Cyclone flex hose question.

[Marty Baucom]

I have just purchased a new 3HP portable cyclone dust collector and have a question regarding my hose attachment options. The cyclone has an 8" diameter input and I will be using it on one machine at a time, moving it as needed. My question is what are my best options for dust collector flex hose. One is I purchase 15' of 8" flex hose and reduce accordingly at the machine. Second option is reduce from 8" to 6" at the cyclone and run 15' of 6" flex hose to the individual machine, reducing to 4" as needed at the machine. Which is the better option for static pressure and maximum CFM? I am working in a basement shop so my ceiling is littered with plumbing pipe and HVAC ductwork. Thanks in advance for everyone's help.

[eugene thomas]

Not sure about hose size but 25' hose run, seems like yo will be fighting hose alot on portable unit.

[Robert Payne]

By using flex hose in either size, you are immediately degrading the airflow capability of your cyclone -- 25' of even the best flex hose available is equivalent to 75 or more feet of equal diameter straight pipe and will result in a significant loss in both CFM and static pressure. I'd recommend you rethink your ducting plan and use a main duct of either 6" (with an 8" x 6" reducer at the cyclone) or 8" straight pipe, with wyes near your machines to create drops to blast gates. Add the flex at those points to your machines. You will have significantly better dust removal.

[Marty Baucom]

Thank you for the input. What if I only used 10' of flex hose and positioned the cyclone closer to each machine? I have a basement shop so I am combating plumbing and HVAC ductwork on the ceiling. Hard to create a duct system hanging from the ceiling.

[Wade Lippman]

I had a 3hp JDS and reduced to 5" at the cyclone, ran about 15' of 5" to a 4" reducer at the end.
It worked just fine. I had all my machines on wheels and moved the machines to the cyclone; seemed easier.
So maybe you will get half the suction as if you ran a 6" pipe to the machine; but who cares, it will still be adequate.

[jeff niehenke]

Shorten the flex up as much as possible even if you need to run some short sections of flex to route around your HVAC ducts. That flex murders your airflow, check out bill pentz website for accurate information and calcs. You will get add equate chip collection with what you have proposed or Wade's method, but to capture dust is much more difficult.

[Wade Lippman]

Shorten the flex up as much as possible even if you need to run some short sections of flex to route around your HVAC ducts. That flex murders your airflow, check out bill pentz website for accurate information and calcs. You will get add equate chip collection with what you have proposed or Wade's method, but to capture dust is much more difficult.

I never had any dust in the shop, so I was obviously capturing it.

[Bob Wingard]

You buy a system ... and, you hook it up as best you can, within the constraints of the environment in which it's going to be used. Will it suck dust ??? SURE Will it be the ultimate in efficiency ??? NOPE Will it be better than nothing ??? ABSOLUTELY.

Every action you take that is contrary to ideal installation practices WILL degrade the system's performance ... does that mean you would be better off without the system at all ??? I don't think you need anyone's opinions other than your own to decide that one.

[John Huds0n]

I was in a similar situation a couple of months ago when I purchased a new 3hp JDS

I was originally thinking I would go with fixed duct work using 6" S & D pipe. (My JDS also has a 8" opening) I started looking at flex hose and discovered it isn't exactly cheap either! (10' of 5" UC20 from Wynn Environmental with a couple of clamps was $115) Since you need to have 'some' flex hose either way, I decided I would just try it with the 10' of flex first and see how it works out. (Also my JDS is on wheels and is very easy to move around, so why not take full advantage of what I paid for.)

Since my machine needed a 5" connection, I ended up buying a 5", heavy duty 22 gauge 45 degree elbow from McMaster Carr (1768K3) and with my router I cut some 'donuts' out of 3/4 in plywood that I glued together for my reducer - just to see how it would work.

I was very pleased with the results! Remember, choking down the intake to a dust collector will not 'hurt' the system at all - in fact the less air there is to move the easier it runs. I have more than enough suction with the 10' of flex - (as some of the guys mentioned above) and at this point, I doubt if I will run the fixed 6" ductwork. I even purchased another 10' of 4" flex hose from Wynn to run over to my router table - again, more than enough suction with 10' of 5" and then 10" of 4"

I was really pleased with the 45 degree heavy duty elbow from McMaster Carr. It is actually made from one piece of sheet metal. Here is what it and my reducer looks like:

reducer.jpg

[Mike Chalmers]

You buy a system ... and, you hook it up as best you can, within the constraints of the environment in which it's going to be used. Will it suck dust ??? SURE Will it be the ultimate in efficiency ??? NOPE Will it be better than nothing ??? ABSOLUTELY.

Every action you take that is contrary to ideal installation practices WILL degrade the system's performance ... does that mean you would be better off without the system at all ??? I don't think you need anyone's opinions other than your own to decide that one.

Bravo! So much more useful than the "sky is falling" responses often seen regarding this subject. I do not think I have ever seen a subject with only one person regarded as the subject matter expert. There is always more than one opinion, and an individual's point of view, no matter how logical or well conceived, cannot be regrded as the answer for every situation. Common sense must prevail, as well as attention to budgets, situation etc.

[Chris Fournier]

Your question is going to be met by lots who tell you that you'll killl performance with flex hose and they're right, it will degrade performance. Not a big deal for you and the parameters that you have stated. I use flex hose drops of lengths up to 20' in my shop and my 3hp cyclone will eat everything that a 16 jointer planer will feed it and I can collect from two ports at once. You can get as fancy as you like but 8" to your 5" hose and you'll have plenty of collection, I'd stick with 20' of hose for convenience. What have you got to lose?

Again, I know that this isn't the best but this system has to work in your shop and paper layouts and best case designs are already off the table, do what you have to do.

[Marty Baucom]

Thank you everyone for the advice and direction. I think I will use 10' of 8" flex from the cyclone and reduce down to 4" at each machine.

[Chris Fournier]

Thank you everyone for the advice and direction. I think I will use 10' of 8" flex from the cyclone and reduce down to 4" at each machine.

I can guarantee you that you will regret handling such a short chunk of 8" hose all the time. I would also point out that the 8" hose may not hook up to all of your machines without interference with the feedpath or chassis of the machine. Reduce the hose diameter from your cyclone.

[Marty Baucom]

Thanks Chris. I plan to reduce down to 4" closer to the machine. I have a short section of 4" hose I can use.

I can guarantee you that you will regret handling such a short chunk of 8" hose all the time. I would also point out that the 8" hose may not hook up to all of your machines without interference with the feedpath or chassis of the machine. Reduce the hose diameter from your cyclone.

[Jim Andrew]

I just ordered some 6" hose from Mcmaster Carr, the price drops significantly when you order 25' or more.