Hose for Welding Fume Extractor

[Susan_in_SF]

Hi,
Due to the high cost of a fume extractor, I was planing on using an 8" ventilatilator fan (with the ducting that attaches to it) to take the fumes outside of my garage when welding. I live in a city apartment townhouse where my garage is the only place I can weld. Anyways, I luckily came across a business that was selling all it's stuff for super cheap. I was able to buy an older Airlux fume extractor that they kept in storage but never used. The unit came in it's original box with manual, however, did not come with a hose. The guy had no explanation as to why the hose was missing. So, I need to buy a hose and nozzle. I have seen online the nozzle on a Lincoln fume extractor where the nozzle looked like it was plastic. Since the nozzle has to be a couple of inches away from the area being welded, is the plastic going to melt? Also, I have some leftover hose that I bought from Woodcraft for my Shop Vac for sucking sawdust while cutting wood. The hose has a copper coil in it to help avoid static buildup and is the same diameter that my extractor needs. The hose is clear, and I am guessing it is made out of plastic. I think I only need 6 feet of hose for my fume extractor. Would my shop vac hose be acceptable for use with my fume extractor? I was thinking about picking up at Home Depot an aluminum or steel small hood (non galvanized) to attach to the hose and installing a metal mesh in the hood or nozzle's opening to catch sparks. Any friendly feedback from you knowledgeable and awesome guys are appreciated

Susan

 

[JimDawson]

As I recall, the fume extractor hoses I have seen are all plastic. The Shop Vac hose should work fine. I like your idea of a spark arrestor screen. A standard range hood should work fine, and I think most of those come with an aluminum mesh filter, so that should make a pretty good spark arrestor for random sparks.

 

[Terrywerm]

You could get by with a galvanized sheet metal register box to make the hood or nozzle as it will not be welded on itself, and even if it is close to the work, I doubt that it would get hot enough for the zinc to become a problem. As for the hose, I think the plastic dust collector hose should work just fine.

 

[woodchucker]

I imagine the hose is 4 or 6". You can goto a home store and get flexible ducting in that size. Also you can get HVAC duct ends to be a nozzle., just get some clamps. .
I have 4" dust collector hose, you can also find 5 and 6" , it's a little stiffer than the mylar flexible ducting for HVAC.

 

[Susan_in_SF]

Thanks everyone. I feel relieved about everyone's opinion that the shop vac hose will be ok. @woodchucker , I learned from the below article that I have a "high-vacuum/low-volume" system with my little 2" hose. I found the blog pretty informative

https://www.millerwelds.com/resources/article-library/8-best-practices-for-weld-fume-management