Dust Collection Hose Whine

Some hoses make a whining noise. Here's advice on how to get rid of it. May 7, 2009

Question
I set up a temporary system in my shop with a Delta AP-400 Collector and particle separator. I adapted from 4" to a PVC "T" with (2) 2" outlets. From there, I picked up my miter saw on one leg, and table saw with the other. I used 2" flexible plastic tube (sump pump tubing). I'm getting a very high pitched whine from the miter saw when the collector is running. Any suggestions to fix this noise?

Forum Responses
(Dust Collection and Safety Equipment Forum)
From contributor F:
You may have too much restriction with hose that small, especially if there is a good amount of length to it. Two inches is essentially useless connected to a dust collector, the only thing you should use it for is a shop vac. A tablesaw needs a minimum of 4" though 5" is preferable. For a temporary fix I would run 4" to both machines and use shutoffs to control the airflow. Then I would recommend going into the archives and reading up on dust collection. You'll learn what sizes you'll need and why.



From contributor J:
I've tried a couple times with sump pump drain hose for 2" and 1-1/4" shop vac extensions, and always get a whine or whistle. It's cheap, but since it's designed for slow-speed water discharge I believe the shape of the corrugation is causing the whistle with high-speed airflow. Plumb as much as you can with PVC or ABS (smooth wall) to the saws to reduce restriction, and I'd get some honest 2" shop vac extension hose for the remainder - the noise will be gone in an instant.


From contributor C:
Buy actual flexible dust collection hose. Hose made for dust collection is much smoother in the inside. You can get a variety of sizes from 2"-9". Sump pump hose is very rough in the inside which makes dust collection less efficient and also produces a whistling noise. You could think of it like blowing over the open end of a bottle. Your hose is producing this noise the same way.


From contributor T:
You can eliminate whistling of the sump pump hose when using it for dust collection by distorting the hose with a heat gun. Keep distorting different spots on the hose until the whistling goes away. I have ten fairly small machines, each with its own blast gate. I am running 1 ½” sump pump hoses to over head 4” PVC pipes which are attached to one, two HP Dust Collector and I use a remote starter.