Engine exhaust ventilation for small workshop

[harrbca]

Hi there everyone,

I have a small tractor ( Massey Ferguson 2400 ) and a couple of atv's that I'll need to do service work on during the long Canadian winter. On my property, I have a 35' x 90' cindercrete/concrete structure that use to be the old residence that I am converting into a workshop/gym/man cave. This structure is an earth shelter about 8' high inside with a concrete slab roof. I am having a 6x7 overhead garage door installed so I can drive the tractor and atv's into it ( and maybe the motorbike so it stays warm and cozy ).

Since I don't feel like dying from carbon monoxide poising, I was wondering what options are out there for venting the exhaust from running engines to the outside? This is only for occasional use ( maybe during warmup while its -40 outside ) or the times when I need to run the engines during servicing.

Thanks for any input you can offer!

 

[Branchchipper]

We use a 3' (?) diameter, 110v fan.

It rolls into position, and, as long as you have a door/window at each end (or some means for both exit of fumes and entry of fresh air) you can move a lot of air.

You can either pull or push fumes out (pressurize from the entrance towards exit, or depressurize vice-versa).

As long as you're not trying to oppose the wind, such ventilation is VERY effective.

If you're consistent with fan use, you'll maintain a much healthier atmosphere in there. The big health danger with diesel exhaust, besides good old carbon monoxide, is the soot, contaminated with benzene and what not (numerous carcinogens).

You stir it up later, and breathe it again, or absorb it through skin, food or whatever. We keep an air flow going for a while after the machine is off or out, and have seen almost no soot accumulation on surfaces.

Until a few years ago in fire stations, diesel soot was EVERYWHERE in the apparatus bays. Not good. Turnouts (protective clothing) were contaminated before they got to a fire. Fortunately, filtration and exhaust systems have caught on since. Some are just big fans.

 

[beeforty]

You might think about buying an inline blower and hooking it to some flex ducting or abs drain to vent outside like they do in comercial garages/firehouse. Then you put the hose on the exhaust you want to get rid of and out it goes. You probably don't want the doors open in -40 and vans blowing Also check out some of the posts about door size for tractors. Will you have to take down your ROPS to come in and out?

 

[George2615]

I agree. Carbon monoxide is not something you want to breathe. I know NAPA sells exhaust hoses you slip one end over the tailpipe and the other out the garage door. Many commercial garages have a hole in the garage door for the hose to fit in. If you don't want to have a hole in your door just lift the door enough to get the hose under it.

An exhaust fan is another option but it will also suck out your heat and cost you more to heat the garage.

An enclosed exhaust fan with an exhaust hose connection would work best.

 

[SandburRanch]

If you google flex exhaust hose you'll find all kinds of choices and possibly through wall adapters. Steel flex has been around for nearly a hundred years and was used on ringer washing machines so the Briggs engine could be operated on the porch. A carbon monoxide detector might be a good thing too.

For more ventilation an opening low on one side of the building and high on the opposite side will do a good job venting naturally without electric power.

 

[harrbca]

You might think about buying an inline blower and hooking it to some flex ducting or abs drain to vent outside like they do in comercial garages/firehouse. Then you put the hose on the exhaust you want to get rid of and out it goes. You probably don't want the doors open in -40 and vans blowing Also check out some of the posts about door size for tractors. Will you have to take down your ROPS to come in and out?

6x7 door is as big as I can go without making some structural changes. I'm taking out an existing sliding door to replace with the garage door. I measured my tractor and with the backhoe outriggers, I'm around the 5' width. I will need to take down the ROPS when the tractor is inside the building.

I really like the idea of the flex hose and inline blower. I'm going to look into that some more.

 

[Branchchipper]

True- if you heat the space, venting via big fan is an issue, but...
there are all sorts of risks with ducting exhaust to the outside.

That was our original plan as well.

We found that unless you get a very expensive, purpose built blower, home built systems can have problems with back pressure depending on length and diameter of tubing, wind direction and other atmospheric issues.
Metal tubing can also heat to the point of igniting combustibles at the wall penetration (seen it happen).

Bottom line- unless you have a very good CO detector in just the right position, you run the risk of "gassing" yourself unknowingly when your "pretty good" system becomes inefficient for some reason.

If it only removes 75% of CO for a given period, you're still gassed.

Our solution- unheated main space where motors can be run with ventilation, and isolated, heated inner space for humans and tools.

It is still quite a bit warmer in that unheated main space than it is outside, especially if the sun is shining. The fact that the building walls cut the wind is huge.

 

[smiley]

Hi there everyone, I have a 35' x 90' cindercrete/concrete structure that use to be the old residence that I am converting into a workshop/gym/man cave. This structure is an earth shelter about 8' high inside with a concrete slab roof.
Thanks for any input you can offer!

Wow! From the photo that looks way to nice to be used for a garage. We had an earth shelter house in Florida and liked it better than any other we've had. It was so quiet and the temperature remained so constant it almost never required heat in winter and we never worried about storms. We really miss that house but $$ talk and we had another house there anyway.

 

[Egon]

Do a lot of looking at the exhaust hose hookup and an inline suction fan ducted to the outside.:thumbsup: