Description
Telescopic Fume Arms
One arm. Adjustable reach. Wall-mounted source capture for shops where the work moves.
Your work doesn’t always sit in the same spot. Some days the bench is loaded close to the wall, other days you’re working out toward the aisle. A fixed-length arm forces you to either over-reach or buy a longer arm than you need most of the time. A telescopic arm fixes that — the inner tube slides through the outer tube so you extend it when the work is far, retract it when it’s close.
You get the same source-capture performance as a fixed arm, but you stop fighting the geometry. We stock telescopic arms in 4″, 6″, and 8″ diameters, ready to ship in 3–5 days from our Tennessee warehouse to anywhere in the Southwest.
[VIDEO PLACEHOLDER: 80% Video — How telescopic arms work and when they beat fixed-length]
What a Telescopic Fume Arm Is and How It Works
A telescopic fume arm is a wall-mounted source capture arm with two concentric tubes — an outer tube fixed to the wall bracket, and an inner tube that slides through it. The hood and articulating elbow attach to the inner tube, so when you pull the inner tube out, the entire reach of the arm extends. When you slide it back in, the arm retracts toward the wall.
The articulation works like a fixed arm. Friction joints at the elbow and hood let you position the capture hood within 6–10 inches of the weld puddle, the grinding wheel, or whatever you’re capturing from. The hood stays where you put it until you move it again.
Adjustable Reach
4″ arm: 48″ compressed → 72″ extended. 6″ and 8″ arms: 48″ compressed → 84″ extended. One arm covers multiple working distances.
Wall Mount Only
Bolts to a wall stud or mounting plate. The bracket and hardware come with the arm. No floor footprint — important when bench space is tight.
Built-In Damper
Aluminum capture hood includes a shut-off damper. Close the arm at the hood when it’s not in use to keep system airflow on the active stations.
Same Capture Performance
Telescoping doesn’t reduce airflow. The internal sleeve fit is tight — you get the same CFM and capture velocity as a fixed-length arm of the same diameter.
Sizing Guidance — Match the Diameter to Your Process
Your diameter choice is driven by the airflow your collector pulls through this arm and the kind of fume you’re capturing. Here’s the practical breakdown:
| Diameter | Reach Range | CFM | Best For | Hood |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4″ | 48″ → 72″ | 350–500 CFM | Light MIG/TIG, soldering, electronics, small grinding | 10″ |
| 6″ | 48″ → 84″ | 600–800 CFM | Standard welding, heavier MIG, robotic cells, mid-duty grinding | 13″ |
| 8″ | 48″ → 84″ | 900–1,000 CFM | Heavy fume — stick welding, plasma cutting, aggressive grinding, oxy-fuel | 14″ |
Quick rule of thumb on capture velocity
You need 100 ft/min capture velocity at the hood opening to pull welding fume reliably. The hood diameter and the CFM through the arm determine that. The 6″ arm at 600 CFM and the 4″ arm at 400 CFM both hit roughly the right capture velocity for their hood size — that’s why they’re matched. Don’t undersize. A 4″ arm pulling 350 CFM into a stick welding cloud will leave fume in the breathing zone.
Not sure which diameter fits your collector? Walk through the cost guide or book a free assessment — we’ll size it against your actual collector and process.
Applications Where Telescopic Arms Outperform Fixed-Length
You should pick a telescopic arm specifically when the working distance changes. The most common situations we see:
- Multi-purpose workstations. The same bench gets used for small assembly one day and larger weldments the next. The work moves; the arm reaches it.
- Robotic cells with variable part sizes. Same fixture, different parts. Telescoping lets the hood track the heat zone without remounting the arm.
- Tight bays with occasional reach-out. 90% of the time the work is close to the wall. 10% you need to reach across a fixture. Telescopic gives you that without dedicating floor space to a longer fixed arm.
- Vocational and trade school welding booths. Students at different heights, different stances, different work setups. The arm adjusts; you don’t have to.
- Maintenance shops and tool rooms. One day it’s a small repair, next day it’s a full assembly. The arm adapts.
This is where telescopic earns its premium over a fixed arm. If your work zone never moves, a fixed-length hanging or standing arm is cheaper and works just as well.
When a Telescopic Arm Is NOT Right for You
We tell people no all the time. Telescopic arms aren’t the right answer for every shop. Here’s when something else fits better:
- Your work zone is fixed and predictable. If the welder always stands in the same spot, doing the same operation on the same size part, a fixed-length hanging or standing arm is $400–$700 cheaper and serves you fine.
- You need ceiling-mount capture. Telescopic arms wall-mount only. If you’ve got high bays with no usable wall surface, a hanging arm with a ceiling drop is the right call.
- Your reach exceeds 84″. The 8″ telescopic tops out at 7 feet of reach. If you need 10–14 feet, you want a fixed-length arm or a boom-mounted system.
- You’re capturing combustible dust. Wood dust, aluminum grinding dust, sugar, flour, certain pharmaceutical powders — these need a wet collector or specifically engineered combustible-dust system, not a standard fume arm. Source capture arms are designed for welding fume, soldering fume, and non-combustible dust.
- You need heavy oil mist or coolant capture. Telescopic arms are dry-fume hardware. For machining coolant aerosol, look at oil mist collectors instead.
- You’ve got an aggressive grinding application that throws sparks. Order a spark protector with the arm (see add-ons below), or step up to a hanging arm with the spark protector pre-installed. Bare arms downstream of grinding sparks will pit and shorten filter life on your collector.
If any of those apply to you, we’d rather steer you to the right product. Call us at 602-456-9661 or book a 15-minute call.
OSHA and NFPA 660 Compliance Context
Source capture arms exist because OSHA cares about what’s in the breathing zone, not what’s in the room. A general ventilation fan moving air across a shop dilutes fume — it doesn’t capture it. OSHA’s hexavalent chromium PEL (5 µg/m³, 8-hr TWA) and manganese PEL (5 mg/m³, 8-hr TWA) are measured at the worker’s nose. You hit those numbers reliably with source capture, not with general dilution.
Welding fume rules that apply
- OSHA 29 CFR 1910.252 — General welding ventilation requirements. Local exhaust required when welding stainless, galvanized, cadmium-plated, lead-coated, or beryllium materials.
- OSHA 29 CFR 1910.1026 — Hexavalent chromium standard. PEL of 5 µg/m³. Local exhaust is the standard engineering control.
- OSHA 29 CFR 1910.1000 Table Z-1 — PELs for manganese, iron oxide, nickel, copper, zinc oxide. All hit during normal welding.
- NFPA 51B — Fire prevention during welding and cutting. Applies to your spark and slag management, including arm protection.
- ACGIH Industrial Ventilation Manual — 100 ft/min minimum capture velocity at the source. The reference your inspector uses.
NFPA 660 — does it apply to a fume arm?
NFPA 660 (effective January 1, 2026) is the unified combustible dust standard, replacing 652, 654, and 664. It applies to your collector and ductwork when you’re capturing combustible material. The arm itself is just a duct fitting in NFPA’s eyes — but the system it feeds is what gets evaluated. If you’re not sure whether your dust is combustible, that’s what a dust hazard analysis (DHA) determines. Pull the NFPA 660 checklist to see where you stand.
Welding fume is not combustible dust under NFPA 660 — but the slag, spatter, and metallic grinding particles you might be pulling alongside it can change that picture. We can walk through your specific process if you’re not sure.
Cost Range — What You’ll Actually Pay
Telescopic fume arms from us run $1,399 to $2,159 depending on diameter. That’s the arm itself, ready to mount, with bracket and hardware. Free freight to AZ, CA, NV, NM, UT.
| Diameter | Reach | Hood | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4″ | 48″ → 72″ | 10″ | $1,399 |
| 6″ | 48″ → 84″ | 13″ | $1,729 |
| 8″ | 48″ → 84″ | 14″ | $2,159 |
For full system pricing — collector + ductwork + arms + installation — walk through our 2026 dust collection system cost guide. A typical small-shop welding setup with collector, two arms, and basic ductwork lands between $14,000 and $22,000 installed.
Recommended Add-Ons
Two accessories pair with the telescopic arm. Both ship from the same warehouse and install on the arm in under an hour. Add to cart separately if either fits your shop.
Important note for telescopic arms: If you order the LED light kit on a telescopic arm, you also need the spark protector. The light kit’s housing sits closer to the airflow path on telescopic arms than on fixed arms — without the spark protector, slag can damage the LED. We’ll flag this in cart and won’t ship a light-kit-only order on a telescopic arm.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I install this myself, or do I need a contractor?
Most shops install these in-house. The arm bracket bolts to a wall stud or mounting plate (4 lag bolts, level it, you’re done). The duct connection on the back of the bracket is a 4″, 6″, or 8″ round inlet — same as standard industrial ductwork. If your collector and ductwork are already in place and you just need to add an arm to a stub, plan on 60–90 minutes. If you need us to handle the install, we offer that across the Southwest.
Will a telescopic arm work with my existing collector?
Most likely yes — match the arm diameter to the duct stub it’s connecting to and confirm your collector has the CFM headroom. A 6″ arm needs about 600–800 CFM available. If you’ve already got two arms running and your collector is at capacity, adding a third arm will under-pull all of them. Send us your collector model and we’ll check the curve.
How is the inner tube held in position?
Friction. The seal between the inner and outer tubes is tight enough to hold position under normal use, and tight enough to prevent measurable airflow loss. You don’t lock or pin it — slide and go.
Can I run the arm fully extended all day?
Yes. There’s no duty-cycle limit on extension. The arm performs the same at 48″ or 84″ — the only thing that changes is your reach. Some shops leave the arm at full extension permanently and never retract it; that’s fine.
What’s the difference between this and a hanging arm?
Mount location and reach geometry. A hanging arm drops from a ceiling joist or upper wall plate and articulates over and down to the work. A telescopic arm wall-mounts at bench height and extends horizontally outward. Use a hanging arm for high-bay shops where the ceiling is the only available mounting surface. Use a telescopic when you’ve got wall space at bench height and the working distance varies. See the full source capture comparison.
Does this come with a warranty?
Two-year manufacturer warranty on the arm tube, joints, and damper covering defects in materials and workmanship. If the arm fails under normal use within that window, we replace it. Need help if something goes wrong outside the warranty? Call us — we keep parts in stock for the entire IAP arm line and we’ll get you a quote same-day.
How long does shipping take?
3–5 business days to anywhere in AZ, CA, NV, NM, or UT. Free freight on telescopic arms. Stocked in our Tennessee warehouse, so we don’t wait on the manufacturer.
Do you have stainless steel telescopic arms?
Not yet — stainless steel is rolling out next on standing and hanging configurations first. If you need stainless for pharmaceutical, food, or aerospace work, give us a call and we’ll let you know when telescopic SS lands.
Pick Your Diameter Below
Choose 4″, 6″, or 8″ from the dropdown to see the price and add to cart. Add the LED light kit or spark protector separately as add-ons.
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