket went dry. Titanium and steel dust mixed together burn very very well!

SparkQuenchBucket-s.jpg
 
Thanks for the tip, Chuck!!

Are any of you guys running your collectors off remote switches??
 
Well, i got this hooked up with a 4" intake as well as 4" out. and i'm suckin up water. is the blast gate about my only option?
 
If the water trap is easilly accessable, wouldn't that be good for catching small parts that get away from you when your fingertips catch fire? Better than going into the big dust collecting bag or flying across ther shop, I would imagine. May be even a screen insert or cap.

Cheers,

TV


Terry L. Vandeventer
ABS MS
 
balibalistic said:
And i'm suckin up water. Is the blast gate about my only option?
Click to expand...
We had the same problem of sucking up water. Using the blast gate to limit the airflow solved the problem. We open the blast gate all the way when we are not generating sparks.

vandeventer said:
Maybe even a screen insert or cap.
Click to expand...
We made a screen from 1/2" hardware cloth. I got tired of searching the water trying to find dropped parts.
 
Chuck,

how much suction are you getting with the blast gate?? i made a makeshift blastgate until i pick one up this weekend. but when i restrict air flow just to the point that i'm not sucking up water i have barely any suction. to be honest the shop vac was working better. would a bigger bucket make a diff?
 
2 things come to my mind. Try to make an adjustable opening on the arrestor box. That will lower the pressure in but you'll suck some ambient air around the arrestor which may be good. Also I'm not sure but you use bigger downdraft pipe and get it a bit higher than water level...
Maybe this helps, I'll be building one soon, so this thread is very beneficial for me...
Emre
 
Alright, another question:

Would it be possible to hook this up to an airtight 45 gallon drum with water it it, and skip the spark arrester to just go straight into the drum. or would that be iffy??

just tossing around some ideas.
 
Interesting thread. I made something like this a few years back and it would suck all the water out. I was using a 5hp shop vac. Now I have a big double bag filter for stuff that doesnt spark and a bucket of water for the stuff that does. Would like to get something like this to work though. I like the idea of an adjustable vent on the arrestor box.
Mace
 
I have been researching this subject and I found that professional spark traps are dry systems, consisting of wire meshes and turbulence chambers etc. So I came up with this design. I'll test it making the arrestor box and the exhaust pipe's first 10" portion transparent. So I can look if the system works in a dark environment....
SparkQuenchBucket-s%20copy.jpg


Emre Kipmen
 
My arrestor system is almost exactly what emre has drawn. The downdraft pipe needs to be higher off the bucket floor. Mine is about 4" above the floor.
NOTE - This type of unit is for metal grinding only. If you grind wood and metal on the same trap, it may well end up a smoldering toe warmer. Install a two way gate ( Y fitting) and send wood dust directly to the dust collector, and metal dust to the spark arrestor. Just remember to open/close the right gates when switching from wood to metal.
Stacy
 
Well, i hooked up the blastgate. when i restrict it enough to not inhale water i dont get much suction. do you guys think a 10g bucket would make a difference as hose would be further from water??

on a good note, i picked up the I-VAC switch for $30. man, this is cool. as soon as i turn grinder on the dust collection turns on to. when i turn grinder off the dc runs for an additional 6 seconds to get any floating debris.
 
balibalistic said:
Well, i hooked up the blastgate. when i restrict it enough to not inhale water i dont get much suction. do you guys think a 10g bucket would make a difference as hose would be further from water??
Click to expand...

That makes sense, what is the current box size now?
 
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