# technical information for an ambient air cleaner



## 44260 (Aug 29, 2013)

My shop is approximately 20x36. I have a 4" dust collector line running down one of the 36' walls that all of my tools are hooked to except my table saw that is in the middle of the floor of the shop. I will deal with dust collection for that later because I bought a new table saw and want to hook that one up.
Any way I want to build an ambient air cleaner which I have everything to build it with, furnace blower, plywood, I would just need to get filters because I'm not sure what size I need yet. The ceiling in my shop is 8' tall. I can't even stand a 4'x8' sheet of plywood straight up.
My question is, where is the best place to mount this air cleaner? I can't hang it from the ceiling in the middle of the shop because I will bang my head into it, I'm 6'2". I can mount it at the ceiling along one of the long sides of the shop, or put it in the base of a work bench in the middle of the shop floor. If I put it in the work bench I don't think it will be very effective, if I mount it at the ceiling along one of the long walls would I mount it over all the tools that are hooked up to the dust collector and would I get enough air circulation since the shop is rectangular instead of square?
Anyone that shed some light on my situation it would be greatly appreciated, or if you could refer me to a web site or a book that has this kind of information, that would be of great help also.
I already know about the cfm needed, the cycling of the air,using a timer, all I need is the best location to mount it in a rectangular shop.


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## d_slat (Apr 10, 2012)

I think if you need to put it at one end of the shop you could run a duct from the outlet to the other end, creating a circulation loop which would push the air from that end toward your air cleaner. I have not seen or tried this but it is something I have been contemplating doing in my much smaller shop when I build my air cleaner.


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## hawkeye10 (Feb 18, 2015)

Watch this video. You might get some answers to your questions.

Don

http://lumberjocks.com/StumpyNubs/blog/61122


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## 44260 (Aug 29, 2013)

d slat, the duct work is a good idea. I also read that you can mount just a standard fan on the opposite wall up at the ceiling pushing air towards the intake side of the air cleaner. Maybe the combination of both ideas would be the answer for a long narrow shop.

hawkeye10, thank you for that video, I'm also gonna check into the website they are talking about to see if there is more information. That filter system they have hooked up is also a neat idea.


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## woodnthings (Jan 24, 2009)

*what's above the ceiling?*

Can you mount it above the rafters? 
You could make a drop down filter carriage that would allow easy filter changing and cleaning, otherwise no need to access it unless the motor fails....

Otherwise, a wall mount or a mobile unit is the only answer I can imagine. Some woodworkers build it into a work table or under the workbench. As long as the air is moving and a furnance blower will move a lot of air, it will filter pretty well. My Jet AFS 1000s have only a 1/6 HP motor and they move a lot of air. 

I would center it along the wall or closest to the sanding area where the most airborne dust is generated. Make it so you can easily change out the pre-filters which will catch a lot of fine dust. 

Mine are so high on the ceiling I just don't want to climb a ladder and clean the filters.... :thumbdown:


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## 44260 (Aug 29, 2013)

woodnthings, my shop is a cinder block building and the ceiling has plywood nailed to the rafters and painted white. There is an attic in my shop.

My concern about mounting it in a workbench is wouldn't the dirty dusty air be drawn towards you if you're working at the bench? Even if I make a tool cart and no working surface dirty air will still be drawn to me and if I put it at one end of the shop I will not get proper circulation, or am I missing something?


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## BWSmith (Aug 24, 2010)

Dirty,ours is ceiling mounted and is what's called "racetrack" style.It directs the air around the perimeter along with a cpl other cheapy fans.Works fine.

But,as noted above(Woodnthings) our ceiling is a little over 10',so filter changes are a slight pain.And ours slip straight out the bttm,just sayin.

The one thing about ceiling mounted besides being too lazy to change filters is;If left to it's own,dust doesn't "settle" up......gravity sees it really wanting to go down.Big points there for having a downdraft air cleaner.Even bigger points if that cleaner seconds as a sanding table.A hinged(sliding,removable,etc) top on it and it "can" be used for something else,when not needed as filter?

Another is again Woodnthings,I'd seriously think about having it in your attic......but there may be other reasons that won't work,but would save space?Good luck,BW


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## 44260 (Aug 29, 2013)

i never thought of actually putting it in the attic. I guess I should have thought about that harder when woodnthings mentioned mounting it above the rafters.I could mount it up there, and I could just build a box on the ceiling in the shop on the intake side to put the filters, and run a duct to the other end of the shop for the exhaust side and nothing would be in the way of banging my head. I'm gonna have to think about this a lot harder!!!! The only down fall I can see right now is that I'm gonna have to wait till winter to mount everything in the attic because right now it is extremely to hot in the attic!!!!!!


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