Exhausting...
Finally!
After much delay, I finally have the exhaust system in the shop connected, and working. The biggest delay was actually the price; these hoses are insanely expensive: $155 each for an 11' hose, which makes these things a little over $14 per foot! The exact same hose sells for half that price in the US, but the stores that sell them in the US will only ship them up here by courier, and the couriers charge a few hunded dollars for "customs handling" going over ther border. The stores say that they're too heavy to send by regular parcel-post, which is a load of BS; I've shipped far heavier things by parcel-post with no problems. In any case, the delivery truck finally showed up around 4pm this afternoon with the drop-adapters and an extra hose. I had purchased one hose in Calgary on my last trip, but without the drop-adapters I couldn't hook it up to the shop's exhaust system.
The fact that shis shop was originally a tractor dealership really helps with my business: Things like the exhaust system, which is an absolute necessity in the cold weather, are already in place. The only real problem that I had hooking everything up was that the previous owner had stuffed plastic bags up inside the drops to keep any drafts out. Since he wasn't using the place as an engine shop, I can understand his reasoning. Still, it would have been nice if he had told me that he'd blocked the pipes. All I knew was that i wasn't getting any suction, so I had to take the adapters off again and peer into the pipes with a flash-light. Thankfully, the plastic wasn't in too far, and I was able to see it and then hook it with a piece of wire to pull it out. Once the blockage was removed the system worked great! Now I can run an engine in here without having to open the big door, and not kill myself in the process.
Just to be on the safe side, when I had a central alarm system installed last Spring, I had them add a carbon-monoxide detector as well. The exhaust system should remove all of the fumes, but if there are any leaks anywhere there could still be a problem. Now I've just got to make a bunch of different adapters to fit over the various styles of mufflers that I come across on small engines. The "sausage-style" ones are easy, the hose just fits right over them. A lot of engines have more of a "flat" muffler these days though, so that will take some work. A furnace-duct adapter should provide the perfect fit, and will be the least expensive option.
After much delay, I finally have the exhaust system in the shop connected, and working. The biggest delay was actually the price; these hoses are insanely expensive: $155 each for an 11' hose, which makes these things a little over $14 per foot! The exact same hose sells for half that price in the US, but the stores that sell them in the US will only ship them up here by courier, and the couriers charge a few hunded dollars for "customs handling" going over ther border. The stores say that they're too heavy to send by regular parcel-post, which is a load of BS; I've shipped far heavier things by parcel-post with no problems. In any case, the delivery truck finally showed up around 4pm this afternoon with the drop-adapters and an extra hose. I had purchased one hose in Calgary on my last trip, but without the drop-adapters I couldn't hook it up to the shop's exhaust system.
The fact that shis shop was originally a tractor dealership really helps with my business: Things like the exhaust system, which is an absolute necessity in the cold weather, are already in place. The only real problem that I had hooking everything up was that the previous owner had stuffed plastic bags up inside the drops to keep any drafts out. Since he wasn't using the place as an engine shop, I can understand his reasoning. Still, it would have been nice if he had told me that he'd blocked the pipes. All I knew was that i wasn't getting any suction, so I had to take the adapters off again and peer into the pipes with a flash-light. Thankfully, the plastic wasn't in too far, and I was able to see it and then hook it with a piece of wire to pull it out. Once the blockage was removed the system worked great! Now I can run an engine in here without having to open the big door, and not kill myself in the process.
Just to be on the safe side, when I had a central alarm system installed last Spring, I had them add a carbon-monoxide detector as well. The exhaust system should remove all of the fumes, but if there are any leaks anywhere there could still be a problem. Now I've just got to make a bunch of different adapters to fit over the various styles of mufflers that I come across on small engines. The "sausage-style" ones are easy, the hose just fits right over them. A lot of engines have more of a "flat" muffler these days though, so that will take some work. A furnace-duct adapter should provide the perfect fit, and will be the least expensive option.