Dust Collector Trips

[Nick Mastropietro]

So I've been wanting to build a separator from a 55gal plastic drum and finally obtained a drum. I then purchased a separator lid like the one in this link. http://www.rockler.com/product.cfm?p...15&filter=dust. I then cut the top of the drum open and mounted the separator. This worked really well for several weeks. Recently the dust collector periodically trips off, not the electrical circuit, the DC. I have to unplug the power cord and plug it back in to get it to restart. I called the manufacturer and they sent new electronics which I installed, this did not correct the problem. I removed the drum form the system and have not had any problems since. What's up??? Could it be static affecting the electronic circuits??? I don't think it has anything to do with insufficient air flow, but I truly don't know. Please let me hear your thoughts.

[Neil Brooks]

Even though you say it's not tripping the breaker ... I might suggest you stick an ammeter on the DC WITH and WITHOUT your barrel cyclone.

One WAG says ... it's increasing static load, and forcing the DC to pull harder than .... whatever the weak link in the chain might be (eg, the switch).

If it's a static issue, then ... you should be able to ground it fairly simply, but ... then ... you should be able to detect it fairly easily, too.

Weird.

[Greg Portland]

it's increasing static load, and forcing the DC to pull harder

I think that is OK, the problem is when the DC is not pulling enough load (i.e. DC entrance has no pipe attached, etc.). Agree with the suggestion to hook up a multimeter to the circuit and measure what's going on electrically.

[Dan Friedrichs]

Are you sure you are convinced that the seperator is "causing" the problem? Could it be coincidence?

Typically, adding a seperator will add some restriction to the air flow, which causes the DC to move less air, causing it to work less (drawing less electrical power). Thus, it is highly unlikely that the seperator is "causing" the problem.

I think we need more information on the dust collector. What brand/model? What kind of "electronics" did you replace on it? Typically, these just have a standard mechanical switch, so there really isn't anything to go wrong. Does yours have a magnetic switch? When you say it "trips", what exactly is tripping? Is there a small over-current protector on the motor, itself?

One likely problem is that the centrifugal switch may be failing to open when the motor gets up to speed, causing it to draw too much power. Find the centrifugal switch, and dust it out / clean it off / etc.

[Nick Mastropietro]

Hey Dan;

I think it best to try and respond to each question or comment as I go. I was sure it was the separator – until now – I suppose you’re causing me to second guess that now. The collector is a Powermatic PM1300. This unit has an electronic interface which contains a timer with a digital readout, start, stop and timer setting soft buttons and I believe an IR sensor for the remote. Inside the box is two circuit boards, these are the electronics that were replaced. I’m not aware of a mechanical centrifugal switch and there isn’t a motor mounted reset or circuit breaker. I guess I don’t know exactly what is tripping, but when the motor shuts down it will not restart from the control panel or the remote without unplugging the power cord (110v) and plugging it back in. Once this is done the motor will restart by either means. There must be a mechanical switch somewhere as I can hear a click as the motor winds down after stopping the unit. I’m not sure this happened when the unit stopped on its own. I will look into the owner’s manual electric diagram to see what I can learn there. I hope this helps you and others to be able to assist in diagnosing the problem. Thanks to all who have responded thus far.

[Keith Blaszak]

Well, im by no means an expert however I just installed a new 1.5 hp TEFC motor in a Delta Bandsaw. I chose to wire it for 220 because the Amper rating was 20 for the motor and I wanted to avoid having the breaker trip on me all the time. I would think (and again im not an expert) that if you had a 15 amp breaker for your 120v lines and the Powermatic PM1300's motor was 15 amp that if any kind of stress was placed on the unit that made it work harder that you would be tripping the breaker.

Are there any other items on that curcuit? or maybe a lamp that you could plug into the same outlet while the DC is running just to rule that out?

[Rick Fisher]

Reading at Powermatic.. That machine should have an 18 amp 110V motor (or 9 amp 220V) ..

Are you running it on a 15 amp 110V circuit ?

It likely has an electronic overload built in ..

[Nick Mastropietro]

Well, im by no means an expert however I just installed a new 1.5 hp TEFC motor in a Delta Bandsaw. I chose to wire it for 220 because the Amper rating was 20 for the motor and I wanted to avoid having the breaker trip on me all the time. I would think (and again im not an expert) that if you had a 15 amp breaker for your 120v lines and the Powermatic PM1300's motor was 15 amp that if any kind of stress was placed on the unit that made it work harder that you would be tripping the breaker.

Are there any other items on that curcuit? or maybe a lamp that you could plug into the same outlet while the DC is running just to rule that out?

Keith - Rick; thanks for the responses. The strange thing is the fuse (20amp) is not blowing, the motor shuts down and won't restart until I unplug it from the outlet and plug it back in. It's as though there is a curcuit within the control module of the collector that is opening. I'm going to see if I can find my amp meter and check the load, may call powermatic too.

[Curt Harms]

Keith - Rick; thanks for the responses. The strange thing is the fuse (20amp) is not blowing, the motor shuts down and won't restart until I unplug it from the outlet and plug it back in. It's as though there is a curcuit within the control module of the collector that is opening. I'm going to see if I can find my amp meter and check the load, may call powermatic too.

It sounds like you replaced some parts? I wonder if there's some sort of overload protection that trips at too low a draw? For example, overload protection that is supposed to trip at 20 amps but in fact trips at 10 amps or some such value. Just a WAG.

[Dave Norris]

I'm not at all an expert, but as I'm eating lunch reading this, the IR remote stands out as a suspect in my mind. Have you added anything to the shop or outside that would interfere with the remote, or that would dupe the collector into thinking it had somehow been turned off?

[Lee Schierer]

I read the manual for your DC at the Powermatic site and it appears there are two reset switches. One is on the motor and should only need to be touched if the motor overheats. The other is on your timer. It says that you have to reset the timer if you turn the machine off by the remote or the off button in order to restart the motor.

The power to your motor is being controlled by a relay inside your control. It sounds like the time may be shutting this relay off and not letting the control reset it. The power down by pulling the plug is resetting the entire control. (like rebooting your computer) I would suggest you call Powermatic at their technical service number and talk extensively with them. It appears you may still have defective electronics, such as a faulty timer reset switch) or internal wiring issues in your control. You also have a five year warranty.

Personally I don't think your separator has anything to do with the problem.

[Nick Mastropietro]

Well I might be on to something. I once owned a computer business and know from experience that the enemy of electronic computer circuits is static electricity. One night last week while in the shop I reached over to stop the dust collector by depressing the stop button on the control panel. On my way to the button my hand brushed the 4" flex hose between the DC suction and the seperator, WACK, I got a static shock. The same hose was and has been laying against the control panel, I'm now wondering if the buildup of static electricty has been causing this problem? I have since moved the hose and am paying close attention to the DC reaction. I will update later.

[Nick Mastropietro]

Well it’s been just about a month since I discovered why my dust collector was tripping off for no apparent reason. The suction hose from the collector to the separator was lying against the control unit and as static built up it cause the controller to act erratically. I moved the hose and all is well.

[Van Huskey]

Glad to hear you figured it out. That is an interesting issue (static vs electronics) that many of us with PVC pipe might keep in mind!!!

[Jay Maiers]

Thanks for the follow-up post Nick.
I'm in the early stages of shop planning for my basement. I've added a note to my planning book so that I'll remember not to do thes when I finally get a real dust collector set up
Jay