V-3000 has entered the building!

The wait is over! Delivery of the V-3000 happened yesterday afternoon. All in all it arrived in "decent" condition but there was one box I was concerned about and that was the fan/motor assembly. I was doing the inspection when I looked up just in time to see the driver pulling away. I never signed anything and he never said anything, even after my attempts to make light conversation.

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All eight boxes were hauled down to the shop and the unpacking began. The damaged box shown above revealed no damage to the contents. It and everything else was in fine condition. Oneida did a really good job of packing for shipment.

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It wasn't long before the stand was setup and I could start imagining this thing it action. It should work well in it's predetermined location.

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At this point I decided to see how the barrel would fit with the 2" casters I plan to add to it. Ooops. Doesn't fit as the corner braces hit the barrel.

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My plan as of last night was to simply elevate the whole assembly the thickness of 2X material under each foot. Testing this showed it would work but I didn't really like it. Today I was thinking of simply cutting a small arc out of the two offending braces. I'm not real hip to modifying a structural member but it would be minimal. If I though it was a major concern I could always beef up the braces. I was leaning towards this plan.

Then today at lunch a friend suggested that I just move the leg brace system up a couple inches. The light went on. If you look at the last pic, you can see the two bolt heads on the outside of the posts. If I move the bottom bolt to the top hole and then drill through for the highest hole, I should have the clearance I need without affecting the integrity of the support system. This is the new plan I plan to implement tonight.

Any other ideas or concerns out there?

The stand looks like conduit. I've seen threaded inserts designed to go into the ends of conduit. Four of those, with four leveling feet, would gain you at least an inch.

Or you could move the brace up I guess.

I'd pull one of those rubber feet and make sure they have a washer or something inside/bottom to make sure the steel doesn't cut through them in time.

John, looking at the color of your walls I am guessing you are an NCIS fan? Congrats on the new V-3000, I think you are going to like it! What are you using for duct?

Phil,
I liked your idea but I didn't have any of the parts and didn't feel like going out to get them (I know, pretty lazy of me...). As for the rubber feet, there are no washers in them but they are pretty beefy. I think they'll last a good long time.

Ole,
Thanks! I'm looking forward to getting it up and running but it's probably going to be a slow process. I will be using metal duct.

Not sure about the NCIS reference but here's a hint. The colors are related to a certain NFL team who's logo is my avatar, albeit a very old version of the logo. Another hint... the only team to have six Lombardy's.

As contemplated previously, I did move the leg braces up by one bolt hole and it worked very well. The drum will now roll easily in and out from under the cyclone. It was quick and easy.

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Some more progress was made after a neighbor helped me lift the motor assembly into place.

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The plan is (or was) to use a 7" main out of the cyclone then turn up and then turn down the center of the shop. The drops will all be 6" and reduce/split as necessary at the tools. I thought I had found a place to get the 7x7x7 and 7x7x6 wye's I was needing but that changed today. First off, I simply can't get myself to pay $180+ for 4 fittings from Oneida. I'm sure they are quality fittings, just silly expensive. I found a place online (americanhvacparts.com) but when I called today to ask about the tracking number I was told the shipping would be more than double what I was quoted (my card had already been billed). The order was cancelled after reading some issues about them at the BBB's site. I just hope I don;t have to fight for the refund.

So now the plan has reverted back to the original plan which is to come out of the cyclone 5 feet or so at 7" into a 7x6x6 wye, which I can get locally. The branch turns up and the outlet (or inlet in this case) continues down the wall the cyclone sits on. All the branches will still be 6" so I'll need 6x6x6 wye's instead of 7x7x6, which I can also get locally. Even HD has the 6x6x6 flue wye's that can be shipped to home free.

I found a local distributor that has 26ga 7" and 6" at very reasonable prices. They also have almost everything else I'll need. I just need to get over there to buy the stuff.

Lee Valley has a free shipping event until the 20th so I plan to get the flex hose from them, and maybe a few other items.

The 6" blast gates will be coming from BlastGateCo. I already have their quote and will be making that order soon. I thought real hard about the self cleaning gates from Lee Valley but the clearance they'll require made me think twice so I decided to go with standard gates. Most of them will be in the vertical runs so I don't anticipate too many issues. I guess the answer will be revealed eventually.

I bought all my duct, fittings and hose from blastgateco about 5 years ago. Their website only shows a fraction of what they have. They are about 2 hours from my house and I stopped in to get Just blast gates when I was in the area for work anyways. Started talking to them more and had my list of parts with me. They had everything I needed and the prices were good so I bought it all there and skipped the other sources I found. if you haven't already, I'd give them a call and tell them what you need. Their website leaves a bit to be desired. I'd bet if they updated their website they would be the go-to place for us hobby woodworkers.

Got the V-3000 fully assembled over the weekend and was able to do a short power on test. All is well, and wow does this thing move some air. I was very amazed at how quiet it is too. It was easy to stand next to and carry a conversation. And smooth... no vibration at all.

I did have a small scare, although it was funny afterwards. In one test I covered the inlet with a piece of ply to make sure the filter gauge read zero. While doing this I heard a pretty load pop. Turns out the barrel lid had collapsed inward a little creating the load noise. When I turned it off, the barrel lid popped back. There is no longer any doubt that a run of 30ga pipe would collapse under full vacuum from this thing, heck I think if any single piece was much more than 5ft long, I think it could at least malform at 26ga. I now know that the cyclone assembly is very air tight.

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One small issue I had was the length of the ground wire they provide that goes from the motor to the filter. No big deal but it I'll let Oneida know so they can address it if they so choose. The way I have the plenum rotated to the same orientation as the inlet makes the connection on the motor be towards the back side. The connection that is supposed to go to one of the lower flange bolts will not reach and it will not fit on the larger upper flange bolts. It would be easy to replace/modify but I just tapped into the outer part of the flange to make the ground (outside the seal) and then clipped the last portion to the filter cage. Like I said, no big deal.

Made the trip out to the local metal distributor Friday to pick up the pipe and some fittings. One slight disappointment was the wye's, I was expecting stub laterals but these are more like pant wye's. I may be able to make them work in the planned layout but I'm not sure yet. I had to wait on the 7x6x6 wye since they didn't have any in stock and he did say it will be the same style wye as the others. I may end up needing to find another wye source.

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The 6x6x6 flue wye's from HD are scheduled to be delivered today and the blast gates showed up over the weekend. Awesome speed and service from TheBlastGateCo. The flex from Lee Valley is scheduled to be delivered Wednesday. Just about time to begin the installation.

Is there any interest in a new thread covering the install or is everyone tired of reading about duct installations? Either way, I'm sure I'll have some questions along the way.