help with exhaust venting problems...

[DragonFang]

greetings all,

I spent most of the day working on fabricating a air curtian and a over-the-forge exhaust vent system.. finnished it about 2 hours ago.. fired up the system , the air curtian is positioned at the outlets of the forge and push the exhausted gases and heat 90 degrees upward,, i made a exhaust hood (2' x 3' ) with a 8" depth to it and mounted a high tempature blower (grainger stock # 4C942 ) rated at 450 degrees with a output of im guessing at least 150+ CFM. ran the forge for about 45min to get it good and hot. the hood sits about 8" over the top of the forge, and the heat plooms were being directed and vented out like i wanted.

Unfortunatly i noted the electric motor case which sits out side of the squirel cage got HOT!! to touch. I am at a loss what to do. I need to power vent out the CO and the hot gases, so i dont kill myself in the garage, but i dont honestly think the motor is going to last a good solid session of pattern welding..

the drop in temp at the mouth of the vent in the hood and the output of the pipe 5' away from the forge is about the same.

the aircurtain is mixing 60 CFM of fresh air with the heated exhaust..

anyone have any input into this.. ?

id appreciate any ideas, or personal experiance

thanks

Eric

[Ray Rogers]

This question may be a little sophisticated for the Newbies Forum. I, for one, am not sure I fully understand your set up. But, my impression is that your squirrel cage needs to be where it is but that location is too hot for the motor that runs it. Sounds like you need to leave the squirrel cage where it is and move the motor. Some pulleys, a long fan belt, and maybe a pillow block should help you do that.

You might run this question past Ed Caffrey's forum. They are much more familiar with the finer details of forge construction than most of the visitors to this forum.....

[DragonFang]

thanks for the input.

I finnally got a hold of Forgemaster and got the Btu rating at the out let in the forge. With that information i was able to recontact Grainger and talk to the Hvac techs. it appears im in the range for operating tempatures.

I am going to add a welding tarp to the hood and squirel cage area to keep the radiant heat down,, ill post some pictures to the forum next week to let everyone see it


thanks again

Eric