Another Question re Dust Collection.

[Old Crow]

I put my new HF Dust Collector together yesterday and today I am going to run the piping for it. The DC will be housed in an adjacent building to my workshop. My initial thought was to run a 4 inch header into the workshop and run 1 1/2 inch branches to my tools. Is this the best way or should I reduce the piping at the DC inlet and run all 1 1/2 inch piping? If I use PVC pipe does it need to be grounded to discharge static electricity?
Your thoughts will be appreciated.
Don R

[BilltheDiver]

I am no expert, but I would avoid reducing the pipe size whenever possible, and when necessary do it at the last possible point.  Reducing the pipe size will drastically affect the amount of air flow.  Many of my tools absolutely need the 4" size.  My planner, joiner, and drum sander would not function properly with a 1 1/2 inch outlet.  I would also recommend grounding the pvc for static discharge.  For some reason my drum sander produces a large amount of static when in use.

[Old Crow]

Thanks Bill! 4 inch it is.
Don R

[dgman]

Hey Don, The only reason you want to ground the PVC runs is to discharge the static charge so you don't get zapped when it is running. There is no danger of the static electricity causing an explosion or anything like that!

[multifasited]

Don , CFM is KING ,sweeping ells ,maintain single level main feed line ,to drops gentle sweeping elbows ,the least restriction possible ,the total effeciencie of the system is all about maximum air volume ,I would also allow system to run at least I minute after last tool is done producing chips or dust to allow piping to get totally cleaned out ,other wise you will get build up in your system lines and you don't want to take apart to clean out ,once unremoved chips and dust set they  collect moisture and are harder to remove ,that is why I now a fan of on off switches controlling power tools and DC at the same time ,the further the travel to the  DC the longer the delay needs to be ,to assure pipes are empty prior to shutting down the DC ,Also I would advice a DIY  VORTEX Barrel before the DC ,worth it's weight in gold in saving ,filters and minimizing dumping and damage to you impeller on the DC .Short cuts are just problems waiting to happen on a DC system.IMHO

[Old Crow]

Thanks for the info guys. I got it put mostly together today and it seems to work beautifully. Can't wait to produce a bunch of dust to feed it. Perhaps tomorrow.
DonR