Is my DC big enough?

[Jeff Monson]

Just moved into a bigger house with a bigger shop , I own a PM1300 dust collector.

The shop has a 10' ceiling and 4" pvc pipe used for dc from the previous owner, the longest run of pipe is 20' but it must go up 10' to the ceiling over 20' and then down 10' to the tool.

Will my dc handle this or should I try to refabricate the system lower on the wall?

Also would it help to use the 6" fitting instead of the dual 4" ports coming out of the dc?

[David Hostetler]

Your question intrigued me... Mostly because it seemed like asking "Do I have enough clamps?" I guess it depends on your definition of enough...

IF you have the budget, I would definately run the lines low, and 6" instead of 4". But that is up to you and your budget. I would think the lift up 10' and the multiple bends associated with that is more of a restriction than using 4" pipe...

[Brad Townsend]

I have no background in physics, but my experience with my own DC in the attic over my shop tells me that the rise in the ductwork is not nearly as big an issue as the bends. As long as the airflow is is there, a small amount of gravity has very little effect on moving sawdust.

[Rod Sheridan]

Hi Jeff, the two pieces of information missing is what air flow you need at the other end of the pipe, and what the fan curve looks like on your collector.

Regards, Rod.

[Jeff Monson]

Rod,

I'm not sure what air flow I will need at the machine, it will be at the mercy of my hammer a3-31 and a pm2000 tablesaw.

Here is a pic of the dc unit.

BTW I've used this dc on both machines listed and it works great, but it was only a 10' run of 4" pipe and there was no elevation to deal with.

[Rod Sheridan]

Rod,

I'm not sure what air flow I will need at the machine, it will be at the mercy of my hammer a3-31 and a pm2000 tablesaw.

Here is a pic of the dc unit.

BTW I've used this dc on both machines listed and it works great, but it was only a 10' run of 4" pipe and there was no elevation to deal with.

Hi, the manual for my A3-31 lists 814 cubic metres/hour and 20m/s for airspeed.

That's about 478CFM at 3937 FPM, which means that 4" pipe is too small.

Go with 5 inch or 6 inch if your collector will support that much airflow.

I had problems with my A3-31 until I upgraded to 5".

Regards, Rod

[Jim Kountz]

Is a DC ever big enough? Id like to have one that pulled the walls in slightly when I ran it!!

[Chip Lindley]

Jeff? Have you hooked up your DC to the existing system and *tried it?* Big Enough is when your DC does the job it needs to do! Your own experimentation will provide you the answer to your queston, better than all the *best guesses, previous experiences, or calculated data posed in this thread.

[Jamie Buxton]

The DC is probably big enough, but the ducting is not. If you really want to pull 1000 cfm through the duct, it should be 6".