Show your welding fume exaust setup

[Pete6114]

How do you get rid of the fumes?
I keep my big doors open when its warm out. Not a great idea in the winter though.
I installed a large exaust fan in the wall. Problem is, i have to open a window or the man door to let air in, along with cold air.
Thinking of a fume extractor but the prices scare me.

Your Ideas and Pictures of your setup would be helpfull to all.

 

[ovrszd]

I spent six hours in my shop welding and cutting yesterday. My wife came out to tell me supper was ready. She said how do you stand it in here?? I'd been so busy I hadn't noticed.

So I'm looking for a good system without losing all my heat too.

 

[SpudHauler]

What ever the solution remember one thing. Your health is well worth the little bit of extra heat bill. :thumbsup:

 

[Shield Arc]

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[ovrszd]

Yep, I agree. My old shop leaked enough that it didn't seem to be that much of a problem. My new shop is so tight dust hangs in the air for an hour when I sweep the floor. Even the dogs went outside yesterday. :laughing:

 

[PutnamVictor]

How bad are the fumes to your health really? I never got a good answer.

I recently started using a respirator, 3M 7502, they claim it's for welding, and the exhaust points down so it will not fog your glasses. (Yet to be seen durring the winter) I also use it for grinding.

Not sure if I need it becuase I use a flux core welder outdoors. I don't want to mess around with gas bottles, work shop is tight with all the stuff packed into it, fire hazard, and lots of freash air. Can't hurt.

 

[slowzuki]

I had a furnace fan directed outside in my old shop over the welding area. New shop has 14x14 door that is open during welding. The natural ventilation doesn't work well, if I weld near the door, fumes are drawn all the way into the shop up the far wall then back out the top of the door.

I've installed a box fan in the peak but haven't wired it yet.

 

[Bison]

I don't weld that much no more,so i just leave the door open in summer.
In the winter i open front an back door once in a while when the fumes get thick.

I had a buddy that would weld up cat rollers and sprocket teeth for his crawlers for day's on end,it got so foggy in there one couldn't see 2' in front of him.
It never seemed to bother him, but he died of bone cancer at 55, no telling it had any to do with it,his lungs where healty.

 

[Don87]

You can buy small fans to put in heat ducts in a house.
Put a pipe through the wall to the outside, mount the inside part of the pipe in a central location in your garage(or wherever you weld), attach flexible hosing to the pipe(the ribbed kind), then you can move it, and hang it where it's needed.:thumbsup:

 

[Don87]

Like this:In Line Duct Fan,boost air flow

 

[The Haymaker]

A small part of my setup can be seen at 00:14 in this video.

I use my wet/dry vac. I use some heavy aluminum service entrance wire as a positionable gooseneck to get the tip within 6" of the current weld. I then have a small piece of plywood blank that goes in the window that accepts another hose from the outlet of the vac. A small pice of sacrificial hose at the tip will help.

I've also ziptied a welders magnet to the hose for more portability on a larger project

Works awesome. My house is directly attached to the shop and it eliminated the smell.

FYI: Check the vacuum for embers before you leave!

 

[Gary Fowler]

Haymaker: that is exactly what I would do if I had a problem with fumes. Remove the filter and you have nothing to catch fire in the vacuum. I think 6inches is getting a little close and might create a porosity inducing draft on your weld. A larger cone shape attached to the hose and mounted above the welding area would be a better option and you wouldnt have to worrying so much about it sucking up a hot metal particle.

 

[yomax4]

The Lincoln Electric Smoke Extreactor I believe is no longer being sold. I have a Tweco Smoke Gun and Extractor for the real smoke jobs. Otherwise when the smoke gun is to cumbersome I hook up the extractor and possition similar to an above post. Works best when the Smoke Gun is used. Captures 90% of the smoke and it turns on and off as you pull the trigger on the gun.:thumbsup:

 

[The Haymaker]

Haymaker: that is exactly what I would do if I had a problem with fumes. Remove the filter and you have nothing to catch fire in the vacuum. I think 6inches is getting a little close and might create a porosity inducing draft on your weld. A larger cone shape attached to the hose and mounted above the welding area would be a better option and you wouldnt have to worrying so much about it sucking up a hot metal particle.

It has work well for me. There isn't much of a draft at that distance. A cone would be good, but I'm usually pinched for work time so sometimes you just run what works, not what would be ideal.

 

[Jim in ICT]

Guys, I realize this thread is almost three years old, but the issue of welding fumes probably won't go away anytime soon. My wife complains of the smell every time I come in from the garage when I've been welding or cutting. I can also smell it in my hair and clothes.

I had the high bid at an auction on some used Lincoln Welding fume extraction arms that came from a local shop. The Lincoln model number is LTA 2.0 (PN #K1655-3). Lincoln's website says these arms are 8 inches in diameter, 1 meter long extending out to 1.5 meters. That's something like 39" collapsed to 57" extended. This is the arm only, no fan or filters. I think a guy could install an inline fan, or connect to a small canister vacuum to provide the low volume draw that's needed. I'm thinking of installing one over my workbench and possibly building a small, portable unit to move around the shop. These look to be in good shape and are quite expensive to purchased new.

I have a need for 2-3 of these arms, and will have extras to offer if some of you are interested. I haven't picked them up yet, so I'm not sure how many of them I will end up with. I'm not sure what brackets I will get with the arms, if there are any. I'll know more this weekend.

 

[stuckmotor]

Jim,
You're lucky your wife only complains of welding fumes. Mine doesn't like the way I smell when I get off of the tractor. So much for the bumper sticker that said, "The smell of diesel makes me horney". :sigh:

 

[Arc weld]

I worked in a shop that did chromium carbide overlay inside pipe. Some of it had to be done manually using 7/64" open arc wire (no shielding gas). THERE IS NOTHING that has more smoke that open arc hardfacing wire! Chromium is also one of the worst things to be breathing. We did have respirators but a couple guys, including myself, partially melted are welding helmets trying to see what we were doing. All the automatic machines had fancy exhaust fans to take the smoke away and all they had for manual welding were some little fans. I was amazed that a salesman from a welding supply had never told them there were smoke extraction MIG guns available.:shocked: I was also curious why none of the other welders or even the company had never even heard of them. I mentioned them and the manager kept saying they were getting a demo but nothing ever happened. This company wasn't hurting for money. When I was hired they got me a brand Miller Dimension 452 with 60 series feeder. For the automatic machines they had 8 Miller Dimension 1000's. I think the 1000's are called something different now cause they're used for sub-arc mostly. When they bought wire, they'd get 15 or 16 500 pound drums at a time. I'd guess over $100,000 a truck load and maybe even $150,000. Made no sense to me at all what they were thinking.

 

[Jim in ICT]

I drove out to Western Kansas last week and picked up my fume extraction arms. Over four hundred miles - round trip. I will have to find boxes and shipping costs this week. I tried to attach a PDF showing the arm, but couldn't. You can go to Lincoln's web site and look at it. It's a model LTA 2.0. - P/N K1655-3. Don't let Lincoln's literature fool you, the site pictures the arm with the suction motor, which is extra. I think a shop vacuum could connect to this arm and draw fumes just fine. It has an adjustable flapper to control the flow. More to come in the for sale forum next week.

 

[Ed of all trades]

A lot of HVAC shops have used furnace fans for sale cheep. Run one of them and vent outside, or just into the attic, that is my plan, and in the summer it takes the heat out of the attic.

 

[Mark @ Everlast]

Jim,
You're lucky your wife only complains of welding fumes. Mine doesn't like the way I smell when I get off of the tractor. So much for the bumper sticker that said, "The smell of diesel makes me horney". :sigh:

Man, if your wife complains about that, I feel for you. I guess I am lucky. My wife expects and understands the normal by products of "work"...and even appreciates it.