DC and Ducting

[Lou Ortiz]

BLUF, I wanted to solicit good and bad input on installation of Oneida Pro 2000 -- any current owners have anything to watch out for?

After 24yrs, I'm retiring from Army and decided, what the hell, I might not live forever and - after reading Bill Pentz' website - some sort of lung problems weren't anything I wanted to deal with in another ten years. Way overkill for my shop, but the price differences between that and the 2-3hp SDGs just were too close to the pro models to not go whole hog. May be an over-reaction to living with a 1.5HP jet collector for 8years. I will say that Oneida's been great to deal with, I can't wait to get this thing up and running.

I've been following the threads on ducting with interest as I'm trying to pick both type and source. Can anyone advise if spiral is easier or harder to join than snaplock?

[John A. Scott]

I just finished installation of my system and I can't enough good things about Lindab spiral pipe. The fittings are double-gasketed and fit tightly in the pipe. I found a local source for the pipe and the cost was less than PVC

[Rick Potter]

If you are on a budget, I picked up spiral pipe from an air conditioning supply warehouse at a good price. A friend who does AC got me a discount too. I forget the guage, but it has been plenty strong for my 3HP Onieda (8"). They also had fittings. Note these pipes were the type with the pinched ends, and you install them backwards from normal AC job. this means you flatten the pinched ends on the fittings and use a tool ($15) to pinch the other side. I do remember the fittings were 26 ga.

Big tip: Be sure to use ALUMINUM ducting tape, not the normal stuff. Mine has been in a couple years and looks new, duct tape will harden, and be a big mess.

Rick Potter

[Dave MacArthur]

Lou,
I just retired from AF after 24 years myself... and bought an Oneida Pro 2000 Installation--wow is that thing heavy! I just took mine all apart, unbolting the cone from the cylinder so I could get up inside and remove the bolts that hold the top exhaust on. I wanted to change the angle of the intake and exhaust so I could exhaust outside through the wall. It's a big job--make sure you have that angle set how you want it before you get it all up on the stand!

Putting the motor on top is also a huge challenge, I had three guys and we ended up using an engine hoist/shop crane to do it. If your ceilings are not at least 8" higher than the whole installed machine, you can't lift the motor up there and drop it in, due to the height of the impeller--you have to install it on the cylinder and lift that whole unit up. In any case, think the thing through first and prepare for someone dropping their weight before it happens!

I have 8" ducting from Oneida and a ton of metal spiral ducting from them that reduces down to 4", and some fittings with 4x 4" ports coming off a 6" feed.... and I absolutely don't trust them. I bought it used, so didn't ask for such foolishness. I hear folks laud the Oneida duct service quite often, but the math is the math--there is no way you should be running a Pro 2000 down into a 4" duct! The machine can support 6" duct flows, or larger, so do NOT let them talk you into going less than 6" drops to your machines! The fact many machines are poorly designed with 4" DC connections should not be the driving design criteria--cut a 6" port into the machine.

Since you say you've been on Pentz' site, and done some study, I won't elaborate on the airflow speeds and cross sectional areas of ducting, and static pressure losses--just reiterate, don't let some kid with a spreadsheet built to allow a compromised "multiple ports open at once" commercial design talk you into 5" or 4" drops on your ducting.

Sorry I can't talk to snap lock vs. spiral, I only have the spiral. However, I look forward to hearing how your install goes. Oh yes, one other thing--you have the option of getting a 55 gallon drum or a 35 gallon drum. I have the 55 gal, but it adds significant height, and if you're in a garage with 9ft ceilings, it won't fit. My garage is 9' 3" ceilings, and it fits by about 2". If I had the 35 gal drum, I could also have just lifted the motor up top by itself and would have had the 8" impeller depth clearance to get it up there and drop it into the top hole.

[Lou Ortiz]

Thanks all for the tips and advice on ducting. I'm finding there are alot more choices than I'd originally thought, I will check out Lindab as well. I did find Nordfab distributor that has pretty good prices, but I haven't finished with the complete design to determine whether the damage there is less than other spots.

Dave, You've scored a ton of good used stuff, I followed your Agazzani thread and it's inspired me to aim for the same, if I don't go broke on the DC. I'm fortunate in that I've got a converted stand alone garage for a shop, so nothing but joists between the floor and the roof -- plenty of overhead clearance for motor. Lots of flexibility, but I can't do another winter without finishing the walls and heating this shop.

[Aaron Rowland]

First post here and it had to be the trouble maker DC's. My opinion which is just that. I have never seen a post about a bad purchase on a DC of any kind. Can't say that about other items. So you have a win win situation here. I started out with steel duct from the big box stores. As I moved up in cyclone size it collapsed. Bought some metal heavy duty duct work that didn't collapse. Then I rearranged the shop some time latter.. I do that like my wife does furniture. That was not fun. I found it difficult to add or subtract pick ups. Also I started out using stepped size ducting which was a mistake.

Tore it all out again and switched to S/D PVC. That stuff is so much easier to work . No leak problem and lower inside resistance so more air flow Price was not a consideration but at that time it was a lot cheaper.. Now when I move or add a new machine a SawsAll with a big blade does it in minutes. Only one size needed- 6" from the Cyclone to the machinery. Do not use smaller any place in the line. If a machine has a 4" port try to enlarge it. A step down can be used but will kill the CFM.