I’m finishing our basement for a family room with a model layout in mind. Part of the basement will incorporate a modeling bench for all of us to use (wife, two sons, and myself), out of sight of the main portion of the room. My wife complains about the fumes from the glue (painting is a non-issue since it’s done outside or in the garage) so I want to incorporate some sort of venting at/near the bench.
I remember an MR article from years ago about building your own paint booth and specifying what type of fan to use because the wrong one could spark/ignite the fumes.
My question: Would a standard bathroom fan vented to an outside wall be safe from this type of sparking and provide adequate ventilation? If so, should I place the fan at bench level or would a standard ceiling mount be adequate? At this stage of the basement project, installing either one is a simple matter.
Some specifics: the ceiling height will be about 4 1/2 feet above the bench, and the run to the outside will will be about 8 ft. If mounting the fan at bench level, there would only be a single 90 degree elbow.
Dont vent the fumes. Use them to your advantage. I funnel them up through the air ducts to my sister’s room as part of my master plan to give her cancer. [:D] Thats my fifteen year old self speaking.
In all seriousness, I just take a cheap drugstore fan, open a window, and place the fan behind the line of sight from fumes to window. Unless its something serious like using an airbrush, I find that this is usually sufficient. If you are using an airbrush or something worse, full on powered paint booth and respirator is the only way that you wont turn your lungs Caboose Red or Pensy GG1 Green.
Many fumes are heavier than air. A ceiling mounted fan may only remove the good air and not vent the bad fumes. If the fumes are flammable a sealed motor mechanism may be necessary to avoid the potential explosion or flash fire. Having worked in an envioronment of this nature for a number of years I can tell you that the ventilation system opening in each of the product service rooms were about 12 to 14 inches above the floor. The fan for the vents was near a warehouse ceiling and at least 100 feet away from the sources. The fan motor was isolated outside of the duct work. The exhaust exit to the outside was almost 2 feet by 2 feet. Bear in mind this was/is an industrial application.
Here’s a queston for you…Are your glue fumes worse than your wifes nail polish fumes?
If it’s only glue fumes you probably could set up a dryer flex vent with a duct mounted fan attached to it. Create a box similar to a small paint booth to contain the fumes. Caution though on the type of fan used. If there’s a chance the fumes can accumulate before the air flows you have a risk of an accident.
What you want is a centrifugal (hamster wheel) blower with its motor outside the airflow. Mount the blower close to the floor and use ductwork to get the exhaust outside.
An electric leaf blower might be a possible source of the guts and plumbing.
Chuck (Modeling Central Japan in September, 1964 - in a too-well ventilated garage)
My first suggestion is to look up the MSDS sheet for the specific product. if there are a mix of glues that you are using then by all means look up each of them. I was going to mention the flex hose idea but i got beat to the punch. Chuck is right about having the motor outside the airway, also add a small filter in front to catch any particulates.
All of the kitchen range smoke hood vent motors I’ve seen have brushes that sometimes create lots of sparks as they run.
Definitely not a good choice for venting concentrated flammable vapors, but for only a small tube or bottle of glue, I doubt that the vapors are going to be concentrated enough to be flammable.
Now, if you were going to be using a spray can of paint that uses propane gas as the propellant. . . . .
Hamltnblue – thanks for your response. Just to be sure I understand, would the fan be mounted at the bench/floor level, or midway along the flex vent, say in the ceiling joists with ducts to the bench and outer wall? Thanks again. Dean
I’ve installed or changed or repaired at least 50, maybe more, vent fans; and I don’t recall any of them having brushes–this over a period of 30 years. There might have been some; just sayin’ I don’t recall any.
Both bathroom and kitchen hood fans have to be brush-less (sparkless) by code. You can use either for your purpose. Get the largest youcan afford, you’re going to pulling air from the whole familly room.Don’t forget a fresh air inlet, (you can put a vent near the bottom of the door to the familly room, or just keep the door open when the fan is on.