Place in Triangle to buy squirrel cage and inline hvac fans

[Turtlewood]

Hey Guys,

I'm looking for a place other than the borgs in the Triangle to buy squirrel cage and inline hvac fans.

My wife is into glass bead making which involves torching. So we're trying to build a rock solid ventilation system.

I tried the inline little hvac blower fans that the borg has but they can't push any air at all if there is any back pressure. There's a slight blow back up through the vent from the outside when the fan is off, so they ended up basically useless.

So I'm looking for some real fans that can push air. The fan will be mounted in the crawl space so size isn't much of an issue, and a squirrel cage style can be used. I'd also like to look into real inlines, ones that bulge to house the fan. They look like this:
http://www.rewci.com/fafrincefan62.html

The ventilation that I'm using is 6" round, but I'm open to moving to 8" if needed.

So I'm looking for places locally that sell to the public. Local is preferred as I might need to upgrade from one fan to another.

Any pointers will help.

Thanks,
-Kevin

[jeff...]

Originally Posted by Turtlewood

Hey Guys,
My wife is into glass bead making which involves torching.
-Kevin

I bet you have lots of respect for her don't you?

[Travis Porter]

I am pretty sure grainger sells some if you want new. I personally, would go buy an HVAC shop and see if they have an old one around you can get for free or near nothing.

[gator]

Most HVAC shops have a pile of squirrel cage fans out back that you can get one for free. Just stop by a couple and ask. They come from when they replace air handler systems.

George

[jerrye]

Originally Posted by Travis Porter

I am pretty sure grainger sells some if you want new.

Travis, does Grainger now sell to the general public? Used to be they only sold to commercial & industrial accounts. You needed an account with them to buy from them.

[ScottM]

Jerry, you can go on-line and create an account. Just make up a company name (e.g. Jerry's House of Fine Sawdust).

[AndyBarnhart]

Anyone had luck with getting a free squirrel cage fan from an HVAC comepany around Raleigh recently? I tried a couple of years ago and came up empty. I gave up after only 3 attempts though as at the third place I went I was told that they get requests for old stuff a lot, but for various reasons like liability, nearly all the companies fence their back lot and don't allow anyone other than employees back there.