I’m currently in the process of building an enclosure for my CNC machine and I had some questions regarding ventilation. I plan to run the machine for several hours at a time + dewalt stealthsonic 12 gallon for dust collection, and I’m concerned that this could significantly raise the internal temperature of the enclosure.
I came across the following ventilation system on Amazon and was wondering if something like this would be sufficient to keep the interior cool:
It also comes with a panel that displays the temperature, which I find quite useful.
Before making a purchase, I wanted to hear your thoughts and see if anyone has experience with a similar setup or any recommendations.
There has to be provision for air to enter the enclosure or your dust collection won’t accomplish anything. I recently built an enclosure which is potentially air tight. But it has hinged front opening. I found out that by propping that door open about 3/4" across the bottom front that it can then pull plenty of air through the enclosure. I also vented the enclosure by the control board to give it some direct air flow - more than when I didn’t have the enclosure.
So short answer is that I don’t see a need for the additional forced air ventilation. Your Stelhsonic is going to do way more than the fans.
I agree with @quicky06 in that your shop vac will be pulling plenty of air thru the enclosure as to not require separate ventilation for heat. But you will definitely have to make provisions for air being pulled into the enclosure as the dust collection requires air coming in to be pulled thru the vac or it will starve for air and not do a good job collecting dust.
My shop is uncontrolled temperature. Today it was 95 F in the shop. The sweat was dripping off me. So first you have the heat of the shop itself and then inside the enclosure the heat would build up. Seems like the solution is some sort of forced ventilation system. If you put a fan system maybe put it right in front of your controller. Just moving air carries heat away. The ambient temperature wont go down much if the input air is already hot but just moving air will help cool your controller. Maybe send an email to support and/or sales to ask about operating temperatures the controller was designed for.
I have some friends that have put in heat pump/air conditioners in their shop. There are many DIY systems with the lines already charged and all you have to do is install the unit and hook up the lines and open the valves.
I keep thinking about DIY air conditioning system. Got my light bill a few days ago and it was $117.00. Talked to my cousin in Houston and her light bill last month was $500.00. So I think I can stand the extra cost of the electricity compared to her electric bill.
I also run a small dehumidifier, one of these which I can control from a phone app https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B097MK7KQX
It’s there to help me keep the wood at consistent humidity and drying at the right rate to become furniture, keeping my tools from rusting is a bonus.
I use a product called TopSaver on all my cast iron. Unfortunately they dont make it anymore. I have tried the BoeshieldT9 and did not like it. I bought all the bottles of TopSaver at the only vendor that still had some instock. I have 3 bottles plus the one currently in use. I live in East Texas where it is very humid. All my cast iron looks new even though some of them are 30 years old. Rust prevention is a constant fight. For my bandsaw I bought some sheets of magnetic plastic. I cut it to size and leave it on the cast iron top on my SCM 16" bandsaw. That keeps it from getting exposure. I dont use my bandsaw often but the magnetic cover keeps the air out. Wish they still made TopSaver but unfortunately it is not made anymore. For cast tools that are not used often the magnetic roll is very good.
This is similar to what I use on some cast iron tools.
I’ve been tackling this on my own enclosure recently - there is the main compartment for the CNC, and then a separate compartment below for the vaccum and control unit.
I have put removable panels around all of this (with a bit of insulation inside) to make it both air tight and to greatly reduce the noise of the spindle and vaccum.
I found temperature is a significant problem in the vaccum cupboard - the air temperature will heat up above 60 degrees celcsius and continue climbing. Not good! I had to do two things to fix this:
Extractor fans - I have two extractor fans inside the vacuum cupboard that pull air from inside the cupboard and push it out through some baffle boxes to dampen the noise (pictured below mid-assembly). They act as induced draft fans (rather than forced draft fans) and generate airflow through the whole enclosure (as there are some holes to allow air from the main CNC area into the vaccum cupboard).
Vent the vaccum exhaust directly out the machine, do not have it blow into the ambient air within the vaccum cupboard. Luckily, my vaccum has an exhaust port so I route that air directly out the machine (via a third baffle box).
I have found this setup to give me stable temperatures over long hours of machining (maxing out at 40 degrees celcius). It also keeps things deliciously quiet which I really like.
For those folks who just rely on natural air circulation, I have no idea what witchcraft you are using
