Re: Dust and the Studio

[John L Rice]

Me! Mainly because the sound of my 12x14x8 little room sounded . . . sad.
The surface of my drum platform is bare wood though.

Pictures here :

http://www.imjohn.com/DrumFloor/index.htm

John L Rice


"Roger W. Norman" > wrote in message
...
> Who the **** puts carpet on the floor? Maybe area rugs, but man, no
> carpets.
>
> --
>
>
> Roger W. Norman
> SirMusic Studio
> Purchase your copy of the Fifth of RAP CD set at www.recaudiopro.net.
> See how far $20 really goes.
>
>
>
>
> "Dale Farmer" > wrote in message
> ...
> >
> >
> > "Roger W. Norman" wrote:
> >
> > > Assuming you have forced air, see about getting the air ducts cleaned.
> Not
> > > a cheap process, but worth it, particularly with winter coming on in
the
> > > northern hemisphere. Wash down your walls once a month, air
filtration
> > > systems are small these days and not necessary to run when you're
> recording.
> > > Ionizers work. A small humidifier might help, but I wouldn't want a
> bunch
> > > of humidity in my studio. If it's already humid, then a dehumidifier
> might
> > > extract some dust too, again, not on while recording.
> > >
> > > And apparently a computer is a great place to collect dust! <g>
> > > --
> >
> > Remove the carpeting and have it professionally cleaned or replaced
> with
> > new. Brand new carpets are dust magnets, after a year or two, all that
> dust
> > that they soaked up has started sawing at the bases of the individual
> fibers,
> > and cutting them loose. All that dust and the carpet fibers come up and
> float
> > into the air.
> > Get a central vacuum system or a very long hose for your vacuum
> cleaner,
> > so that the exhaust from the vacuum cleaner exits into someplace else.
A
> > lot of vacuum cleaners will leak out of their exhaust the very fine
> > particulates.
> > Going with HEPA bags will help, but they cost more.
> > Leave your shoes at the studio door. Most of the dust is brought in
> on the
> > soles of your shoes. Put some expendable carpets outside the studio
door,
> > and clean that carpet often to help scrub dirt from your shoes.
> > Go to your doctor's office and ask for some of the pamphlets on dust
> > control they give out to people who have dust allergies.
> >
> > --Dale
> >
>
>

[2mb]

maybe you could get one of those electrostatic filters for your forced air
unit.

http://www.lennox.com/products/list_iaq.asp
http://www.residential.carrier.com/products/aircleaners/set_airclean.htm

I don't know if these things really do any good, but the marketing hype
indicates that they add a layer of filtration for microscopic particles and
dust that go right through normal forced air filters. I am sure that if they
actually work, they require frequent cleaning to be most effective. A weekly
chore is worth cleaner equipment.

"unibrow" > wrote in message
news:vyIrb.160081$e01.572248@attbi_s02...
> I have quite a dust problem in my bedroom/studio. Aside from the
weekly
> dusting, and keeping things covered, do you guys and gals use anything in
> particular to keep dust flow to a minimum?
>
>
> Thanks,
>
> Mike
>
>

[Kurt Albershardt]

Tracy Wintermute wrote:

> On Fri, 21 Nov 2003 03:35:14 GMT, "2mb"
> > wrote:
>
>> maybe you could get one of those electrostatic filters for your forced air
>> unit.
>
>
>
> In my experience, BAD idea.
>
> At my old place, the previous owner had one of these things installed
> due to allergies or some such. Are you familiar with the sounds a
> "bug zapper" makes? Pretty much the same deal with the electrostatic.
> Not only are the sounds audible ambiently, similar sounds also occur
> in the signal of any audio equipment hooked to the same leg (phase) of
> your in-house electrical distribution, not just the same circuit. And,
> the stuff 'broadcasts' to much of the equipment hooked to the other
> leg. I ended up with the thing being turned off most all the time.
>
> Admittedly, the technology may have progressed since then, but I
> remain sceptical.

Definitely start by getting your ducts cleaned regularly and using
better filters which are changed regularly. Changing out the 1"
fiberglass filter for a 2" Hi-E 40 made a major difference here.

And as others have mentioned, wall-to-wall carpet is an evil thing if
you want to ensure any standard of cleanliness.

[Tracy Wintermute]

On Fri, 21 Nov 2003 03:35:14 GMT, "2mb"
> wrote:

>maybe you could get one of those electrostatic filters for your forced air
>unit.
>

In my experience, BAD idea.

At my old place, the previous owner had one of these things installed
due to allergies or some such. Are you familiar with the sounds a
"bug zapper" makes? Pretty much the same deal with the electrostatic.
Not only are the sounds audible ambiently, similar sounds also occur
in the signal of any audio equipment hooked to the same leg (phase) of
your in-house electrical distribution, not just the same circuit. And,
the stuff 'broadcasts' to much of the equipment hooked to the other
leg. I ended up with the thing being turned off most all the time.

Admittedly, the technology may have progressed since then, but I
remain sceptical.



====================
Tracy Wintermute

Rushcreek Ranch
====================

[2mb]

Given that a lot of forced air units are 220V, you probably wouldn't be able
to get a clean leg. My bad... I guess it would be a pain unless you put a
remote to the thing all the way into your studio so you could turn it off
when tracking or doing important monitoring... without a trip to the
basement.


"Tracy Wintermute" > wrote in message
...
> On Fri, 21 Nov 2003 03:35:14 GMT, "2mb"
> > wrote:
>
> >maybe you could get one of those electrostatic filters for your forced
air
> >unit.
> >
>
> In my experience, BAD idea.
>
> At my old place, the previous owner had one of these things installed
> due to allergies or some such. Are you familiar with the sounds a
> "bug zapper" makes? Pretty much the same deal with the electrostatic.
> Not only are the sounds audible ambiently, similar sounds also occur
> in the signal of any audio equipment hooked to the same leg (phase) of
> your in-house electrical distribution, not just the same circuit. And,
> the stuff 'broadcasts' to much of the equipment hooked to the other
> leg. I ended up with the thing being turned off most all the time.
>
> Admittedly, the technology may have progressed since then, but I
> remain sceptical.
>
>
>
> ====================
> Tracy Wintermute
>
> Rushcreek Ranch
> ====================

[Robert Blank]

Hi_E? Where can you get one of these?

Kurt Albershardt > wrote:

> Tracy Wintermute wrote:
>
> > On Fri, 21 Nov 2003 03:35:14 GMT, "2mb"
> > > wrote:
> >
> >> maybe you could get one of those electrostatic filters for your forced air
> >> unit.
> >
> >
> >
> > In my experience, BAD idea.
> >
> > At my old place, the previous owner had one of these things installed
> > due to allergies or some such. Are you familiar with the sounds a
> > "bug zapper" makes? Pretty much the same deal with the electrostatic.
> > Not only are the sounds audible ambiently, similar sounds also occur
> > in the signal of any audio equipment hooked to the same leg (phase) of
> > your in-house electrical distribution, not just the same circuit. And,
> > the stuff 'broadcasts' to much of the equipment hooked to the other
> > leg. I ended up with the thing being turned off most all the time.
> >
> > Admittedly, the technology may have progressed since then, but I
> > remain sceptical.
>
> Definitely start by getting your ducts cleaned regularly and using
> better filters which are changed regularly. Changing out the 1"
> fiberglass filter for a 2" Hi-E 40 made a major difference here.
>
> And as others have mentioned, wall-to-wall carpet is an evil thing if
> you want to ensure any standard of cleanliness.

[Mike Rivers]

In article > writes:

> >maybe you could get one of those electrostatic filters for your forced air
> >unit.

> At my old place, the previous owner had one of these things installed
> due to allergies or some such. Are you familiar with the sounds a
> "bug zapper" makes?

Well, you could turn it off when you're recording. In a home studio,
it's unusual to have a quiet enough furnace/air conditioner fan so
that you don't need to turn it off when recording anyway. I do.
(recording season is rather limited around here)



--
I'm really Mike Rivers - )
However, until the spam goes away or Hell freezes over,
lots of IP addresses are blocked from this system. If
you e-mail me and it bounces, use your secret decoder ring
and reach me here: double-m-eleven-double-zero at yahoo

[Mike Rivers]

In article > writes:

> Definitely start by getting your ducts cleaned regularly and using
> better filters which are changed regularly. Changing out the 1"
> fiberglass filter for a 2" Hi-E 40 made a major difference here.

My furnace won't accommodate 2" filters, but I can buy 1" filters for
as little as about fifty cents to as much as about $10. The $10 ones
have an electret so they probably clog up faster than the less
efficient ones.

Just because I don't want to waste a lot of time studying this out, I
buy the $2 ones that claim to last 90 days over the fifty cent ones
that say they should be changed every 30 days. Since my furnace is in
a crawl space under the living room, requiring that I go outside to
change the filter, it's worth the extra half a buck per filter change
to only change the filter four times a year rather than maybe 10.

Or the 90 days could be wishful thinking, too. I know I've let the 30
day filters go six months when I haven't thought about it. They're
really dirty when they go that long.



--
I'm really Mike Rivers - )
However, until the spam goes away or Hell freezes over,
lots of IP addresses are blocked from this system. If
you e-mail me and it bounces, use your secret decoder ring
and reach me here: double-m-eleven-double-zero at yahoo

[Rob Adelman]

Mike Rivers wrote:


> Well, you could turn it off when you're recording. In a home studio,
> it's unusual to have a quiet enough furnace/air conditioner fan so
> that you don't need to turn it off when recording anyway. I do.
> (recording season is rather limited around here)

I am well familiar with that drill. I always thought about putting an
off switch on a timer though, inevitably I always forget to turn it back
on until it starts getting very cold/hot in the house..

[Kurt Albershardt]

I think that's a Purolator trademark, but look in the Yellow Pages under
'Filters-Air & Gas' and there will be a few options.

Common filter sizes sizes are available in 1", 2", and 4" depths, with
correspondingly larger surface areas (allowing tighter filtration media
to last longer.) My 16" x 25" x 2" filters were a whopping $4.16 ea.



Robert Blank wrote:

> Hi_E? Where can you get one of these?
>
> Kurt Albershardt > wrote:
>
>> Definitely start by getting your ducts cleaned regularly and using
>> better filters which are changed regularly. Changing out the 1"
>> fiberglass filter for a 2" Hi-E 40 made a major difference here.
>>
>> And as others have mentioned, wall-to-wall carpet is an evil thing if
>> you want to ensure any standard of cleanliness.

[Kurt Albershardt]

Mike Rivers wrote:

> In article > writes:
>
>
>> Definitely start by getting your ducts cleaned regularly and using
>> better filters which are changed regularly. Changing out the 1"
>> fiberglass filter for a 2" Hi-E 40 made a major difference here.
>
>
> My furnace won't accommodate 2" filters, but I can buy 1" filters for
> as little as about fifty cents to as much as about $10. The $10 ones
> have an electret so they probably clog up faster than the less
> efficient ones.
>
> Just because I don't want to waste a lot of time studying this out, I
> buy the $2 ones that claim to last 90 days over the fifty cent ones
> that say they should be changed every 30 days. Since my furnace is in
> a crawl space under the living room, requiring that I go outside to
> change the filter, it's worth the extra half a buck per filter change
> to only change the filter four times a year rather than maybe 10.

My c. 1945 oil furnace probably wasn't designed for 2" filters but they
fit just fine. I change the 2" Hi-E 40 ones twice per Winter--about the
same as the fiberglass cheapie that was in there previously.


I'm noodling on a dust control system for when we build the new place.
Very large ducts with very low velocity air movement, mostly
convection-driven. Windows that don't have screens and don't open
(except for fire exit) but plenty of clean, fresh air throughout the house.

[Robert Blank]

So the difference is the thickness, not the composition?

Kurt Albershardt > wrote:

> I think that's a Purolator trademark, but look in the Yellow Pages under
> 'Filters-Air & Gas' and there will be a few options.
>
> Common filter sizes sizes are available in 1", 2", and 4" depths, with
> correspondingly larger surface areas (allowing tighter filtration media
> to last longer.) My 16" x 25" x 2" filters were a whopping $4.16 ea.
>
>
>
> Robert Blank wrote:
>
> > Hi_E? Where can you get one of these?
> >
> > Kurt Albershardt > wrote:
> >
> >> Definitely start by getting your ducts cleaned regularly and using
> >> better filters which are changed regularly. Changing out the 1"
> >> fiberglass filter for a 2" Hi-E 40 made a major difference here.
> >>
> >> And as others have mentioned, wall-to-wall carpet is an evil thing if
> >> you want to ensure any standard of cleanliness.

[Kurt Albershardt]

Both. The thicker profile with its deeper folds provides a larger
surface area, which allows you to use a tighter filter medium.



Robert Blank wrote:
> So the difference is the thickness, not the composition?
>
> Kurt Albershardt > wrote:
>
>
>> I think that's a Purolator trademark, but look in the Yellow Pages under
>> 'Filters-Air & Gas' and there will be a few options.
>>
>> Common filter sizes sizes are available in 1", 2", and 4" depths, with
>> correspondingly larger surface areas (allowing tighter filtration media
>> to last longer.) My 16" x 25" x 2" filters were a whopping $4.16 ea.
>>
>>
>>
>> Robert Blank wrote:
>>
>>
>>> Hi_E? Where can you get one of these?
>>>
>>> Kurt Albershardt > wrote:
>>>
>>>
>>>> Definitely start by getting your ducts cleaned regularly and using
>>>> better filters which are changed regularly. Changing out the 1"
>>>> fiberglass filter for a 2" Hi-E 40 made a major difference here.

[Mike Rivers]

In article > writes:

> So the difference is the thickness, not the composition?

The material makes a difference for sure, because of the difference in
porosity. But a thicker filter has more surface area since there's
more material pleated to fit the same outside dimensions.



--
I'm really Mike Rivers - )
However, until the spam goes away or Hell freezes over,
lots of IP addresses are blocked from this system. If
you e-mail me and it bounces, use your secret decoder ring
and reach me here: double-m-eleven-double-zero at yahoo

[Tracy Wintermute]

On Fri, 21 Nov 2003 07:58:58 GMT, "2mb"
> wrote:

>Given that a lot of forced air units are 220V,

Mine was on a gas furnace ( no air conditioner/heat pump.) The
electrostatic unit was definitely 120V ( popularly called 110V.)

Sorry that I had not clarified that in my other post.


====================
Tracy Wintermute

Rushcreek Ranch
====================