# Dust collector as shop fan?



## DonnyBahama (Jun 21, 2011)

It's going to be 100+ degrees in my shop for a good (make that BAD!) four months out of every year. Even though I don't have my shop set up yet, I've done other things in my garage and it feels like working in an oven. Having a fan blowing on me the whole time helped. (So did drinking tons of water and taking lots of breaks.) So I was thinking… maybe I could capture the output of my dust collector and use it to just blow all over the shop. I might even be able to incorporate misters in strategic places (i.e. NOT near tools) to get a bit of a cooling effect.

Has anyone tried/done this? Or have any ideas or comments about it?


----------



## crank49 (Apr 7, 2010)

I wouldn't do it unless the collector had a hepa cartridge filter. You could be breathing some nasty fine dust otherwise. Also, my DC is too noisy to put up with listening to for very long. Maybe your's is different. IMHO you would be better off installing a small window unit or some fans.


----------



## dbhost (Jul 20, 2009)

I use my overhead air filter to move air as well, it tends to pick up the cooled air from the AC and move it all the way around the shop…. Even without the AC on it is a huge help…


----------



## dbhost (Jul 20, 2009)

I see you live in Arizona, you might try getting one of those cheap swamp coolers from the hardware store. Or possibly rig something up. A fair word of warning though, this WILL increase the humidity in your shop, and mess with moisture levels in your wood…

When I lived in Tucson, many moons ago as it were, even in August, I could open the garage door, toss a box fan on a bench with a damp towel hung in front of it as a makeshift swamp cooler, and it REALLY worked well… But I wasn't working with expensive hardwoods then, just carving hiking staffs out of found wood…


----------



## stevepeterson (Dec 17, 2009)

Far a mister to have any effect, you have to bring in dry outside air. I bought a swamp cooler for my house many years ago (same concept as a mister, on a larger scale). I thought it would be a good idea to test it before I cut a hole in the wall. I set it up on the floor and filled it with water. Within about 10 minutes, the humidity went from 20% to around 90% and the room felt worse than before. It worked much better after I cut a hole in the wall.


----------



## HorizontalMike (Jun 3, 2010)

The best thing about living in South Texas is the DRY heat. That dry heat keeps my TS, BS, Jointer, and hand planes RUST-FREE, unless I drip sweat on them and that has happened on occasion. IMO, the *LAST THING* I would want to do would be to add a swamp cooler blowing damp air all over my cast iron. I keep a floor fan aimed at me at all times and that seems to work well (and yes drink a lot of H2O).

But maybe that's just me…


----------



## NBeener (Sep 16, 2009)

Cast iron rusts above about 50% RH.

If you can use a swamp cooler and stay UNDER that level, you might have a great solution on your hands


----------



## DonnyBahama (Jun 21, 2011)

A window AC unit is not an option since the shop has no windows. (And I can't just cut a hole for one since we're renting.) for the project I'm working on now, I have a fan going all the time but it's oscillating. I'll try just pointing it at me. I like the idea of the box fan with the damp towel in front. Maybe that wouldn't increase the humidity as much as a real swamp cooler. If I try it, though, I'd need to get some sort of humidity meter. Where do you get such things? And how do you know how accurate they are?


----------



## longgone (May 5, 2009)

How about a floor fan or ceiling fan? I have 2 ceiling fans in my shop that really help. Also have a floor fan and they are pretty cheap.

here are some portable air conditioners I just saw advertised on Lumberjocks. Roll them around..I guess you don't need a window
http://www.compactappliance.com/Portable-Air-Conditioners/Air_Quality-Portable_Air_Conditioners,default,sc.html&src=GOOGLEPPC?mtcpromotion=Google%20Content>Display%20Ads%20Campaign&utm_source=google&utm_campaign=Display%20Ads%20Campaign&utm_medium=Portable%20Air%20Conditioners&utm_term=portable%20air%20conditioner&src=google&gclid=CKGkzO3djaoCFdMn2godZzBS0w


----------



## NBeener (Sep 16, 2009)

I have one of these in my shop, and one in the main house.

When the HVAC guy was out, with his high-end, ridiculously expensive Fluke meter … my RH matched HIS RH to a tenth of a percent.

Good enough for me !


----------



## Grandpa (Jan 28, 2011)

Having lived in Tucson I am not sure you can't keep it below 50% and run a swamp cooler. The humidity is so low there. You would want to check it though. I had no idea it could get that low. I come from SW Oklahoma and the heat is about the same but the humidity gets up a little. We run 20 to 30% I think. This year we have had less rain than Tucson but that is another story.


----------



## bubinga (Feb 5, 2011)

You could use a portable air conditioner , and install a drier vent,through the wall
I have a 10,000 BTU window air conditioner, that cools my shop just fine.
My shop is 450 square foot floor, with 10' ceiling


----------



## TheWoodNerd (Aug 30, 2009)

I don't know about your DC, but my cyclone actually heats the air going through it about 10 degrees.


----------



## TheWoodNerd (Aug 30, 2009)

his high-end, ridiculously expensive Fluke meter … my RH matched HIS RH to a tenth of a percent

Could be just coincidence/luck. One difference between expensive and cheap can be consistency. I remember once back in the 80s we were testing digital thermometers for a large Air Force purchase. A batch of 30 high-priced ones (don't recall what brand) were all within 1/4 degree. A similar batch of cheapos varied by 10 degrees. Any given unit would consistently read the same, but be consistently wrong. Yours might be spot-on, but the next one off the line was a piece of junk.

Cheap is often cheap for a very good reason.


----------

