Ebay Cyclone

[Jeffrey Makiel]

Does anyone have the cyclone that is available from Gary on Ebay from Caroga Lake, New York? I found one SMC thread dated Feb 17, 2010 by Ken that sounds positive, but Ken's experience with it was still pretty new.

It seems like a decent alternative to the Oneida Super Dust Deputy especially since the rotational direction of the Ebay cyclone is better suited for my setup.

Anyone out there that can give me their experience with the Ebay cyclone?

thanks,
Jeff

[James Phillips]

In my experience you get what you pay for. I assume you are talking about the cyclone separator that you add to an existing dust collector. My expectation is it might do a good job of separating what it does collect, but it will cut your CFMs significantly since it requires you to add hose or pipe to your system.

What size collector do you plan to hook it to?

[David Helm]

I believe that that is the one I have. Ken removed the motor from his and mounted it on top of the cyclone. I didn't want to take my Jet 2hp DC apart so I modified it to accept the cyclone. In my version it takes up a bit of space, but it works very well. In most cases you do get what you pay for, but I am all for supporting an independent guy who isn't the big commercial producer.

[Chris Rosenberger]

I have been using 2 of the smaller size Cyclones with shop vacs for about 3 years.
They work great. I have not noticed any loss of CFM. The cyclone catches everything except the finest dust. I would buy them again.

[Jeffrey Makiel]

The cyclone I'm thinking about from Ebay is shown below. Since then, the proprietor has added a neutral vane and inclined the inlet 15 degrees downward. He offers them in either rotation and two sizes.

I plan on using my 2 hp Reliant (old Woodworkers Warehouse brand) blower with a 12" radial blade (12A @ 240V) with 6" inlet.

I'm considering a push thru system as shown in the 2nd and 3rd pic below for ease of installation. I like this because the trash bag liner will be under positive pressure to hold it in place. And, I don't need to modify the existing duct work, nor am I concerned about flowing chips thru the blower. It's been doing that for over 20 years as a single stage collector.

However, a 'standard' pull thru system with blower ontop of the cyclone will fit too and is also shown in the 4th pic below. It's more work to install. This configuration may generate more noise too?

Either configuration, they would sport Wynn poly filters.

This seems like a better solution than the Oneida Super Dust Deputy because I'm leary that the truncated cone of the Deputy will reduce fine dust separation. However, I'm just guessing.

Any thoughts are helpful.

Jeff

[Alan Schaffter]

You get what you pay for. That unit is based on the old, inefficient Wood magazine cyclone and not as well designed as the ClearVue or Oneida. It doesn't have advanced features that most cyclones come with today that make them more efficient with better separation of fine dust and less flow resistance. It doesn't have a neutral vane, a slanted inlet, or spiral inlet ramp. It will separate out the larger dust but not do as well as other cyclones at separating fine dust. If you discharge outside that is not a problem, but if you run the discharge through a filter, you will need to clean the filter more often.

[David Giles]

I have recently installed the ebay cyclone after the blower from a Jet 1100CK 1.5Hp DC. The blower/cyclone is located outside without filter collection. 6" PVC pipe runs from the blower suction to each machine. 8" pipe runs from the cyclone discharge for about 15ft.

The cyclone arrived undamaged, securely packed in a cardboard box with Styrofoam inserts. It is supported by a circular hole in a 3/4" piece of plywood. The cyclone is not as circular as the hole. Having a humid environment and spare paint, the galvanized ebay cyclone is now black. Being a push-through design, the cyclone is pressurized. The black surface is a great way to find any small pinholes in the seams.

On startup, there is a small puff of dust out the end of the discharge pipe. No dust or chips collect on the ground.

Is it the quality level of Oneida? No. Is it the price of an Oneida? No. However, it is a solidly made cyclone that will remove all but the finer dust particles. If you already have a blower/motor and can vent outside, it works wonderfully well. If I had needed a complete system or needed to vent inside the shop, the Oneida Dust Gorilla would have been the first choice.

[Alan Schaffter]

I'm considering a push thru system . . . for ease of installation. I like this because the trash bag liner will be under positive pressure to hold it in place. And, I don't need to modify the existing duct work, nor am I concerned about flowing chips thru the blower. It's been doing that for over 20 years as a single stage collector.

Any thoughts are helpful.

Jeff

If you have seen pics of my system in other posts you know my cyclone is connected in a push-through configuration. I have been doing that for over 10 years, first with a modified Wood magazine cyclone and with a 3D Pentz cyclone for the last 6 years. I wouldn't have it any other way! If you have a drum now, empty the bag on a push-through just once and you'll be a convert! I'm using cheap 39 gal. grocery store lawn and leaf bags.

[Clay Baldwin]

I've been looking at this cyclone and thinking of putting the HF motor on top for a pull thru system. Or another motor at 2-3 HP, should work nicely with the improvements he's added.

[Noah Katz]

... a 3D Pentz cyclone...

What do you mean by 3D?

[Alan Schaffter]

What do you mean by 3D?

Cyclones based on the Pentz design (plans built, ClearVue, etc.) and other derivative designs are 1.64D cyclones, meaning the length of the cone is 1.64 X the diameter of the upper cylinder. The length of the cone on my 3D is therefore 3 X the diameter of the cylinder. It supposedly separates out the fine dust a little better than a 1.64D cyclone. It may do so, but you can't prove it my me since I have neither the equipment nor inclination to verify it.

[Jesse Wilson]

I purchased it approximately 6 months ago and have had some decent usage through it. I for one love it. I get very little to zero dust outside the house which is where I have it plumbed. I would highly suggest you got with a 55 gallon drum as I have I like it infinitely better they the metal trash cans and they can be found used for $20-$30 at most places. I run a 6" trunk all the way to the tools and there they split into two 4"s or remain a 6" in the case of my joiner or miter saw.

Here is the way I have mine set up:

[Jeffrey Makiel]

It doesn't have advanced features that most cyclones come with today that make them more efficient with better separation of fine dust and less flow resistance. It doesn't have a neutral vane, a slanted inlet, or spiral inlet ramp.

The vendor said that his new model has a neutral vane and a 15 degree downward slanted inlet. He didn't mention it as having a spiral ramp so I'm guessing it doesn't have one.

Also, thanks to all for your input and great pics.

-Jeff

[Alan Schaffter]

The vendor said that his new model has a neutral vane and a 15 degree downward slanted inlet. He didn't mention it as having a spiral ramp so I'm guessing it doesn't have one.

Also, thanks to all for your input and great pics.

-Jeff

I suspect the vendor is a "metal bender" and not an engineer. It appears he does really nice work. But when I exchanged emails with him some years ago, and asked about those missing features, he responded his cyclone "didn't need that neutral vane thing" which I took to mean that not only didn't his cyclone have it at that time, he really didn't know what it was or what function it served. The shape of his DC is closer to the Wood magazine design which I believe was a scaled down version of the cyclone used in the cotton or other agricultural industry and intentionally designed NOT to separate out fine dust. This is a bit of heresy, but I don't know why the vendor just doesn't use Bill's design, it is not patented. If he wants design support or feels guilty using it, he can send Bill money as ClearVue has done.

[Phil Thien]

I suspect the vendor is a "metal bender" and not an engineer.

Is Bill Pentz? I'm not sure he is a degreed engineer.

Half the people I run into that claim to be engineers aren't any such thing.

I work in IT and spend a fair amount of time inside hospitals. A year or so ago I spent thirty minutes meeting with IT people at one local hospital. When the meeting was done, one of the guys got up and donned a full-length lab coat (embroidered with his name and everything) before leaving. I was stunned. No, it didn't say "M.D." after his name. But he wasn't on the medical side of the hospital at all.

Thomas Edison wasn't an engineer, BTW. Just saying that "not an engineer" isn't the worst thing you can say about someone.

It appears he does really nice work. But when I exchanged emails with him some years ago, and asked about those missing features, he responded his cyclone "didn't need that neutral vane thing" which I took to mean that not only didn't his cyclone have it at that time, he really didn't know what it was or what function it served.

Looks like he has been busy since your last contact a few years ago.

The shape of his DC is closer to the Wood magazine design which I believe was a scaled down version of the cyclone used in the cotton or other agricultural industry and intentionally designed NOT to separate out fine dust. This is a bit of heresy, but I don't know why the vendor just doesn't use Bill's design, it is not patented. If he wants design support or feels guilty using it, he can send Bill money as ClearVue has done.

Two points:

(1) For those venting outside, going through any extra effort to reduce emissions from undetectable to something less than undetectable seems like a gigantic waste of time/effort.

(2) If you're not lucky enough to be able to exhaust outside, you do have to be concerned with the speed with which your filters will load. But I need to see some scientific evidence that the BP design will substantially improve fine filtering before seeing it as the only solution. Steve Knight uses a ClearVue on his CNC router where he does plenty of MDF and has plugged at least one filter stack. I think he is back to bags now.

Not trying to be argumentative here, but we need a cyclone shoot-out to find out whether one design truly outperforms another. Lacking that, it is all conjecture.