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Bananza Draft Blaster for air make-up

1/24/15       
Dan

I purchased a Bananza Draft Blaster 1,000,000 btu / 8,000cfm heater used on Craigslist. I got it hoping I could one day use it in a heated air make-up system for my cabinet shop (I'm in Massachusetts).

After I got it, I called Bananza and (after several failed attempts to reach a human who would return phone calls) was curtly told via email that this unit was not designed for air make-up but they'd be happy to sell me a new $14,000 system instead. I got the distinct impression that they had no interest in explaining or helping in any way.

Pics of unit attached. Can anyone explain what would prevent me from putting this unit in an outdoor enclosure, blowing into a plenum on the inside, maybe put a VFD on the heater fan along with a VFD on the spray booth fan? Assuming the cfm are sized appropriately, I would love to understand why this wouldn't work as a heated air makeup. Even if I went with a larger-than-8,000cfm spray booth, partial heated air make-up is much better than none at all here in the winter.

It occurs to me that maybe the unit can only be on or off, not throttled down for lower air flow and less gas consumption. If this is the case, and it's all or nothing, that still seems okay.

What am I missing?

Thanks!


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1/24/15       #2: Bananza Draft Blaster for air make- ...
herb johnson

i think they are concerned because their is not damper to prevent fumes from going back into the burner when the unit is shut off

it also appears that it is full on full off, and if not enough air flow across the burner the unit would most likely be designed to turn off due to lack of air flow

i would stay away from a vfd on the unit get either a yellow or bad smell from the gas not igniting properly

just my two cents

good luck
herb j

1/24/15       #3: Bananza Draft Blaster for air make- ...
herb johnson

they are probably covering their behind as it isn't designed as a modulating burner

1/24/15       #4: Bananza Draft Blaster for air make- ...
Dan

agreed... I was only thinking of mounting outside in a sheetmetal enclosure (100% outside air, not plant air coming into the unit) and only full fan speed and with heat either on (cold months) or off (warm months). No ability to modulate heat. This still sounds a lot better than sucking out heated shop air on a 20 degree day in January. If the booth exhaust exceeds the 8000cfm supplied by the heater, the difference would be made up by shop air and ultimately unheated outside air. Still, preferable to no heated make-up at all, right?

1/24/15       #5: Bananza Draft Blaster for air make- ...
herb johnson

agreed, if your booth is taking out more than the input air, consider a vfd for the fan if you are using air assist guns

good luck
herb j

1/24/15       #6: Bananza Draft Blaster for air make- ...
Dan

Herb, thanks for your comments here. I only plunked down $500 for this thing, figuring at worst I got a really cheap million btu heater.

In this biz I've found you need to squeeze every dime you can, so I try to improvise solutions to expensive problems. As they say... The best way to end up with a million bucks in woodworking is to start out with two.

1/25/15       #7: Bananza Draft Blaster for air make- ...
rich c.

Looks like the units we used to dry corn in metal grain bins. Those things were like jet engines, you could hear them for miles! This unit only moves a fraction of the air those did, but those open burners like that sure are impressive at night! Sorry, no real help to figure this system out, but I bet your insurance man will pass out when he sees it!

1/25/15       #8: Bananza Draft Blaster for air make- ...
herb johnson

thx for the kind words, you will also need a way to diffuse the air coming out of the unit

i big plenum might be the way to go so that the velocity coming out of the unit doesn't stir up the dust in the building

the dust is the curse of a good finish

500 bucks not bad


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