Benzine Posted January 20 Report Share Posted January 20 Greetings All, So I am doing some repairs in my studio/ workshop, which is located in what used to be the coal room, in the basement of my 1920s home. There were quite a few mortar joints that needed repointing and the paint had powderized (Is that a word?). So once that is all done, I plan to run exhaust for a kiln vent/ spray booth. The previous, longtime owner used the space as a wood shop. So he had a ceiling mounted exhaust system vented through the coal chute hatch. He actually left the exhaust system which was something he built himself (He was an engineer at local appliance company, which is why the control panel was a repurposed from a microwave). The exhaust was comprised of what I think is a gas furnace blower/ motor, with a huge wood housing that pulled air through air filters, then vented to the outside. Obviously this worked well for wood dust. So when I was prepping the wall for repointing and painting, I took down and disassembled the exhaust, keeping the motor. So with all that background info, would I be able to use this motor to both vent my kiln from one of the fans and use the other fan to vent a spray booth? I included a photo of the blower, and a photo of my concept sketch for how it would be set up. Is this system feasible? The fan/ blower does seem to move a lot of air, which is why I have dampers included that could be closed so both fans aren't pulling air from only just the kiln side or just the spray booth side. I should note, my second hand kiln came with a kiln vent hook up for the bottom of the kiln, but not the motor. Thoughts? Roberta12 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Kielb Posted January 20 Report Share Posted January 20 (edited) Everything is possible so to start with some observation. Your spray booth designed to code requires 100 fpm (feet per minute) face velocity. So the size of the opening of your booth will determine how many cfm you need. So CFM/ sq ft (of opening) >= 100 fpm. This will likely be 400 -600 cfm, which from the picture appears that is a dual exhaust, maybe an old above the stove type hood. If so, it likely is rated 400 cfm or so. So it seems like you can may be able to use this for a decent spray booth. Where to bring in 400 - 600 cfm of makeup air from outdoors may be a problem though. As far as a kiln vent, a typical downdraft really only discharges single digit, maybe 10 cfm. Even though they are rated much higher, all the restriction decrease their performance, and most of the air is from the kiln room and only a tiny amount from the kiln. This exhaust fan is way too large so it does not seem practical for kiln use. You might find a shared opportunity for a hood over the kiln though to remove fumes and a portion of the heat during firing. since you are connecting to an old masonry chimney, it is not designed for pressure exhaust which brings to mind a 10 -12 inch chimney liner as preferred practice. Final thing I see is a capacitor start induction motor - appears to be single speed. Being able to vary the speed of this would likely be super useful. I think it could all work, but done correctly it will definitely take decent planning to figure out the best utilization Edited January 21 by Bill Kielb Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Benzine Posted January 21 Author Report Share Posted January 21 Thanks Bill. One correction though. The exhaust is not going through a chimney, just through metal ducting to the exterior through the coal chute door. That's where the previous owner had their system vented. They cut a hole through the metal and fitted it with a slotted vent like what is used for a dryer. You could be right about it being for a hood vent. It would of had to have been a large one, but definitely possible based on where the guy worked. Bill Kielb 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dick White Posted January 21 Report Share Posted January 21 @Bill Kielb alludes to an important aspect of a kiln vent - make up air. For whatever air is being exhausted, there must be an equal amount coming back into the room. The challenge for a kiln vent, is that make up air must come from a different direction from the exhaust. If the location of the make up air, such as another open window or door in the room, is too close to the exhaust vent, the stinky air will just be sucked right back in through that opening. The make up source needs to be around the corner from the exhaust so that the stinkies dissipate in a different direction and the make up air is clean. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neilestrick Posted January 21 Report Share Posted January 21 I would not use it for a direct vent for the kiln. It's likely much too powerful for that. For a hood it could work very well, though. The fans used on Vent-A-Kiln hoods are 250-500CFM. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ClayFishStudio Posted February 6 Report Share Posted February 6 Off topic slightly...does anyone use a Critter Spray Gun? If so, I'm looking for plastic jars that will connect to it. It comes with one glass jar and more would be handy. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hulk Posted February 6 Report Share Posted February 6 (edited) Hi ClayFishStudio, Welcome to the Forum! Looks like a Mason jar (the regular one, not "wide") Image above copied from the Critter website Try searching "plastic Mason jar" - looks like there are many options, e.g. Target carries "Cornucopia" brand eight pack, sixteen ounce jars for twenty dollars, however, it's an order item at our local store, eight day wait. Edited February 7 by Hulk see also mazon - A; added: italics + bold Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Min Posted February 6 Report Share Posted February 6 @ClayFishStudio, ask your local supplier if they can bring in some empty Amaco 1 pint glaze jars. I drilled the lid to fit the critter top, depth of the jar is a little deeper but other than that they work well. When I bought mine they were about $1- each. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterH Posted February 6 Report Share Posted February 6 2 hours ago, Hulk said: Looks like a Mason jar (the regular one, not "wide") Roberta12 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Benzine Posted February 11 Author Report Share Posted February 11 So I will likely use the motor I posted for a spray booth, and a standard kiln vent motor for the kiln. I was going to use the exhaust portion that I got with the kiln, and buy a new motor. However, the Elementary in the school district I work for, has an old kiln, which is no longer used. It has vent attached. It is the type where the actual motor is below the kiln. *Picture Attached* So I may try and see if I can buy the vent from the District. Possibly the kiln as well, for a future soda kiln conversion. Hulk 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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