Yep. Prolly get a lot of views on this one. There’s a channel on here ‘Mike’s Wood Shed’ and he’s a real-life plumber that does his channel on his hobby (which appears to be buying everything Milwaukee, Festool and Woodpecker make). He did a video on piping that is his most popular ever.. th-cam.com/video/wZtZ6zkaggo/w-d-xo.html
Thank you, I've been arguing this exact issue with friends for ages now and they keep telling me I'm going to blow my workshop up because it's dust extraction PVC pipework is not grounded. I shall show them this video in the hopes they finally back off and leave me in peace :)
Brilliant! I have been saying this for years. I too am a full time electrician part time hobbyist and had some good laughs at the lengths people go to when earthing pvc pipe. It seems simple to us electricians as it is our job but finally someone has went to the effort of creating a decent video explaining it.
I’m glad you said this. I am not an electrician and I have been hearing woodworkers talking about this. I’m glad to hear someone who actually knows what they are talking about speaking up.
Thanks John! I never bought (figuratively and literally) into the grounding of PVC tubing. I saw the TH-camrs who did and thought they were nuts. I always looked at the situation as a reverse wire and thought that was common sense. You demonstrated it perfectly by showing that unless to touch the wire with the electrical probe, nothing will happen. PVC is an insulator and therefore will not allow current to flow through it. In todays mass communication overload, I have never heard of a small home or small business that has had an explosion due to dust collection static electricity discharge.
I've had a pvc dust extraction system for decades and never thought about grounding the system. Never had an issue but since youtube said it was dangerous I was a little concerned. My system was installed by my friend who was an electrician. I never thought two things about it. Thank you for the information. My new shop will get a new extraction system and I will not be grounding the pvc.
I just saw for the first time someone grounding their PVC dust collection pipe and didn't know this was a thing. Thankfully your video was the first I found when searching the topic. Thanks for saving me some time and head scratching!
Thanks so much. I’ve been looking at videos of people running copper wire all through their systems and wondering if it’s really needed. Your explaination is very powerful and clear. Thanks again!
Also, as far as I am aware (and I would welcome any evidence to the contrary), there has NEVER been a documented case of a dust collector explosion from static build-up, only "I heard about it from a friend who saw someone on a blog saying that they knew someone -- yada yada yada."
This was a wildly helpful and timely video. I'm tackling an update on my dust extraction in the next week or so and I've been feeling a bit overwhelmed with the articles I've read that all talk in circles about the best grounding method. This made a lot of sense to me and is going to save me a heap of grief in the process. Thanks!
I had the same belief it's almost impossible to make the dust explode in a home workshop so I never bothered with grounding. I finally caved and grounded my pipes cause the static from the pipes and flexible hose zapped my CNC Z-axis motor (my fault it was pretty close) which fried the stepper driver or at least this is the only conclusion I could think of. I know you can't remove all the static from the pipes and the hose as I can still feel the hair on my arm rise a little sometimes when I get closer to the hose or the pipe but before grounding I could feel it from a longer distance and it made my hair stand like a scared cat LOL thanks for the great video
Thanks for the best explanation of the workings of static electricity in plastic ductwork that I have seen. I am a magnet for static electricity, and constantly got shocks from my extraction pipework...I thought about trying to earth it, decided it was pointless, and simply stopped touching the bloody thing! With regard to the danger of explosion, that is all down to the particles of dust in the system and their size...I think it's unlikely that a home woodworker would generate fine enough dust in sufficient quantities to trigger an explosion...but if it worries you metal ducting is the only real solution.
I would ask, were there days that you tended to get shocked more often than others when touching the pvc pipe or toils? What type of clothing you were wearing and relative humidity could easily have been an influence with you getting shocked. Man-made clothing such as polyester will easily build up a static charge versus cotton as you walk around the shop and move your arms and legs.
@@rogerwhoareyou definitely more shocks when it's cold and even more when wearing a fleece. Temperature and clothing certainly play a part but I can ģenerate a static shock wearing cotton boxers!
@@davidhull1610 This is where grounding the outside of the PVC pipes makes sense. That will drain off the charge to ground and you won't get the static buildup shock.
Was literally online searching for the appropriate copper wire for "grounding" my new DE System, because I believed all the explosive hype. Thanks for this video!
Great video. I worked as an electrician in a coffee plant. They produced ground as well as instant coffee. While they did produce their own instant coffee they also bought instant coffee in the form of powder. One evening we got a call that an employee reported getting electrically shocked. The employee was vacuuming the powdered coffee from a bag in a box. The hose was similar to a swimming pool hose, all plastic. There was nothing connected to the electrical system. We told him that there was no way he could get shocked. After some back and forth we duplicated his task and sure enough after about 30 seconds you would get a jolt that would knock your socks off. We stripped the insulation off a length of copper wire and wound it around the hose and attached it to a grounded piece of equipment, problem solved. Luckily that was the end of the incident but I was impressed. Dust filled environments are the second most hazardous just behind flammable vapors. As John pointed out it is unlikely that a home workshop would produce a concentration of dust like an industrial plant.
Thank you, John. Decades ago, I worked in a plant where grain was processed into starch and sugar. The most dangerous place was at the top of the grain elevators (silos), where dust came off the grain as it was moved around. We used aluminum shovels to get rid of the dust, and our boots were checked for exposed nails. Never got blown up, nor was there an explosion at that plant. I doubt that my workshop is as dusty as that plant. Probably the biggest hazard was having 18 or 19 year old young men working there.....
I used to work at Simpson's maltings in Berwick on Tweed, Northumberland UK. There was loads of dust from the barley grain. I was never aware of a danger of explosions there. I have heard of dust explosions, I can't remember where, how and what kind of dust though
I am not an electrician but I never understood why other guys were doing this but then I started to believe that it was best to try to ground it. So glad I found this video. You made a believer out of me. Just Subscribed. Thank you sir!
FINALLY!!! John you’ve been able to show what I’ve been saying for years!!! And, for those in doubt, the facts of the physics involved doesn’t change depending on which side of the Atlantic you’re on!!! (I’m an electrician as well, on the far west coast of Canada and with almost 31 yrs as an inspector and prior to that, an electrical apprentice trades training instructor) I run outta fingers trying to count the number of times I’ve had this same ‘discussion’ with supposed ‘professionals’ (ie: electrical engineer consultants) on building requirements they’ve spec’d.
Thank you brother. Finally, maybe I can convince people with YOUR video. I'm a 40+year retired power lineman and have been telling people on my favorite woodworking site this same thing. But, there are always those moron 'experts' who have no idea what they're talking about who blabber on and confuse the issue. You did a great job at explaining this....I'm not that patient.
John! Thank you so much for this video. I recently saw a post in a FB forum on this topic as well. I have only recently started watching your videos on TH-cam and have learned so much. I love wood working but am fairly new to it in a shop setting. Framed houses and have done a lot of trim work in the field but only recently set up my home shop. And you have been a blessing my friend! As soon as I can I will support you in Patreon. Things are really tight right now as Covid has put both my wife and I out of work. Thanks again and keep the vids coming!
You are very welcome Greg, take care of you and your family first, don't worry about Patreon my video's will always be free. As long as you enjoy the content and find it useful that's good enough for me.
Thanks for the common sense! I worked in electric motor shops for many years and all the hype about wrapping PVC pipe and drilling screws at every connection made no sense to me while setting up my system. Using hoses direct to my collector, I have had bare wire inside the hose which seemed to work fine with the machines connected with the collector commonly grounded. That seems the simple solution to continue with here. Great job!
Brilliant , similar to you I’m an electrical engineer and have seen similar videos to the ones you referenced and couldn’t understand what was happening. If people are concerned then think about all those wood finishes like danish oil which can self ignite this is far more dangerous again great video👍
Thanks for great video John. I agree. As long as all your tools, the dust extractor, and the dust storage bin are grounded, I think you are good to go.
Fantastic video, John! Thanks a lot! 😃 But yeah, the idea of grounding PVC pipe never made sense to me! Metallic pipe, on the other hand, makes total sense! Anyway, happy new year! And stay safe there with your family! 🖖😊
Beautifully articulated and logically explained. Well done. I think the most important part of the video was the advice of emptying the sawdust bin. The concern, in my opinion, is using a dust collector with a metallic impeller and sending a screw, or some other metallic object down the line to spark into the bin, thereby introducing the potential for a fire. No static made that happen. Thank you for the explanation.
Good video. Makes sense. I live in a very dry climate where during the winter RH can be lower than 20%. I find adding humidity solves a lot of problems with static electricity on my 3D printers.
Great plain language video for all to understand. I did some research on this earlier in the year to work out why people thought this was an issue. I actually found a scientific paper where they tried to create a static fire in pvc ducting plus they also looked at saw dust fire and the amount of dust to create a explosive environment. They concluded like you say that in a small home workshop it was virtually impossible to create enough volume of dust to come close to a critical mix.
John - thanks for putting this up and I hope this does persuade people to think about what they're doing when installing a system. i think Stumpy Nubs did a very similar video recently with similar advice. The best advice you gave was to avoid PVC if you are in anyway concerned about static in a dust system and install metal. Even if the risk is negligible, if you perceive that risk to be at a level you feel you must act, then act in the right way. All these mitigations you see on youtube are basically nonsense. Anyway keep up the good work. K.
Thanks John for sharing your knowledge. Great explanations of why you shouldn't worry about this in a small shop and what you should be focusing on. Keep up the great work.
Great video. I've spent the last 40 years working in cabinet shops of 5 to 15 men. We've always used PVC for the dust collection because it was cheap and easy. The closest we've ever come to grounding it was the pieces that were laying on the concrete. Sure the outside collects a small amount of static, but nowhere near enough to cause the spark needed. Most people don't understand the amount of dust in the air required to create the explosion. You're right about the amount of dust in the collector being the greater hazard. Unfortunately this info will not convince those that are adamant about grounding,but will hopefully help the rest.
Awesome ! As an engineer, we agree entirely. However, as a pragmatist I was really tired of getting zapped in a dry/heated shop. I ran copper wire from ground on the dust extractor, through the existing pvc piping, and rejoined them at the metal blast plates. Problem solved - I didn't get zapped anymore. It's hard to rationalize wrapping the nonconductive piping in wire since the flow causing the static is inside. Regarding an explosion, I'm more concerned about solvents and dirty rags in the shop. Any potential source of sparks should be safely grounded.
Thank you very much. I'm about to install a ducting system in my workshop and was recommended this video. Keep up the good work. I really enjoy your videos and you give inspiration to do more of my own. Cheers.
Interesting and useful info. In what conditions and what ducting material can an explosion happen? We use an atex rated vacuum for extracting very fine powder but also use a standard shop vac on a steel shot blaster. We get a lot of static from this.
Awesome video, John. A clear, concise explanation that even this layman can understand. So glad I saw this prior to hooking up my dust collection system. Cheers!
I have the Dewalt 735 and because it has a blower it produces a lot of static. It's the only machine in my amateur shop that produces enough static to bother me. I attached a copper wire to a screw on the planer that's grounded and i fed the wire in the pipe and it comes out at my cyclone which is not on the plastic bucket. I attached the dust deputy to a large 50gal steel drum. so I attached the other end of the copper wire to the bolt on the bottom of the dust deputy and all the static is gone. i caulked the entry and exit point of the bare copper wire to the pipe.
great job John. I worked with extruding Teflon and it produced up to 40000 volts of static. We used Ionized air bars. and reduced to under 1000 volt. I have a small Ionizing bar on my dust collection and it works great.
Finally someone telling the facts from myth. the biggest concern should be cutting through nails and those hot metal shards making their way to the dust collector.
If you have CNC machinery, you still need to ground the wire reinforcement in hoses and the blast gates, to protect the sensitive electronics. But he's right, you're not likely to start a fire and you *can't* ground plastic piping.
well done john that's why I subscribe to you and more people should I've been saying this for years but someone sets a trend and people believe it well said mate keep up the good work............any new people on here subscribe he has a brain and he is straight forward and honest
Hi. Thanks for the info . I am about to do some dust piping around my garage workshop.Yes I know the the pvc is not the best but it’s mostly what I can get .Had looked at the tape with screws as I was thinking it would be the only way to do it .My workshop is mostly for metal work so I ended up getting better filted vacuums for the smaller tools .Going to do hose with power cord so I use the vacuum more .As well shorten all the wood working power tools leads .Thinking it will be the best way for me to use the vacuum more than it’s only a small cut and using a vacuum . I have done the power thing once and don,t want a repeat . 66,000 volts at about 200 amps to my body when I was a teenager . Keep the great work up . Thanks David Australia
Only reason i can conceive of is people misunderstanding why you might ground a flexible vacuum tube and applying festool logic to everything that sucks. Basically expensive green tools speed controllers can be susceptible to ESD (Electro Static Discharge) the same thing that can kill computers and people wear anti static wrist bands to prevent when servicing electronics, so cheap shop vacs often can build up a charge in the flexible pipe and nozzle and blat the tool. Its cheaper and easier to market special ESD hoses than fix your circuit and machine designs.....
Amazing explanation. I am still happy I chose to go metal as it is cheaper, easier to work with, everything fits as it adherers to ducting standards rather than sewer pipe sizes and easy to ground. I myself seem to hold a charge and I find static shocks annoying. I think another myth to talk about is the cost comparison. If you go to your local plumbing supplier think you would be "shocked" (pun intended) to know how cheap spiral air ducting is vs PVC, especially when you need larger sizes like 6, 7 and 8"
Just getting into woodwork and kept coming across this subject. Best explanation John thank you! I might even start a youtube channel on how not to do things! Great job!
If you have the static negative electron build up along a whole length of your PVC pipe then all these electrons will create a "highway" that will be conductive and find the easiest path to discharge. Highly unlikely to happen in a home workshop but possible. Also, I've found that facing Epoxy Resin from a River Table tends to create a lot of static from the Resin Shavings. So in my case, I still run a copper wire in my PVC ducting and noticed none of these resin shavings stick to my piping or flexi pipe. Ps: It's not about Explosions it's about fire in your Extraction System. One little spark can make wood dust smolder for day's until one day with enough oxygen it will cause a fire.
Dumb and Dumber movie scene with Jim Carrey and Lauren Holly.... *Lloyd Christmas:* I want to ask you a question, straight out, flat out, and I want you to give me the honest answer. What do you think the chances are of a guy like you and a girl like me ending up together? *Mary Swanson:* Well Lloyd, that's difficult to say. We really don't... *Lloyd Christmas:* Hit me with it! Just give it to me straight! I came a long way just to see you Mary, just... The least you can do is level with me. What are my chances? *Mary Swanson:* Not good. *Lloyd Christmas:* [he gulps, his mouth twitching] You mean, not good like one out of a hundred? *Mary Swanson:* I'd say more like one out of a million. *Lloyd Christmas:* [long pause while he processes what he's heard] So you're telling me there's a chance. YEAH!
I often get nasty shocks at the dust boot of my CNC after long cuts with the DC on. Planning to ground the short length of flex tubing that is present before it reaches 6" PVC, I guess it's not worth running a wire through the entire PVC line? Static can be a big deal in CNC applications, causing connection issues at the least and frying small components at the worst.
Totally agree with your conclusion on not needing to ground PVC pipe in a dust collection system. Just curious as to why it is nearly impossible to have an explosive atmosphere in a home wood shop? So, what exactly is different between a commercial woodworking shop and a home shop for this?
@@mikemeadows7312 Disagree. Yes, this would cause a lower risk for shop fire at home versus commercial. However, the video stated it was nearly impossible to have an explosive atmosphere in a home wood shop. That is a very absolute statement, so if true, there has to be something more to this than just a difference in volume and rate of dust flow between the two.
Great video! I posted a couple of videos about using engineering to build better dust collection systems, and I was planning a video about static electricity and myths! So I totally agree with what you said 😊 Great video 😊
John, great content. My own electrical training (years ago) agrees with everything. I recently bought a Rikon dust collector, but had not opened it yet. I pulled out the manual and read the text below. Whats your opinion? GROUNDING THE DUCT WORK NOTE: For permanent dust collector set-ups, the following instructions are recommended. For the occasional use of any dust collector, care must none-the-less be taken to keep the hose and bag clean. Dust particles moving through flexible or rigid plastic duct work can cause static electricity build-up. The duct work must be properly grounded to ensure that static discharge does not ignite fine dust particles causing an explosion or fire. To properly ground plastic duct work, simply run a small gauge bare copper wire through the ducting and have it emerge from the hose at the dust collector and at each dust producing machine. The bare copper wire should be bonded to the metal shell of each machine by means of a metal screw. The screw must be threaded into the metal shell to ensure a good connection.
John. I didn’t really understand the meter readings. But that’s ok. I did understand that my plans to use PVC pipe for my small workshop is safe. I trust your input.
Great demonstration. Now if you want to built, not a PVC dust collection system, but a cyclone dust collector with a metal drum, on which your vaccum will be connected to, do you need to ground the metal drum at all? and if so, how do you do it? Thanks
It would be better to call it a capacitor (yes I do realize 2 of the same metals are a capacitor and 2 different ones are a battery but we are only talking about static charge.). The charge on the inside then a non conductive material then charge on the outside. It works like a Wimshurst machine. The charge hit you because you are full of fluid and that is a great conductor. Also wouldn't it have been easier to capture any static in a dryer flexible line? It has wire already built into it.
You state that PVC is an insulator, however when the tube is full of moving dust the dust can hold a charge and conceivably conduct the charge from one dust particle to another. There will still be a charge on the PVC but some of it can be bled off by providing a ground path that goes through the dust.
Mate your accent reminds me of a year I spent as an exchange student in Limerick, which was some of the happiest times of my life :) Nice channel too, I'll be checking it out!
The grounding and associated static issues have been overblown over the years. My PVC system for dust extraction hasnt exploded yet...lol. I always figured if someone was adamant about static grounding...it would be simple to put a screw through the pvc at intervals. If you connect the screws to a solid ground..you have a path for errant electrons to leave. You could do an entire system for a couple of dollars.
Hi John, it is worth pointing out that quite often the static shock experienced by people occurs when they touch a grounded conductive surface due to build up of charge within their body and this is made a lot worse if you are insulated from the ground. You probably have found that wearing certain types of footwear e.g. plastic/rubber soled trainers, makes this worse. Just worth pointing this out. It's not always the pipe giving you a shock as such but the accumulative transfer of charge to the human body before being subsequently discharged resulting in a shock. In my company (an electronics manufacturer), we all wear anti-static heel clamps to safely discharge any possible build up of charge to the ground before it can be transferred through sensitive electronic devices.
Thanks for this John, a nice, clear explanation with just enough detail to help us non sparkies understand. Couple of questions for you if you have time... 1. What types of machines are going to be the worst offending? Those that generate larger chips? 2. You say it's almost impossible to create an explosive atmosphere in a home workshop. Why is that, is it due to the volume of sawdust/chips or something else? Thanks again, really enjoying the channel
Any machine that produces a lot of dust and chippings so Planers, drum sanders and the like. For an explosive atmosphere to occur you need the the right fuel to air ratio and you will never produce enough constant fine dust in a home system for that to occur.
“it’s a waste of time to ground” while he’s grounding his system because it didn’t take any time to do it, because he was getting shocked when he touched the system…. so what your saying is it’s a waste of time to overdo it but not a bad idea to do it just a little… because it helps a little to do enough to not get shocked
I’m using the typical blue drum for my cyclone system. I have a metal Titan vacuum. I’m getting crazy amounts of static, to the point where I’m getting big shocks
In my country I am also an electrician. I agree with your message but wonder why you gave the doubters that last ray of hope by adding a ground at your desk? What were you thinking?
This should go Viral. Fantastic explanation John, thank you. At a minimum you’ve saved a rookie (me) from wasteful expense.
Glad it helped
Yep. Prolly get a lot of views on this one.
There’s a channel on here ‘Mike’s Wood Shed’ and he’s a real-life plumber that does his channel on his hobby (which appears to be buying everything Milwaukee, Festool and Woodpecker make). He did a video on piping that is his most popular ever..
th-cam.com/video/wZtZ6zkaggo/w-d-xo.html
You’ve convinced me, now I’m going to run some grounding wires off my push broom.
The best explanation I have heard on grounding dust collection. Thanks, John.
Glad it was helpful!
Thank you, I've been arguing this exact issue with friends for ages now and they keep telling me I'm going to blow my workshop up because it's dust extraction PVC pipework is not grounded. I shall show them this video in the hopes they finally back off and leave me in peace :)
If it was explosive every vacuum system would be blowing up. They aren’t, enough said.
@@akbychoice exactly my argument
Brilliant! I have been saying this for years. I too am a full time electrician part time hobbyist and had some good laughs at the lengths people go to when earthing pvc pipe. It seems simple to us electricians as it is our job but finally someone has went to the effort of creating a decent video explaining it.
Nice one John, I had a Chicken Madras and 8 cans of lager last night so my workshop was very explosive this morning!
😂🤣
😂
I’m glad you said this. I am not an electrician and I have been hearing woodworkers talking about this. I’m glad to hear someone who actually knows what they are talking about speaking up.
Hopefully it helps
Thanks John! I never bought (figuratively and literally) into the grounding of PVC tubing. I saw the TH-camrs who did and thought they were nuts. I always looked at the situation as a reverse wire and thought that was common sense. You demonstrated it perfectly by showing that unless to touch the wire with the electrical probe, nothing will happen. PVC is an insulator and therefore will not allow current to flow through it. In todays mass communication overload, I have never heard of a small home or small business that has had an explosion due to dust collection static electricity discharge.
Great video to stop hobby woodworkers worrying about the possibility of explosions in dust extraction systems!
I've had a pvc dust extraction system for decades and never thought about grounding the system. Never had an issue but since youtube said it was dangerous I was a little concerned. My system was installed by my friend who was an electrician. I never thought two things about it. Thank you for the information. My new shop will get a new extraction system and I will not be grounding the pvc.
Thank you. As a retired Electrical Engineer and woodworking hobbyist, this topic is a pet peeve of mine. Your explanations are spot on.
Very welcome
I just saw for the first time someone grounding their PVC dust collection pipe and didn't know this was a thing. Thankfully your video was the first I found when searching the topic. Thanks for saving me some time and head scratching!
The best explanation I have heard on grounding dust collection. You’ve saved me from a wasteful expense. Thanks, John. Regards from Portugal.
Glad to help
Thanks so much. I’ve been looking at videos of people running copper wire all through their systems and wondering if it’s really needed. Your explaination is very powerful and clear. Thanks again!
Also, as far as I am aware (and I would welcome any evidence to the contrary), there has NEVER been a documented case of a dust collector explosion from static build-up, only "I heard about it from a friend who saw someone on a blog saying that they knew someone -- yada yada yada."
This was a wildly helpful and timely video. I'm tackling an update on my dust extraction in the next week or so and I've been feeling a bit overwhelmed with the articles I've read that all talk in circles about the best grounding method. This made a lot of sense to me and is going to save me a heap of grief in the process. Thanks!
Glad it helped
I had the same belief it's almost impossible to make the dust explode in a home workshop so I never bothered with grounding. I finally caved and grounded my pipes cause the static from the pipes and flexible hose zapped my CNC Z-axis motor (my fault it was pretty close) which fried the stepper driver or at least this is the only conclusion I could think of. I know you can't remove all the static from the pipes and the hose as I can still feel the hair on my arm rise a little sometimes when I get closer to the hose or the pipe but before grounding I could feel it from a longer distance and it made my hair stand like a scared cat LOL
thanks for the great video
Thanks for the best explanation of the workings of static electricity in plastic ductwork that I have seen. I am a magnet for static electricity, and constantly got shocks from my extraction pipework...I thought about trying to earth it, decided it was pointless, and simply stopped touching the bloody thing!
With regard to the danger of explosion, that is all down to the particles of dust in the system and their size...I think it's unlikely that a home woodworker would generate fine enough dust in sufficient quantities to trigger an explosion...but if it worries you metal ducting is the only real solution.
I would ask, were there days that you tended to get shocked more often than others when touching the pvc pipe or toils? What type of clothing you were wearing and relative humidity could easily have been an influence with you getting shocked. Man-made clothing such as polyester will easily build up a static charge versus cotton as you walk around the shop and move your arms and legs.
@@rogerwhoareyou definitely more shocks when it's cold and even more when wearing a fleece. Temperature and clothing certainly play a part but I can ģenerate a static shock wearing cotton boxers!
@@davidhull1610 This is where grounding the outside of the PVC pipes makes sense. That will drain off the charge to ground and you won't get the static buildup shock.
Was literally online searching for the appropriate copper wire for "grounding" my new DE System, because I believed all the explosive hype. Thanks for this video!
You are welcome
Great video. I worked as an electrician in a coffee plant. They produced ground as well as instant coffee. While they did produce their own instant coffee they also bought instant coffee in the form of powder. One evening we got a call that an employee reported getting electrically shocked. The employee was vacuuming the powdered coffee from a bag in a box. The hose was similar to a swimming pool hose, all plastic. There was nothing connected to the electrical system. We told him that there was no way he could get shocked. After some back and forth we duplicated his task and sure enough after about 30 seconds you would get a jolt that would knock your socks off. We stripped the insulation off a length of copper wire and wound it around the hose and attached it to a grounded piece of equipment, problem solved. Luckily that was the end of the incident but I was impressed. Dust filled environments are the second most hazardous just behind flammable vapors. As John pointed out it is unlikely that a home workshop would produce a concentration of dust like an industrial plant.
Thank you, John. Decades ago, I worked in a plant where grain was processed into starch and sugar. The most dangerous place was at the top of the grain elevators (silos), where dust came off the grain as it was moved around. We used aluminum shovels to get rid of the dust, and our boots were checked for exposed nails. Never got blown up, nor was there an explosion at that plant. I doubt that my workshop is as dusty as that plant. Probably the biggest hazard was having 18 or 19 year old young men working there.....
I used to work at Simpson's maltings in Berwick on Tweed, Northumberland UK. There was loads of dust from the barley grain. I was never aware of a danger of explosions there. I have heard of dust explosions, I can't remember where, how and what kind of dust though
I am not an electrician but I never understood why other guys were doing this but then I started to believe that it was best to try to ground it. So glad I found this video. You made a believer out of me. Just Subscribed. Thank you sir!
FINALLY!!! John you’ve been able to show what I’ve been saying for years!!! And, for those in doubt, the facts of the physics involved doesn’t change depending on which side of the Atlantic you’re on!!! (I’m an electrician as well, on the far west coast of Canada and with almost 31 yrs as an inspector and prior to that, an electrical apprentice trades training instructor) I run outta fingers trying to count the number of times I’ve had this same ‘discussion’ with supposed ‘professionals’ (ie: electrical engineer consultants) on building requirements they’ve spec’d.
Glad to be of help!
Thanks for the info. I was getting close to grounding my PVC pipe so this will save me time & money.
No problem 👍
Thank you brother. Finally, maybe I can convince people with YOUR video. I'm a 40+year retired power lineman and have been telling people on my favorite woodworking site this same thing. But, there are always those moron 'experts' who have no idea what they're talking about who blabber on and confuse the issue. You did a great job at explaining this....I'm not that patient.
Hopefully it helps!
John! Thank you so much for this video. I recently saw a post in a FB forum on this topic as well.
I have only recently started watching your videos on TH-cam and have learned so much. I love wood working but am fairly new to it in a shop setting. Framed houses and have done a lot of trim work in the field but only recently set up my home shop. And you have been a blessing my friend! As soon as I can I will support you in Patreon. Things are really tight right now as Covid has put both my wife and I out of work.
Thanks again and keep the vids coming!
You are very welcome Greg, take care of you and your family first, don't worry about Patreon my video's will always be free. As long as you enjoy the content and find it useful that's good enough for me.
@@JohnMcGrathManInShed I just really appreciate you sharing what you know. Have learned a lot and look forward to more! Thanks John!
Very good video.
Danger of explosion is greatest if you grind metal on a belt sander connected to the dustextration.
It's a "no go"
Thanks for the common sense! I worked in electric motor shops for many years and all the hype about wrapping PVC pipe and drilling screws at every connection made no sense to me while setting up my system. Using hoses direct to my collector, I have had bare wire inside the hose which seemed to work fine with the machines connected with the collector commonly grounded. That seems the simple solution to continue with here. Great job!
Brilliant , similar to you I’m an electrical engineer and have seen similar videos to the ones you referenced and couldn’t understand what was happening. If people are concerned then think about all those wood finishes like danish oil which can self ignite this is far more dangerous again great video👍
I am currently adding my first dust collection to my small garage shop, and was wondering about this. I am so glad I found your video.
This is the most helpful video on dust extraction systems on TH-cam, Thank you.
Glad it was helpful!
Thanks for great video John. I agree. As long as all your tools, the dust extractor, and the dust storage bin are grounded, I think you are good to go.
Thank you for the common sense in this. Absolutely brilliant. Not sure the “experts” out there will agree, but your piece was just so clear.
Hope it helps Paul.
I’ve been trying to tell my woodworking friends this for years. Maybe now they will listen. Cheers! 🍻
As an engineer, this is a great, informative and clear video that helped even me! Thank you.
Most welcome
Fantastic video, John! Thanks a lot! 😃
But yeah, the idea of grounding PVC pipe never made sense to me! Metallic pipe, on the other hand, makes total sense!
Anyway, happy new year! And stay safe there with your family! 🖖😊
Beautifully articulated and logically explained. Well done. I think the most important part of the video was the advice of emptying the sawdust bin. The concern, in my opinion, is using a dust collector with a metallic impeller and sending a screw, or some other metallic object down the line to spark into the bin, thereby introducing the potential for a fire. No static made that happen. Thank you for the explanation.
You are very welcome.
Good video. Makes sense. I live in a very dry climate where during the winter RH can be lower than 20%. I find adding humidity solves a lot of problems with static electricity on my 3D printers.
great job on this. it makes me laugh how many people really think their shop will explode
Great plain language video for all to understand. I did some research on this earlier in the year to work out why people thought this was an issue. I actually found a scientific paper where they tried to create a static fire in pvc ducting plus they also looked at saw dust fire and the amount of dust to create a explosive environment. They concluded like you say that in a small home workshop it was virtually impossible to create enough volume of dust to come close to a critical mix.
Great stuff John! Great to hear a thorough explanation from a professional. Thanks a lot!
No problem!
John - thanks for putting this up and I hope this does persuade people to think about what they're doing when installing a system. i think Stumpy Nubs did a very similar video recently with similar advice.
The best advice you gave was to avoid PVC if you are in anyway concerned about static in a dust system and install metal. Even if the risk is negligible, if you perceive that risk to be at a level you feel you must act, then act in the right way. All these mitigations you see on youtube are basically nonsense. Anyway keep up the good work. K.
Good job. About time someone put this video out there. 👌
Thanks John for sharing your knowledge. Great explanations of why you shouldn't worry about this in a small shop and what you should be focusing on. Keep up the great work.
Glad to help
Great video. I've spent the last 40 years working in cabinet shops of 5 to 15 men. We've always used PVC for the dust collection because it was cheap and easy. The closest we've ever come to grounding it was the pieces that were laying on the concrete. Sure the outside collects a small amount of static, but nowhere near enough to cause the spark needed. Most people don't understand the amount of dust in the air required to create the explosion. You're right about the amount of dust in the collector being the greater hazard. Unfortunately this info will not convince those that are adamant about grounding,but will hopefully help the rest.
Awesome ! As an engineer, we agree entirely. However, as a pragmatist I was really tired of getting zapped in a dry/heated shop. I ran copper wire from ground on the dust extractor, through the existing pvc piping, and rejoined them at the metal blast plates. Problem solved - I didn't get zapped anymore. It's hard to rationalize wrapping the nonconductive piping in wire since the flow causing the static is inside. Regarding an explosion, I'm more concerned about solvents and dirty rags in the shop. Any potential source of sparks should be safely grounded.
Brilliant John.
I didn't even know it was a thing.
It's the first time I've heard of it. Iol.
Thanks.
Thank you very much. I'm about to install a ducting system in my workshop and was recommended this video.
Keep up the good work. I really enjoy your videos and you give inspiration to do more of my own.
Cheers.
Nicely done!
About time! Great to see some expertise being brought to bear against time and money wasting misguidance! Thanks for sharing, John.
Glad to help
Interesting and useful info. In what conditions and what ducting material can an explosion happen? We use an atex rated vacuum for extracting very fine powder but also use a standard shop vac on a steel shot blaster. We get a lot of static from this.
Awesome video, John. A clear, concise explanation that even this layman can understand. So glad I saw this prior to hooking up my dust collection system. Cheers!
Glad it was helpful!
Unbelievable how so many people give out bad info. I watched an hours worth of videos talking about how this works before finding this.
I have the Dewalt 735 and because it has a blower it produces a lot of static. It's the only machine in my amateur shop that produces enough static to bother me. I attached a copper wire to a screw on the planer that's grounded and i fed the wire in the pipe and it comes out at my cyclone which is not on the plastic bucket. I attached the dust deputy to a large 50gal steel drum. so I attached the other end of the copper wire to the bolt on the bottom of the dust deputy and all the static is gone. i caulked the entry and exit point of the bare copper wire to the pipe.
great job John. I worked with extruding Teflon and it produced up to 40000 volts of static. We used Ionized air bars. and reduced to under 1000 volt. I have a small Ionizing bar on my dust collection and it works great.
Yeah I believe ionized gas is also used in pvc pipe for static.
Finally someone telling the facts from myth. the biggest concern should be cutting through nails and those hot metal shards making their way to the dust collector.
Great vid John, i was doubting to do earthing, you saved me some time i can spend on creating :)
If you have CNC machinery, you still need to ground the wire reinforcement in hoses and the blast gates, to protect the sensitive electronics. But he's right, you're not likely to start a fire and you *can't* ground plastic piping.
Thank you for this. I was considering wrapping my PVC system in wire, but this has convinced me now that it is completely useless.
You are welcome!
Man! this video deserves more views! Thanks for the information
I've always laughed at people paying ridiculous money for dust extraction systems, great explanation.
well done john that's why I subscribe to you and more people should I've been saying this for years but someone sets a trend and people believe it well said mate keep up the good work............any new people on here subscribe he has a brain and he is straight forward and honest
Very kind of you Anthony
Hi. Thanks for the info . I am about to do some dust piping around my garage workshop.Yes I know the the pvc is not the best but it’s mostly what I can get .Had looked at the tape with screws as I was thinking it would be the only way to do it .My workshop is mostly for metal work so I ended up getting better filted vacuums for the smaller tools .Going to do hose with power cord so I use the vacuum more .As well shorten all the wood working power tools leads .Thinking it will be the best way for me to use the vacuum more than it’s only a small cut and using a vacuum . I have done the power thing once and don,t want a repeat . 66,000 volts at about 200 amps to my body when I was a teenager . Keep the great work up . Thanks David Australia
Finally someone sharing on the internet who knows what they’re talking about. Thanks for doing this. Hopefully static works the same here in Canada 😂
Glad it was helpful!
It should work the same, it only goes the other way in 'stralia
Thanks for the brilliantly demonstrated reassurance and education, John. Erin go Bragh!
No problem Kevin
Only reason i can conceive of is people misunderstanding why you might ground a flexible vacuum tube and applying festool logic to everything that sucks. Basically expensive green tools speed controllers can be susceptible to ESD (Electro Static Discharge) the same thing that can kill computers and people wear anti static wrist bands to prevent when servicing electronics, so cheap shop vacs often can build up a charge in the flexible pipe and nozzle and blat the tool. Its cheaper and easier to market special ESD hoses than fix your circuit and machine designs.....
Thanks John, someone who eventually makes sense
C'est clair, bien illustré et bien démontré. Merci, ça m'a énormement aidé.
Amazing explanation. I am still happy I chose to go metal as it is cheaper, easier to work with, everything fits as it adherers to ducting standards rather than sewer pipe sizes and easy to ground. I myself seem to hold a charge and I find static shocks annoying. I think another myth to talk about is the cost comparison. If you go to your local plumbing supplier think you would be "shocked" (pun intended) to know how cheap spiral air ducting is vs PVC, especially when you need larger sizes like 6, 7 and 8"
Googled spiral air duct the moment I'd read this. Wow! Thanks. It's really cheap!
@@cuebj Your welcome. Glad I could help.
Just getting into woodwork and kept coming across this subject. Best explanation John thank you! I might even start a youtube channel on how not to do things! Great job!
Glad it was helpful Alan.
If you have the static negative electron build up along a whole length of your PVC pipe then all these electrons will create a "highway" that will be conductive and find the easiest path to discharge. Highly unlikely to happen in a home workshop but possible. Also, I've found that facing Epoxy Resin from a River Table tends to create a lot of static from the Resin Shavings. So in my case, I still run a copper wire in my PVC ducting and noticed none of these resin shavings stick to my piping or flexi pipe. Ps: It's not about Explosions it's about fire in your Extraction System. One little spark can make wood dust smolder for day's until one day with enough oxygen it will cause a fire.
Dumb and Dumber movie scene with Jim Carrey and Lauren Holly....
*Lloyd Christmas:* I want to ask you a question, straight out, flat out, and I want you to give me the honest answer. What do you think the chances are of a guy like you and a girl like me ending up together?
*Mary Swanson:* Well Lloyd, that's difficult to say. We really don't...
*Lloyd Christmas:* Hit me with it! Just give it to me straight! I came a long way just to see you Mary, just... The least you can do is level with me. What are my chances?
*Mary Swanson:* Not good.
*Lloyd Christmas:* [he gulps, his mouth twitching] You mean, not good like one out of a hundred?
*Mary Swanson:* I'd say more like one out of a million.
*Lloyd Christmas:* [long pause while he processes what he's heard] So you're telling me there's a chance. YEAH!
@@philpascel4144 I HATE Jim Carrey!!
I often get nasty shocks at the dust boot of my CNC after long cuts with the DC on. Planning to ground the short length of flex tubing that is present before it reaches 6" PVC, I guess it's not worth running a wire through the entire PVC line? Static can be a big deal in CNC applications, causing connection issues at the least and frying small components at the worst.
Well done John, explained perfectly.
Cheer Kieran
Fantastic video. By far the best explanation of this topic I’ve found. Thanks a lot!
Glad it was helpful!
Totally agree with your conclusion on not needing to ground PVC pipe in a dust collection system. Just curious as to why it is nearly impossible to have an explosive atmosphere in a home wood shop? So, what exactly is different between a commercial woodworking shop and a home shop for this?
The amount of constant dust going through the system all the time also fine dust will ignite easiest.
@@mikemeadows7312 Disagree. Yes, this would cause a lower risk for shop fire at home versus commercial. However, the video stated it was nearly impossible to have an explosive atmosphere in a home wood shop. That is a very absolute statement, so if true, there has to be something more to this than just a difference in volume and rate of dust flow between the two.
Great video! I posted a couple of videos about using engineering to build better dust collection systems, and I was planning a video about static electricity and myths! So I totally agree with what you said 😊
Great video 😊
John, great content. My own electrical training (years ago) agrees with everything. I recently bought a Rikon dust collector, but had not opened it yet. I pulled out the manual and read the text below. Whats your opinion?
GROUNDING THE DUCT WORK
NOTE: For permanent dust collector set-ups, the following instructions are recommended. For the occasional use of any dust collector, care must none-the-less be taken to keep the hose and bag clean.
Dust particles moving through flexible or rigid plastic duct work can cause static electricity build-up. The duct work must be properly grounded to ensure that static discharge does not ignite fine dust particles causing an explosion or fire.
To properly ground plastic duct work, simply run a small gauge bare copper wire through the ducting and have it emerge from the hose at the dust collector and at each dust producing machine. The bare copper wire should be bonded to the metal shell of each machine by means of a metal screw. The screw must be threaded into the metal shell to ensure a good connection.
I would always do what the manufacturer recommends, it will do very little like I have demonstrated. But it does no harm either.
John. I didn’t really understand the meter readings. But that’s ok. I did understand that my plans to use PVC pipe for my small workshop is safe. I trust your input.
They how much of an insulator PVC is, with a 1000v between the probes the resistance reading was to big for my meter to read
Great demonstration.
Now if you want to built, not a PVC dust collection system, but a cyclone dust collector with a metal drum, on which your vaccum will be connected to, do you need to ground the metal drum at all? and if so, how do you do it?
Thanks
Great video! Thank you so much for demonstrate this so clearly.
Finally, a person with comon sense😂
Excellent information, as always and moreover, with a big and sincere smile ! Thanks for that John 🙂👊
My pleasure!
Could never wrap my head around the idea that anyone could actually believe you can effectively ground an insulator.
It would be better to call it a capacitor (yes I do realize 2 of the same metals are a capacitor and 2 different ones are a battery but we are only talking about static charge.). The charge on the inside then a non conductive material then charge on the outside. It works like a Wimshurst machine. The charge hit you because you are full of fluid and that is a great conductor. Also wouldn't it have been easier to capture any static in a dryer flexible line? It has wire already built into it.
You state that PVC is an insulator, however when the tube is full of moving dust the dust can hold a charge and conceivably conduct the charge from one dust particle to another. There will still be a charge on the PVC but some of it can be bled off by providing a ground path that goes through the dust.
Thanks, everybody called me stupid for no grounding.
Thank you for this video. Super clear and informative.
No problem
Ha ha - the timing of this video is impeccable thanks!
Glad it was helpful!
Great presentation, you bust the myth full on.
Glad you liked it.
Mate your accent reminds me of a year I spent as an exchange student in Limerick, which was some of the happiest times of my life :)
Nice channel too, I'll be checking it out!
The grounding and associated static issues have been overblown over the years. My PVC system for dust extraction hasnt exploded yet...lol. I always figured if someone was adamant about static grounding...it would be simple to put a screw through the pvc at intervals. If you connect the screws to a solid ground..you have a path for errant electrons to leave. You could do an entire system for a couple of dollars.
Great explanation John it is all sorted out for man kind know good job
Gald to help
Hi John, it is worth pointing out that quite often the static shock experienced by people occurs when they touch a grounded conductive surface due to build up of charge within their body and this is made a lot worse if you are insulated from the ground. You probably have found that wearing certain types of footwear e.g. plastic/rubber soled trainers, makes this worse. Just worth pointing this out. It's not always the pipe giving you a shock as such but the accumulative transfer of charge to the human body before being subsequently discharged resulting in a shock. In my company (an electronics manufacturer), we all wear anti-static heel clamps to safely discharge any possible build up of charge to the ground before it can be transferred through sensitive electronic devices.
Very good point! I was going to mention the electronics industry, I service a business that makes printed circuit boards.
Thanks for this John, a nice, clear explanation with just enough detail to help us non sparkies understand. Couple of questions for you if you have time...
1. What types of machines are going to be the worst offending? Those that generate larger chips?
2. You say it's almost impossible to create an explosive atmosphere in a home workshop. Why is that, is it due to the volume of sawdust/chips or something else?
Thanks again, really enjoying the channel
Any machine that produces a lot of dust and chippings so Planers, drum sanders and the like.
For an explosive atmosphere to occur you need the the right fuel to air ratio and you will never produce enough constant fine dust in a home system for that to occur.
just what I have been telling the guys around here but you have opened a can of worms to the utube static police !!! LO)L
Great job john , GREAT health & safety too
“it’s a waste of time to ground” while he’s grounding his system because it didn’t take any time to do it, because he was getting shocked when he touched the system…. so what your saying is it’s a waste of time to overdo it but not a bad idea to do it just a little… because it helps a little to do enough to not get shocked
At last .. some sense. I’ve been using pvc for years. Works very well. Easy to install and cheep!
I’m using the typical blue drum for my cyclone system. I have a metal Titan vacuum.
I’m getting crazy amounts of static, to the point where I’m getting big shocks
Useful advice, and very well presented. Thanks!
You are very welcome
In my country I am also an electrician. I agree with your message but wonder why you gave the doubters that last ray of hope by adding a ground at your desk? What were you thinking?