Ventilation for Soft Plastics

SFL BassHunter · May 09, 2016, 10:01:14 AM

Hey all, I am working on putting a room together specifically for my fishing gear and for making soft plastics. It is a room inside the house and so I wanted to find out what the recommended ventilation is for pouring soft plastics. Till now I have been doing it in the kitchen in front of a window with several fans set up behind me to push any fumes out, and I have always worn a filtered mask.

For this room I want to do it right.
I am thinking either a Range Hood Exhaust or a Ceiling Exhaust Fan.

Any suggestions?

Princeton_Man · May 09, 2016, 11:14:26 AM

I'd suggest building a fume hood. You can easily build using plexiglass or sheetmetal. Install bathroom vent fan or I'd suggest a 5" high volume 120 volt chassis cooling fan and use flexible dryer ducting to duct out of the house. Here's a picture I found on the net that might give you an idea.

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SFL BassHunter · May 09, 2016, 02:03:38 PM

Yikes that is quite the contraption. Easy enough to make though.

Princeton_Man · May 09, 2016, 02:50:36 PM

Quote from: rickdelprado on May 09, 2016, 02:03:38 PM
Yikes that is quite the contraption. Easy enough to make though.

Pretty simple... a box with an exhaust. You can make it big enough to contain a microwave, toaster oven or melting pot and still be able to pour, mix, inject etc under the hood. Your exhaust fan simply needs move enough air to draw a light draft in through the working area.

SFL BassHunter · May 09, 2016, 06:39:18 PM

Quote from: Princeton_Man on May 09, 2016, 02:50:36 PM
Pretty simple... a box with an exhaust. You can make it big enough to contain a microwave, toaster oven or melting pot and still be able to pour, mix, inject etc under the hood. Your exhaust fan simply needs move enough air to draw a light draft in through the working area.

Seems like a good idea! Thanks !

Pferox · May 10, 2016, 05:56:58 AM

Don't forget to vent the floor area. This is where most lead fumes collect.

SFL BassHunter · May 10, 2016, 06:06:21 AM

Quote from: Pferox on May 10, 2016, 05:56:58 AM
Don't forget to vent the floor area. This is where most lead fumes collect.

Oh I won't be playing with lead. Just plastisol.

bigjim5589 · May 10, 2016, 08:48:03 AM

Many years ago I worked in road paving construction & did all the materials testing. I had to set up a lab with a vented room, as the chemicals used were quite nasty. We hired a company to build a vented hood and they also installed an intake vent across the room. The intake was put into the floor. They said ideally we needed to move the same volume of air in & out with the air flow moving past the people working in the room. That way fumes are drawn away from the people & vented to the outside. I keep that in mind whenever I need to vent for pouring lead, and would think it would be the same for plastics.

I've been pouring lead in my garage, and have fans that pushes air out, plus I wear a respirator. I'm pouring right by the garage door opening. One fan blows up towards the ceiling, the other is at floor level. I started with only one fan, but noticed when making ingots, since some of the lead had things on it that would make some smoke, that the smoke would curl back into the garage up towards the ceiling. The air movement with just the one fan on the floor was actually back drafting & being drawn back into the garage. So, I added the second fan. Now everything moves to the outside.

It's not just the matter of having the air moving, but also where it moves. That hood & suction type vent is a good idea. If you add a fan across the room to push air, be sure the suction is equal or greater than the volume of air the fan is moving, otherwise you'll get a back draft & it will pull the fumes back into your room. That's what was happening with my garage until I added the second fan.

I run the fans on low speed too. I just want to move air, not affect the temperature of my pouring equipment. On high I have a hard time keeping everything as hot as I like for pouring.

SFL BassHunter · May 10, 2016, 08:54:40 AM

Quote from: bigjim5589 on May 10, 2016, 08:48:03 AM
Many years ago I worked in road paving construction & did all the materials testing. I had to set up a lab with a vented room, as the chemicals used were quite nasty. We hired a company to build a vented hood and they also installed an intake vent across the room. The intake was put into the floor. They said ideally we needed to move the same volume of air in & out with the air flow moving past the people working in the room. That way fumes are drawn away from the people & vented to the outside. I keep that in mind whenever I need to vent for pouring lead, and would think it would be the same for plastics.

I've been pouring lead in my garage, and have fans that pushes air out, plus I wear a respirator. I'm pouring right by the garage door opening. One fan blows up towards the ceiling, the other is at floor level. I started with only one fan, but noticed when making ingots, since some of the lead had things on it that would make some smoke, that the smoke would curl back into the garage up towards the ceiling. The air movement with just the one fan on the floor was actually back drafting & being drawn back into the garage. So, I added the second fan. Now everything moves to the outside.

It's not just the matter of having the air moving, but also where it moves. That hood & suction type vent is a good idea. If you add a fan across the room to push air, be sure the suction is equal or greater than the volume of air the fan is moving, otherwise you'll get a back draft & it will pull the fumes back into your room. That's what was happening with my garage until I added the second fan.

I run the fans on low speed too. I just want to move air, not affect the temperature of my pouring equipment. On high I have a hard time keeping everything as hot as I like for pouring.

Good advice! The good thing about this room is it has 2 large windows and a door, so I should be able to push stuff out with ease. The room is not large and has a fan on the roof. Not sure if I should use that one. But I do have a few small fans that I can set up in the room. If needed I can always get a bigger fan that moves more air towards the door or the windows.