The DC1100 Air Quality Monitor - A Technology and Price Breakthrough

About two years ago I recognized the need for an affordable particle counter that woodworkers could use in their own shops to tell them whether or not they were making any progress with their dust containment. Let's face it, you spend a lot of money on your shop, equipment and then dust collection and until now, you really had no practical way of telling whether you were doing any good. I had worked with an individual to develop such a meter but unfortunately we never got anything working. With that said, I am really happy to say that someone did develop an affordable particle counter and we are please to announce that Clear Vue Cyclones is now a distributor of the Dylos particle counters.

Learn more about the DC1100 Air Quality Monitor
Dylos Corporation's DC1100 Air Quality Monitor is the first monitor on the market that has been developed and tested for consumer use. Up until now, the only particulate air quality monitors available for purchase were the extremely high priced units that were sold to hospitals, laboratories, clean room facilities, etc. The DC1100, on the other hand, was designed expressly to meet the needs of the home or office environment at an affordable price.

  • True Laser Particle Counter
  • Counts individual particles
  • Sizes small and large particles
  • Immediate response to changing environment
  • Up to 30 days of stored history data


The DC1100 Air Quality Monitor provides you with the necessary information for you to assess whether or not your indoor air is clean. It helps you stay proactive in the health of your family and if used in conjunction with the tips provided, you will be able to make sure that you are doing all that you can to keep the air your family breathes clean.

All you need to do is simply plug it in and turn it on. The DC1100 will configure itself to continuously count the airborne particles in your home. The DC1100 will let you know if the steps you are taking to improve your air quality are really working or not. The DC1100 will let you know if an $800 air purifier works any better than a $200 one in your home. This will save you money by taking the guesswork out of improving air quality. To assist you in these efforts the DC1100 stores up to 30 days of air quality history for review.

These meters are available in two ranges:

1 - 5 micron. This unit has two separate readings. One reading counts the small particles down to 1 micron and the other reading counts the larger particles above 5 microns. It is graduated in 100's of particles so you simply add two 00's to the end of the reading to get an actual particle count.

.5 - 2.5 micron. This unit is the same as above but measures small particles down to .5 microns and larger particles above 2.5 microns.

We have tested both meters and they both respond immediately to wood dust.  Of course, the .5 – 2.5 meter will give you a more graphic idea of just how good or bad your shop air is. Below, I've included what I believe is a logical approach to testing your shop air. It should help you determine if you have a problem and if so, just where it is..

A suggested test procedure.

  1. Leave your shop un-used for 24 hours.  This will give the dust is in the air time to settle out.   Important note:  Tests have shown that dust under one micron can stay in the air for days, weeks or longer.  Depending on the condition of your shop, it might be advisable to do a thorough cleaning and airing out of your shop before attempting any air quality testing. 
  2. Take a reading outside your shop to give you a baseline reading.  It’s important to know what the quality of your outside air is because it will have a direct effect on what the inside air is. 
  3. Enter your shop and take a reading with minimum movement or activity.  This will give you a baseline reading for inside your shop and then you will have a number to compare to.
  4. Turn on your dust collector.  This is going to tell you if the filters are working properly on your dust collection system.  If your readings stay the same or start to go down, you know that the filters are working.  If the readings start to climb, you know that your dust collector is just pumping the dust right through the filters.  If the numbers go up, there isn't much point in going to step 5.  You already have a serious problem that needs correcting.
  5. Make some sawdust.  After you have established that your dust collector filters are doing a good job, it’s time to actually start producing dust at your machines.  If you do tests on each of your machines, you will see exactly where you are doing a good job of collecting dust at the machine and which machines need attention.  If you are not collecting all of the dust at the machines, you need to ware a good NIOSH approved mask. (National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health).  Tests have shown that it will take at least 15 minutes and in some cases several hours for an air cleaner (or your dust collector used as an air cleaner) to clean the air in your shop.  If you are spraying dust into the air from your machines, you will be breathing that dust the entire time you are doing woodworking and for at least 15 minutes up to several hours afterward. 

 

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