Reloading room dilemma.

[NoahFN]

I'm about to close on a house. I was over there yesterday for the home inspection which went very well. While I was down in the basement with the inspector I was thinking about where I could setup my reloading bench.

80% of the basement is nicely finished and the other 20% is a utility room. In this room is the gas furnace, water heater, fuse box, washer, dryer and a sink. The laudry related stuff is at the back of the room and toward the front on the right is the furnace and on the left wall is the fuse box. Most of the extra room is towards the front, but the furnace and fuse box present a problem for me.

If I place my reloading equipment near the fuse box, this is a danger because when you screw in fuses they will sometimes spark...yikes. The furnace on the opposite side has a pilot light (flame)...yikes again. There isn't any easy way to wall off either of these items since they are on opposite walls.

I'll post some pics when I get a chance....it could be a few days...but in the meantime has anyone else dealt with similiar situations? I'm starting to think I may be better off in the garage.

 

[Vitamin G]

Your dilemma presumes you have to set up your reloading equipment in a not-so-nice area

I figure quality surroundings, quality ammo

 

[YellowLab]

Its a gas furnance.. sealed to the interioir... unless flames are gonna shoot out of it when you start it up then its a non issue. I have a BAXI LUNA combo heat/hot water rig and they meant to be mounted in the kitched, replacing 1 cabinet.

In Europe these cabinet gas furnaces are so common its not even funny.

Also, your fuse box. If its up to code and has a cover what the big deal? There *MIGHT* be an arc when a breaker shuts but I doubt that is an issue.

If you are concerned then put a small fan nearthem when you reload.

 

[Ol` Joe]

Keep things put up and the area tidy and you shouldn`t have a problem. My dads old workroom -about 10x12 ft- had the fuse box, furnance, and hot water heater within 6-8ft of the bench. The fuse box hung over the far end of of the bench. He also soldered and did radio/TV repair as a hobby for a while on the same bench.
The powder and other components were kept in a cabinet with a door to a side of the bench as far as possible from the H/W hear and furnance. The bench was wiped and floor swept after he used it for any chore. The press was bolted to the bench but he stored his scale and measure in the said cabinet.
Keep it clean and use prudance in where you store components and you should be OK. The lamp overhead is likely more of a danger then the furnance near by, especially if it hangs low.

 

[The Bushmaster]

I'm with VitaminG. But you can make that space into a nice (and safe) place for reloading too. Just make sure you insure easy access to the fuse box (Fuse box?? House that old and it hasn't been up dated to breakers?). As Ol' Joe said. Keep it clean and tidy and you will have no problem...

 

[Sunray]

If you're getting sparks when you put in a fuse, you have far more serious electrical issues with that house than where the bench goes. If one of those sparks stays lit long enough to cause any kind of fire, something is terribly wrong. As for the furnace, if there's a gas leak, you'll be overcome by it long before anything happens on your bench.

 

[Steve C]

The fuse box should not be an issue if it has an enclosed cover as this is designed to contain any sparks that may occure. It should be OK to put your reloading bench in the utility area away from the gas furnace, a clearance of 4' or more from the front of the bench to the face of the furnace would give adequate workspace and safety distance.

You should store your powder and primers at other locations in the house away from a source of flame or sparks. Bring only what you will need to use to the loading bench for each session and returning any remaining to the remote storage location in the original containers afterwards. Keep primers and powder seperated.

 

[Paints]

no problem

You are worried about a little arc causing a problem with a gas furnace that already had a pilot light burning? And has a big flame when the heat comes on? Teh furnace is safely taking care of all the gas. If there was a problem, the house would have blown up a long time ago. All gas furnaces have this same risk and there is no problem. Typically where there is a gas explosion, there is a leak in the main outside and something in the house sets it off....a candle, a match....etc.

As for your reloading, again, that won't be a problem. At worst, smokeless powder only burns in the open, it doesn't explode. If you spilled a pound can of powder all over the room (klutz!) and spilled it into the furnace, you might get a fire. Not much of a risk unless you are really, really careless and in that case, you'd be better off without guns (you can send them here for safety! LOL)

Ken

 

[redneck2]

I have a wall mounted gas furnace maybe 4 feet from my press. Smokeless is not going to light that easily. BP is a different program. If you've got enough spark to set off smokeless, the house would have been a cinder by now

 

[snuffy]

Humidity

I'd be a lot more worried about the excess humidity in that utility room, than ANY concern about sparks/flame. The moisture will quickly turn dies/presses into a pile of rust. It also will affect primers and powder as well. Any reason why you can't use a portion of that "finished" basement? or an upstairs bedroom?

 

[asknight]

Powder doesn't emit flammable fumes. You are just fine to use that room for reloading.

 

[rick_in_lb]

MMMMM

ASKNIGHT hit he nail on the head. Powder does not emit FUMES. If the powder was in a dust form and is airborne in High Concentrations them maybe you will be choking. Now for the flame suit ... I have a good friend who smokes his pipe while reloading, he says no problem because the powder is low volume enough. I reload in the garage and the clothes dryer is 6 ft away, no problems. Always make sure you are safe and do not forget to wear saftey glasses, something about those primers.

 

[Mal H]

I agree with the others - the fuse box (really uses fuses?) and the furnace are non-issues as far as reloading goes. As snuffy said, the humidity in that room would be the only issue.

 

[The Bushmaster]

Smoles his pipe when he reloads??? If I were you I'd buy an insurance policy on him. He could make you temporarily rich.

 

[NoahFN]

Thank you all for putting my fears to rest.

I'm not sure why it suprised some of you that the house has a fuse box. It was built in 1965 and simply hasn't been updated. I've seen quite a few houses that still have fuse boxes and I don't see any huge advantage to upgrading to a breaker box.

The humidity in the basement is a concern for me as well. It is a suprisingly dry basement, both the home inspector and termite inspector noted this. I will also be running a dehumidifier. I'll keep an eye on my dies (wiping them, along with my press regularly) and keep my powder sealed.

Failing this...the garage is nicely finished, I'll just have to find a way to stay warm out there in the winter.

 

[Nhsport]

You should be keeping your bench and floor around reasonably clean so no problems there. Keep your solvents and guncleaning supplys out in the garage , by rights they shouldn't be in the house anyhow. Another problem would be your case tumbler , they are somewhat dirty and dusty,with the dust haveing some lead and other nasty junk in it so that should be somewhere else also. Whereever it winds up you shouldn't be tracking this dust into your house .
Moisture--,keep your powder cans sealed and don't leave powder in your measure, even if you are going to use it in a couple of days. Powder will "soak" moisture out of damp air and the same weight charge will have different ammount of powder. See the problem? as they say "keep your powder dry"
For the good of your house as well as your reloading gear make sure the dryer has a propper vent to outside . Set up your de-humidifier with a pump that takes care of getting rid of the excess water. The empty the bucket type is a pain in the ass and will fill and shut off when you need it most.If your de-humidifyer runs much first thing to check is that gutters and downspouts are set right and dumping the water away from the house.
Good luck with your new house

 

[steve4102]

If you are buying a house that has "fuses" , I would recommend that the electrical panel be updated with "Breakers" and install the proper size wire coming into the house. This is something that the homeowner(seller) should do before you close on your new home. Fuses are way out of date and most of the time the entire electrical system is overloaded and looking for trouble. Have it checked, before you buy.

 

[Mal H]

I know we're going way off topic for this forum, but it's for a fellow reloader.

Fuses in and of themselves aren't a bad thing. However, as steve just implied, having a fuse box instead of a breaker box can be an indication of an outdated electrical system in your new house. As he said, be sure to have it checked by an electrician not a general home inspector unless he is being paid by you and knows his stuff (some have no clue).

Are your outlets polarized (one long slot, one short slot) and do they have grounded sockets (3 holes instead of 2)? With today's electrical appliance requirements, the usual fuse box is not able to take the amount of load you will require. One additional thing you can't get with a fuse box is Ground Fault Interruption (GFI) circuits at the box, but I believe you can still install GFI outlets where you need them.

 

[callgood]

You MAY have a bigger problem with your WH. If it is original to the house, someone should have pulled the side plate and inspected the condition of the tank.

Ours dated to 1979. When we tiled the floor I put it in a heavy plastic catch basin piped to the outside in case it leaked. One night my wife pointed out at tiny bit of water in the basin. I pulled the side plate and noted some rust on the side of the tank. I rubbed a rusty spot and a stream of water the size of a pencil lead shot out. New hot water heater for us. I have heard numerous horror stories of WHs going out and flooding the home. A customer of ours had one on the second story of his house. The went on vacation, it blew out and flooded all the way to the basement.

I keep all my powder/primers in a cabinet in our laundry room with the WH and washer, 1/2 bath adjoining. Never had a problem with humidity. YMMV.

ETA: I really envy you guys with a dedicated area for reloading. One reason I use a Forster Coax single stage press is so I can unmount it and take it inside from the garage when I'm finished. I keep all my dies/stuff in a large rolling Sears storage box under my computer desk. Well, at least no problem with rust.