# conveyor belt ventilation



## Thorrior (Sep 30, 2015)

*conveyor dryer ventilation*

Our conveyor dryer in our shop, which is used to cure plastisol ink, is currently
not ventilated. In the summer, its not that big of a deal, since we usually have
the door and windows open, so hardly any fumes or haze are noticeable. In the
wintertime however, when the door is closed, it gets really hazy in the shop when
printing. We were thinking of venting the fumes outside in a very
simple way using elastic metal pipes, which we could connect to the dryers exhaust pipes and
hang it through a tilted window. Would that work and are there some important things
we should pay attention to? Airflow for example?

Thanks for your help!


----------



## ozzyinmyhead (Oct 6, 2010)

I vented mine with dryer vent. I also put an inline fan in the tube to draw the fumes outside, works awesome.


----------



## numbercruncher (Feb 20, 2009)

Possible considerations with venting of dryer- 

an inline exhaust fan will pull heat from the dryer -if you pull too much your dryer works harder(consumes more energy) to maintain the heat/cure setting...

placement of the inline fan should not be too close to the dryer as the heat may adversely effect the fan(unless it is built to withstand those rigors).

many manufacturers do offer vented fan assisted options with their dryers - perhaps some are available from the after market

Michael Jirasek
Anatol


----------



## ozzyinmyhead (Oct 6, 2010)

true statement above.
I guess I forgot to mention that I did not use the vent hole on the top of my dryer, in fact I covered it.
I installed a range hood vent on just passed the heating element, above the belt. that is where the fan assisted dryer vent tube starts, then goes out the side of the building. If I touch the out going tube it is warm to the touch, never hot.


----------



## Thorrior (Sep 30, 2015)

Thanks for the info. I think the vent holes of our dryer are ventilated. The air is being blown up with quite a lot of power, so I think an inline fan isn't necessary. I think we'll just try to do it in a very simplistic way and buy some flexible aluminium tubing and hang it out of an open window. Has anyone else done this?


----------



## Donofmiami (May 19, 2010)

*Re: conveyor dryer ventilation*

The best way I've learned to exhuast fumes from the dryer is to cover the top hole if it came with one. The top stack doesn't work to we'll because fumes still come off the garments on the exit of the belt. So the best thing we could of done is to build a hoody on the exit of the belt, along with dryer ducking and a high powered in line fan blowing everything out the building. It will not only eliminate fumes, but help with heat also.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N910A using T-Shirt Forums


----------



## Printor (Apr 16, 2015)

If your dryer has an exhaust port and fan built in than the designers intended it to work that way. Running it to a window will help except the days when the wind is blowing right back in window. The more vertical your vent is, the better it is for your fan. Try to make sure it is always going upward or at very least level. to maintain the most airflow


----------



## Donofmiami (May 19, 2010)

The window method is no good, if your running the dryer all day In production, maybe if your running it very little as a hobby. The right way of running the ducking is to punch a hole out the side of the building and installing a flap so no fumes come back in. Designers in the past did intend on the top smoke stack to work well as it does, but it doesn't exuast the fumes that come off the garments on the exit of the belt. Work Horse was just in our shop 2 weeks ago for a few day installing our new autopress, when they saw our custom built hoody on the exit of our dryer, they mentioned to me that was genius as all there newer dryers have a hoody on the end of the belt rather then on top. Workhorse also learned that alot of toxic fumes come off the garments as they exit, and that the top stack can't pick that up. By closing the top stack, you leave all the heat inside and suck out the fumes and heat on the end with a high powered in line fan. In our shop we take our health serious and spent time on this on all 3 of our conveyors.


----------



## Printor (Apr 16, 2015)

*Re: conveyor dryer ventilation*



Donofmiami said:


> The best way I've learned to exhuast fumes from the dryer is to cover the top hole if it came with one. The top stack doesn't work to we'll because fumes still come off the garments on the exit of the belt. So the best thing we could of done is to build a hoody on the exit of the belt, along with dryer ducking and a high powered in line fan blowing everything out the building. It will not only eliminate fumes, but help with heat also.
> 
> Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N910A using T-Shirt Forums


Is the issue a landlord that doesn't want any more holes in the building? I don't know what kind of window design you have but with some, it's not to hard to rig a board or a thick sheet of plastic with a fitting through it, so on those cold days you can quickly pop it in the window and slide the hose on there. Then if the wind is blowing the wrong way, it can't come back in. If the dryer is running, fumes can't come back through the hose. just make sure rain water can't get in the end of the hose cuz it can still drip down against the air flow into you dryer.


----------



## artlife (Jan 15, 2010)

others have good suggestions on exhausting. exhausting should be up high and not come back in. Also should have a large exhaust fan to pull air out and bring fresh air in.


----------



## sben763 (May 17, 2009)

Donofmiami said:


> The window method is no good, if your running the dryer all day In production, maybe if your running it very little as a hobby. The right way of running the ducking is to punch a hole out the side of the building and installing a flap so no fumes come back in. Designers in the past did intend on the top smoke stack to work well as it does, but it doesn't exuast the fumes that come off the garments on the exit of the belt. Work Horse was just in our shop 2 weeks ago for a few day installing our new autopress, when they saw our custom built hoody on the exit of our dryer, they mentioned to me that was genius as all there newer dryers have a hoody on the end of the belt rather then on top. Workhorse also learned that alot of toxic fumes come off the garments as they exit, and that the top stack can't pick that up. By closing the top stack, you leave all the heat inside and suck out the fumes and heat on the end with a high powered in line fan. In our shop we take our health serious and spent time on this on all 3 of our conveyors.


I can't speak for the design of workhorse dryer but Lawson, M&R and a few other I've used all will vent just fine with the top vent. Each of the brands I mentioned and have used have a exit cover. some have a fan. My current Lawson did not. Using inline fans is a very bad idea. Most inline fans are not even rated to 200F. a bypass inducer fan is best option. Only the fan is in the heat while the motor portion is outside the vent.

If the dryer is smoking and you have a vent you do not have proper make up air. If you have positive vent as in a fan or proper natural draft you have to have make up air. The M&R had a vent fan, my current dryer a Lawson didn't have a fan so I added the bypass inducer fan. Makeup air is just outside near the exit side of dryer. if you don't have enough makeup air you can have the biggest exhaust fan, hood, vent or what ever method used to exhaust used and it wont work properly. A hood could be deceiving as the smoke fumes can hit the hood cool off and still back draft without seeing any smoke. 

A lot of building have enough air leaks to accommodate a natural draft vent, but any dryer with a powered fan should have make up air. you cant exhaust air that cant be replaced. This is simple physics. New buildings that have been built with the new energy code are required to have make up air, its call combustion air for any draft appliances. All newer buildings with 90%+ furnace will have a exhaust and intake. If they didn't the furnace would lite, run for a short period till the building starts to pull a vacuum and the shut off because they have safety pressure switch. 

I've install makeup air in many restaurants with huge exhaust systems because smoke was still in the kitchen unless they propped open that back door which is a heath code violation I did 1 15 years ago and word got out and since have done hundreds. I have had my HVAC certification 26 years.


----------



## sben763 (May 17, 2009)

even if your building has enough air leaks to vent, make up air near the dryer allows air circulation without affecting the A/C or heating system and can save energy by not creating a heat loss


----------



## Donofmiami (May 19, 2010)

*Re: conveyor dryer ventilation*

Top stacks are great, but they still can't exuast fumes coming off the garments on the exit of the belt, as they can only pick up fumes in the conveyor box. The only way to guarantee all fumes to exit the the building is to exuast fumes from In the box and off the garments in the exit. We use the exit hoody on our Lawson dryer aswell. 

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N910A using T-Shirt Forums


----------



## Printor (Apr 16, 2015)

Awww.... I just realized you said tilted window in your op. I don't know of a good way to do my last suggestion with a tilter. May want to commit to a hole. It is nice to not have to customize your ventilation every day. been there, way too many times


----------



## sben763 (May 17, 2009)

*Re: conveyor dryer ventilation*



Donofmiami said:


> Top stacks are great, but they still can't exuast fumes coming off the garments on the exit of the belt, as they can only pick up fumes in the conveyor box. The only way to guarantee all fumes to exit the the building is to exuast fumes from In the box and off the garments in the exit. We use the exit hoody on our Lawson dryer aswell.
> 
> Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N910A using T-Shirt Forums


This is incorrect. With proper make up air zero fumes will enter. I can take a smoke test can at the end of my dryer and spray at the belt level and watch the smoke be sucked back into dryer. I'd be willing to bet IF you don't have make up air of enough air leaks I can take the same can even on a hood system at the end of the dryer and you will have back draft. Just cause you done see smoke from the plastizer doesn't mean it's being exhausted at 100%. Commercial hood system in restaurants have had the same issue for many years, they have a hood comber be the entire cooking area and still get back draft if proper make up air isn't present. Like I said it's simple physics.


----------

