vaccuuming powder

14 March 2006, 22:07

Old Cane

vaccuuming powder

Ok, silly question. I know not to vaccuum black powder but I set up a press in my office and I never realized how messy I am. Can I vaccuum up smokeless? If not, how can I get it up out of carpet?

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15 March 2006, 02:14

Tailgunner

On a "shop-vac" the filter is between the dirt and the motor. On a "standard" vacuum the filter is between the motor and air (IOW on a standard vacuum the dirt/powder has to go through the motor before it gets to the bag). Just something to remind the maid about.

15 March 2006, 03:13

nordrseta

I do, but that doesn't mean you should. Suppose now is as good a time as any to admit I vacuum primers too, but almost all of them are spent...

15 March 2006, 03:23

Larry Burchfield

Well I just learned something new. It had never crossed my mind as to any danger using a shop vac to pick up powder. I usually use a brush and dust pan to clean up my bench (it gets dumped in the yard)but I do use the vac on the floor.
Larry

15 March 2006, 04:41

Mark

I use a shop vac to clean up everything. I just make sure to empty it out when I use it to clean up reloading debris. Also, I think the biggest danger if powder lit off would be a fire, I can't see any sort of dangerous explosion happening.

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15 March 2006, 06:06

tiggertate

On a similar note, I didn't realize how sensitive smokeless was until I was pulling some bullets with my kenetic puller the other day. My shop floor was slightly dirty with scattered smokeless and when I whacked the puller on the floor hard enough I would get a little crackle noise and that undeniable smell of burnt smokless. I guess it was enough nitroglycerine to detonate under enough shock. Says a bunch about vacumn cleaner impellers and smokless...

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15 March 2006, 07:06

woods

An old thread

https://forums.accuratereloading.com/eve/forums/a/tp.../743105412#743105412

I would worry more about static electricity from reloading over carpet than the shop vac.

Although apparently powder is not that easy to ignite

http://www.ctmuzzleloaders.com/mlexperiments/sparks/sparks.html

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15 March 2006, 15:28

Tailgunner

quote:
Originally posted by tiggertate:
Says a bunch about vacumn cleaner impellers and smokless...

With a "regular" vacuum that would be a problem.
With a "shop vac" the filter is before the motor (powder can't get to the impeller) so unless your powder grains are 100micron and smaller........

16 March 2006, 07:27

bartsche

Haven't been injured by my Dirt Devil yet. If it did ignite how fast do you think that powder would turn into gas? you'd probably get a greater explosive force from the igniting dust. Has anyone heard of some unfortunate insident involving a vacuum and smokeless powder? I never have.

roger

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16 March 2006, 07:59

claybuster

The biggest mess I ever made is I dropped a bag of bird shot and the bag split when it hit the floor,,Knock on wood,,never have spilled enough powder to justify a vacumn cleaner,,I use a dust pan and a fine bristle,2" paint brush,,more for dusting than anything else,,Though I have had to clean up some errant powder drops from my mec presses,,Clay

17 March 2006, 22:14

GatorT/C

I have never had powder blow up, but I have had a dust explosion. I was using a drill press and drilling 1" hole in expoxy chocks. Was using a Snap-On air hose vaccum (tiny) to suck up fine dust. Apparently I picked up something that caused a spark or just from static, but bag blew with a LOUD noise and ruptured bag. Did not hurt anything except my ears!

18 March 2006, 01:31

jeh7mmmag

Both floor and shop vacs use brush (arcing) type motor and if you read the warning they will tell you not to us on anything flammable!! The only differnce is the location of the filter. I have had the beater bar on floor vac set off live primer that I vac up. Rememeber a woman used shop vac on gasoline spill and got burned bad (Dumb). Static elec can be generated when there is change in state of matter (liquid to vapor as with butane /propane). Also when there is a great baromertic differnce in air pressure.