Welding in your garage

admin

Just curious who welds in their garage ( as opposed to having a fair size shop).    My question is regarding ventilation.   It's cold here in souther Ontario now and I don't want to weld w the doors wide open.  I only have a double car garage w 8' ceilings.   Anyone else in the same situation?  What do u do?   I was thinking of looking for a powerful fan and open the door only a couple feet w the fan sucking all the smoke and fumes out.
Reply:What kind of welding? Stick or FC would be a lot different then say tig as far as fumes go. You can rig up an exhaust fan if need be. An old range hood would work great if you do mostly bench welding. If not a thru the wall exhaust fan.You really don't need to open the door a couple of "feet" a couple inches is more than enough most times even with a good sized exhaust fan..No government ever voluntarily reduces itself in size. Government programs, once launched, never disappear. Actually, a government bureau is the nearest thing to eternal life we'll ever see on this earth! Ronald Reagan
Reply:Originally Posted by DerekJust curious who welds in their garage ( as opposed to having a fair size shop).    My question is regarding ventilation.   It's cold here in souther Ontario now and I don't want to weld w the doors wide open.  I only have a double car garage w 8' ceilings.   Anyone else in the same situation?  What do u do?   I was thinking of looking for a powerful fan and open the door only a couple feet w the fan sucking all the smoke and fumes out.
Reply:If I do a lot of mig and get smoke I will crack the door open a few inches. I am in a single car garage; what I have been doing is putting my little 18v ryobi fan on hi, and put it on the floor so it will pull the smoke and crap away from me and blow it towards the garage door.Is not high powered or anything special but it works a little.Torchmate 2x2 CNC with Flashcut CNC controlsHypertherm Powermax45 Esab ET220i Razorweld 195 MigRazorweld 200ac/dc TigTormach 770, Tormach xstechRazorweld, Vipercut/Vipermig, SSC Foot Pedal Dealer
Reply:Yeah, these guys are all pointing you in the right direction.  The best scenario would be to mount an electric vent in one exterior wall but simply cracking the door and using a fan of some sort works too.Matthew MortonTexas A&M '06Logsdon Seminary '13"Who Dares Wins""AFTF""WH2PH"SA 200 (Code: 5337)TB 302CP 302 w/22A Wire FeederMillerMatic 200Miller Syncrowave 200MillerMatic 252BurnTables 4x4 CNC MachineHypertherm 65
Reply:I think an oven range blower hood is the best way, you can even make side wall enclosures and prevent the smoke from escaping. their are also dedicated welding fans, but they are $$$$
Reply:I am in the exact same boat.  Not only do I worry about me, but about my family, as my garage is attached to my home, with bedrooms above.  Here is what I did.  I went to Home Depot, bought a cheap exhaust fan ($14) and some plastic unperforated drain pipe ($5) and duct taped the plastic drain pipe onto the exhaust vent on the fan.  Put that right above where you are welding, or if you are welding all over, just hang it up near the ceiling in the middle of your garage, then run the pipe out through a crack in the window, or door.  You can even make a 3" shim to fill up  most of the open space in the window, just leave enough room at the top for the drain pipe.  Ka-pow, nifty exhaust fan for welding that costs under $20, works great too. Here is a link;http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-5yc1...1#.UOpPl3d9O4wCheck out my channel https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCkz...bZg8AYNXGqBjZQ"Both oligarch and tyrant mistrust the people, and therefore deprive them of arms." - Aristotle
Reply:I prefer two little fans, one to remove the fume and the other one to pure air entryMauricio
Reply:Check out Lanse's YouTube Channel. He welds all kinds of **** in his garage.
Reply:Originally Posted by rschreckCheck out Lanse's YouTube Channel. He welds all kinds of **** in his garage.
Reply:Originally Posted by IronHideI am in the exact same boat.  Not only do I worry about me, but about my family, as my garage is attached to my home, with bedrooms above.  Here is what I did.  I went to Home Depot, bought a cheap exhaust fan ($14) and some plastic unperforated drain pipe ($5) and duct taped the plastic drain pipe onto the exhaust vent on the fan.  Put that right above where you are welding, or if you are welding all over, just hang it up near the ceiling in the middle of your garage, then run the pipe out through a crack in the window, or door.  You can even make a 3" shim to fill up  most of the open space in the window, just leave enough room at the top for the drain pipe.  Ka-pow, nifty exhaust fan for welding that costs under $20, works great too. Here is a link;http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-5yc1...1#.UOpPl3d9O4w
Reply:Like ironhide said. Do you have a ceiling in garage ??  If not are there roof vents ? you could run the flex or pipe from them .
Reply:Just suck up and weld just outside the door!  I do it this way as I don't need to worry about hot slag rolling somewhere and smoldering to burn the place down later. Lots of what I do is stick welding so I dress for the weather. I'll MIG just inside the door to keep the draft away. I do TIG with the door closed but it is usually short duration projects. Always cut outside with a torch, never inside.
Reply:thanks for the responses... love the idea of the exhuast fan with the hose pointed outside...how many people run rent a little shop for hobby use, and maybe make a little cash on the side to pay for the rent..  I'd like to do that, but dont think I'd make enough $.
Reply:I have a flat roof, so I put an attic-type fan right above my welding bench.  It's rated at 1200 cfm and cost me $80.It works great, but we don't have to deal with much cold weather down here.Jack OlsenMy garage website
Reply:Jack your neighbor needs a new roof....El paso; we can weld outside all year long, sorry can't help.Last edited by a1998z3; 01-07-2013 at 04:59 PM.
Reply:I was thinking of this exact problem the other day since my situation is pretty similar: 450sq ft garage w/ finished ceilings. I had a somewhat different question, however: which processes REALLY require ventilation? I'm not talking just about welding, but about the manufacturing process in general, like grinding and such. Like, I know grinding creates dust, but if you have a ventilator is that enough or do you still need at least some ventilation? It would kinda be nice to have a general guidelines that says something like "if you do X, you NEED ventilation. if you do Y, you SHOULD have ventilation. etc". Of course it's very situation dependent, but just a rough "danger" estimate would be useful. I'd rather not open up my garage and let the winter wind blow in unless I need to, but I'm also not a fan of death.Since many have you have been doing this for a very long time, I'm sure you've all been in less than ideal situations before. So, I'm going to phrase the question like this: If you had a more-or-less sealed 500 sq ft garage with 8ft ceilings, how long would you do each of these things before worrying about ventilation (assume that you have a standard face mask, like this one http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...ms_ohs_product) :GrindingTIG weldingMIG weldingO/A weldingO/A cuttingOther?
Reply:Originally Posted by Jack OlsenI have a flat roof, so I put an attic-type fan right above my welding bench.  It's rated at 1200 cfm and cost me $80.It works great, but we don't have to deal with much cold weather down here.
Reply:Originally Posted by ian1386I was thinking of this exact problem the other day since my situation is pretty similar: 450sq ft garage w/ finished ceilings. I had a somewhat different question, however: which processes REALLY require ventilation? I'm not talking just about welding, but about the manufacturing process in general, like grinding and such. Like, I know grinding creates dust, but if you have a ventilator is that enough or do you still need at least some ventilation? It would kinda be nice to have a general guidelines that says something like "if you do X, you NEED ventilation. if you do Y, you SHOULD have ventilation. etc". Of course it's very situation dependent, but just a rough "danger" estimate would be useful. I'd rather not open up my garage and let the winter wind blow in unless I need to, but I'm also not a fan of death.Since many have you have been doing this for a very long time, I'm sure you've all been in less than ideal situations before. So, I'm going to phrase the question like this: If you had a more-or-less sealed 500 sq ft garage with 8ft ceilings, how long would you do each of these things before worrying about ventilation (assume that you have a standard face mask, like this one http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...ms_ohs_product) :GrindingTIG weldingMIG weldingO/A weldingO/A cuttingOther?
Reply:Originally Posted by IronHideI don't know about all those processes, but I know that grinding, or using cutting discs/a chop saw makes tons of nasty metal dust.  I also know that painting is pretty bad.  Mig welding makes smoke, but not as much as flux-core or stick welding.  TIG seems cleaner, and the surfaces are generally cleaner with TIG.
Reply:I have a three car attached garage for my shop that I insulated the gershmedlap out of. I use a Modine Hot Dawg for heat. The garage space has one 7 x 16 door and one 7 x 8 door.I use an air exchange method of opening one or both doors if needed. If the wind speed and direction aren't favorable, I'll fire up the pedestal mounded fan for a boost in exchange time. I prefer the pedestal fan as most of the fumes rise to the ceiling. So trying to pull/push the fumes out with a fan at the floor level doesn't help remove those, in an effective manner on a reasonable time line, to close the doors again. IMHO.One saving grace I suppose, is all the "stuff" in there. Metal cabinets and tool boxes whith contents, once heated, retain enough heat, that the recovery time for the heater is quite reasonable. Plasma on dirty metal and flux/stick weld?  The door(s) get a workout.In the snow belt, having to put out $ for heat comes with the territory.
Reply:if you get an "over-the-range" microwave ,you can keep your coffee hot and use the vent fan.miller thunderbolt 250vlincoln square wave tig 175 prolincoln idealarc mig sp250everlast tig 210EXTeverlast power plasma 50chicago electric (hf) 130 tig/90 arcchicago electric 90 amp flux wire3 sets oxy/acet
Reply:Oh, I forgot to mention. If you are going to direct vent to the outside you must take into consideration where the make up air will be coming in from. Air leaks around doors/windows or an additional fresh air vent. Depending on weather conditions and where the fan/blower is located, frosting of louvers can occur and they won't reopen.Balanced or (preferred) slightly negative pressure when the fan/blower is on. If the space is attached to the house, this becomes important. You're better off pulling make up from any leaks in the house structure. If you get positive pressure in the garage, it will "push" some of the crappy air into the house.IMHO of course.
Reply:I have a Rigid shop vac,it has on vacum port and one exhaust/blower port. Sometimes when I will be welding inside I put the vacum where the smoke will be concentrated right near the weld zone. I went out to the Ocean State Job Lot and bought 50 feet of pool vacum hose, I connect that to the exhaust port and just run it out a cracked door or window. Nothing better than a smoke hawg but that is bucks."Si Vis Pacem Para Bellum"Lincoln Idealarc 250 AC/DCMillermatic 251   Syncrowave 300   30A spoolgunLincoln MP210Hypertherm 45(2) LN 25(2) Lincoln Weldanpower 225 CV(4) SA200   1 short hood    SA250    SAM 400
Reply:i weld in a small garage, if im doing alot of welding, one of the doors gets opened, and i do the welding near the door. if its just alittle i usually just crack a door 2ft or so. lots of stick welding on the bench with alot of smoke, i plug in a large fan with the door open.Miller ab/p 330Hobart champ 16Miller 140Lincoln Power Mig 255Lincoln SA-250I've just bought a really good breathing mask. I bought it initially because of the effects from welding zinc coated stuff. It's pretty low profile, fits under a welding mask and the air exhausts downwards so your mask doesn't get fogged up.Yesterday I was working with my excavator and the engine is rather smoky now, and I'm telling you I've suffered . I tried this mask on for the first time and I couldn't smell a thing, it was like breathing clean air. I would not have beleived this was possible. The silicon rubber of the mask stinks a bit though so I might try taking it apart and giving it a clean with soap.The brand is 3M and the mask is 7502. It also comes in 7501 and 7503 which is the small and large size. You guessed it 7502 is medium and is supposed to fit most people. The mask is silicon rubber so it's very comfortable and seals very well without having to be pulled tight against your face.I'm using P100 particulate filters, number 2091. P100 is the best 3M have for particulate matter and P95 filter are just not quite as good (but still good). Smoke is particulate (as is the black component of my deisel smoke) so these filters works great for those purposes. Of course it's going to be good for grinding too, and I know the way a bit of grinding dust makes my throat feel, but it's difficult to exhaust grinding dust in an enclosed area. I'll be wearing my mask a lot of the time in the workshop, especially as it's so comfortable. I wouldn't recommend the non-silicon cheaper model, pay the little bit extra and get silicon.You'll find them on Amazon.Last edited by mancavedweller; 01-08-2013 at 05:20 PM.
Reply:For stick I have 50 Ft. leads to move everything outside. I don't do much in the winter.......yet.......will cross that bridge when it comes !
Reply:I started with a flux core welder because I have no shop and only a small garage, welding with it has to be outside. Usually wait for the temp to be in the 20's and dry (not snowing) before I go out and play with the welder.When doing some past projects in the basement I needed to vent it better so I got the flexible duct, made a cardboard shroud to fit a squirrel cage fan and it worked real well.  The flexible duct stores nice too.  That material wouldn't work well close to sparks so maybe higher up to catch rising fumes.http://www.menards.com/main/heating-...548-c-9503.htmThe silver lining to that cloud is there are no mosquitoes.
Reply:Here is a video of my home made, under $20 fume extractor, if anyone is interested. I was doing some pretty dirty work in the garage, burning some wood onto steel, and melting brass into steel for coloring, it handled all of it.http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature...&v=bGKdRIQ5IjECheck out my channel https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCkz...bZg8AYNXGqBjZQ"Both oligarch and tyrant mistrust the people, and therefore deprive them of arms." - Aristotle
Reply:Originally Posted by Derekthanks for the responses... love the idea of the exhuast fan with the hose pointed outside...how many people run rent a little shop for hobby use, and maybe make a little cash on the side to pay for the rent..  I'd like to do that, but dont think I'd make enough $.