dust collector question

[workin for wood]

The dust collector should work fine on small 2" ports. Thing is, you run the 4" pipe as much as possible and do not reduce it until you get to the actual tool. The 2" reducer can't handle the flow, but will be adequate for that particular tool. The reason the tool is 2" is because it doesn't require that much power to suck the dust from it, or at least in most cases. What's got me wondering is if you are using plastic pvc? Pvc will reduce your cfm's a bit due to static in the pipes. Static being the big key..do you have copper wire running through your pvc and to a ground? This is very important, not so much for flow of air, but for discharging static and any other spark that may happen. What if you sand something and there is a nail or brad in the wood? It will launch a spark into your dust collector. Now if you have metal piping and the piping is grounded, no problem, the spark will ground into the pipe. If you have pvc, the copper wire will discharge the spark. The wire needs to be jumped over the dust chutes and attached to the actual tool casing, someplace bulky with steel. Mine is attached to the ground in an outlet which goes to a ground rod outside. That spark goes in the bag, one of two things will happen. You get a big bang <explosion>. That won't kill you. The explosion will be fast and it will knock all the dust out of all the hidden cavities in your shop, on shelves, on the walls, ceiling, wherever it may be. That dust will re-fill the air and you will get a back blast that is much worse that the first blast and is most likely to kill you. The second possibility is the more likely to happen, the spark lands in the bag and slowly smolders, possibly for up to a couple days and you don't even know it. Then the bag ignites and the whole shop slowly burns to the ground while you are in the house or at work. Big important tip...regardless of having the system grounded, you see a spark you empty the dust collector before leaving the shop for the day.

[SNAPPER]

I did the same with my Delta dust collector. I also noticed a reduction in suction. Still does the job though.
Dean