How to properly ground dust collection system?

In (one of) his last video‘s on YT Jonathan Katz-Mozes, installing DC in his new shop,  has something to say about this, based on his research: grounding a DC-system is BS. Not necessary. No explosions have ever been reported.

That being said, there may be a reason to ground the outsides — to stop static dust build up there. But hey, a shop is a shop, not an operating theatre.
 
Bert Vanderveen said:
In (one of) his last video‘s on YT Jonathan Katz-Mozes, installing DC in his new shop,  has something to say about this, based on his research: grounding a DC-system is BS. Not necessary. No explosions have ever been reported.

That being said, there may be a reason to ground the outsides — to stop static dust build up there. But hey, a shop is a shop, not an operating theatre.
Click to expand...

Moving a long stick around and bumping into a dust laden tube which unleashes an accumulation of powder onto a still tacky finished panel...
 
Hey team! Thanks SO SO MUCH for all the replies here.

I just read through them all!!

For some reason I didn't get an email notification about replies to this topic so just seeing it now, but thank you!

Matt
 
I have had a DC system plumbed with 4" PVC in my shop for about 20 years.  For the first iteration it was grounded internally with 12 ga stranded copper connected through copper water supplies to ground.  The wire junctions tended to produce clogs at the pipe junctions and made system changes a real PITA.  I reconfigured it a second time with the exterior wrapped with 12ga stranded copper, which eliminated the clogs.  Then perhaps 10 years ago I revised it a third time and left out the ground wires altogether with no apparent downsides. 
 
lot of info in this thread! but it's still a little confusing  :-\

I'm fully on board with "you don't need to ground your system to prevent explosions" - however, as someone with a CT26 and runs of PVC to collect from a boom arm, I want to prevent discharge into the CT26. I've got an a 10' AS hose collecting from the tool, and then maybe 15' of PVC. What's going to be the best way to discharge via the grounding tab in the CT - some foil tape and a few loops of copper wire over the last couple feet of PVC?

before you ask, yes, I do get a LOT of static buildup in the winter... I live in Canada and we have very dry winters. Planing generates huge amounts of static in my regular 4" DC hose, i assume sanding will generate a lot in my PVC pipe.
 
For 15’ of duct why don’t you just upgrade to metal duct and fittings? I understand why people choose PVC in full shop installations because of budget. In this case if you have that little distance to run, the cost of metal should not be prohibitive. I bought my supplies from Oneida.
 
Alanbach said:
For 15’ of duct why don’t you just upgrade to metal duct and fittings? I understand why people choose PVC in full shop installations because of budget. In this case if you have that little distance to run, the cost of metal should not be prohibitive. I bought my supplies from Oneida.
Click to expand...
I'm running to a ct26... It's 2" pvc

Sent from my SM-G973W using Tapatalk

 
I’m setting up a new dust duct system in my shop and was planning on helping the static issue by wrapping the pvc pipe.  I’m planning on wrapping the 4” pvc pipe/duct with 14ga copper wire and at 3’ intervals inserted the wire thru the pipe wall about an 1/8” via a small hole, spliced the wire on the outside and spiral the wired around the pipe another 3’ to another hole and so on until grounding to the DC at one end and earth ground at the other.  Any thoughts on this approach?
 
You can do that, of course. But it will be of no use at all. You are trying to ground a very good insulator (PVC). Only the places where the wire touches the pipe will be grounded. All other parts of the surface will not be grounded at all.
 
[member=11629]GarryMartin[/member]

good to see you posting again Garry, keep it up and dont be a stranger
 
School time.  Industrial electrician who regularly works in ATEX type environments dispels a few myths.  Worth watching.
 
When I first installed my dust collection system I spiral wrapped all of the 4" PVC piping with 14ga stranded wire and grounded that to nearby copper water lines.  As was said it had little effect on the static charge in the piping as the copper wire only drains the charge from a relatively narrow strip along the wire since the PVC is an excellent insulator.  When I redid my shop layout I omitted the ground wire and there is no discernable difference in static charge when the system is running.
 
If you haven't already purchased/installed pvc consider snap together metal duct from Oneida (it's plenty sturdy enough, and ships easily). I sent them a drawing of my shop with desired equipment location and they designed a system for me. By the time you buy all the fittings pvc approaches steel in cost, and steel is easily grounded. A lot easier to adapt gates too.

Just a thought.
 
I used to sell Clearvues and have had one installed using PVC ducting so I have a fair bit of experience in this area including all the myth and truth of it. If you were running a lot of fine dust through the ducting such as from a wide belt sander earthing might help in minimising static build up but having said that you can't earth an insulator and that is what PVC is. My system has never presented me with a problem but it is screwed directly to a metal framed building and has been there for about 10 years. Another mitigator of static build up is high humidity so if you live in an area of high humidity you should not have many problems at all. I can't recall any of my customers having the problem and without exception they all used PVC ducting as metal is simply not readily available here and the price is off the planet anyway. All in all for  the normal short time most hobbyists have a DE turned on the problem is most probably not worth worrying about in my experience.
 
Apologies for reviving this old thread. I was doing a search on grounding dust collection and this was the first result.

Read through the thread but I'm wondering about grounding a self-contained system?

I have the DeWalt DW735 and for those of you who know the planer, it has its own extraction fan that blows the sawdust out of the machine - with much vigor and gusto. I've rigged up a self-contained collection system (meaning there is no external dust collector vacuum) that has the output of the 735 running into an Oneida Dust Deputy that is currently feeding a 5ga bucket. It works surprisingly well, except for the frequent bucket changes.

Today, I set up outside and was milling lumber and everything is going smoothly. The dust deputy is doing a great job. However, when the bucket fills, I really notice static buildup. While the excess sawdust is being ejected out of the top of the deputy, the deputy itself is generating enough static that the sawdust is clinging it it like wet snow on a pine tree. To note, the bucket and deputy are sitting on the ground.

I'm thinking about this because I'm planning building a cart for the 735 that will have the deputy feeding a larger container (hopefully 32ga but at least 20ga), and if the deputy will generate static in this manner, I'd like to find a way to ground or cancel that static.

Currently, the 735 blows into the deputy via a shop vac type hose that came with the other Dustopper. It's like a short Rigid Vac hose (2.5") and is maybe three feet long. And I'm using rubber plumbing reducers to make the connections.

Once the cart is complete, what's the best way to address this? Currently, the only external connection will be the power to the planer. but I can make any adjustments necessary.

Thanks!
 
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