Cleaning DC Cartridges

[Bill Adamsen]

I had just recently changed the four blades in my 16" jointer, and then over the weekend was milling some wide Eastern White pine for a project, and sure enough, the Torit Cyclone clogged and blew through to the cartridge filters (Wynn nanos). It didn't set off the alarm because the pine jammed up in the neck of the cyclone ... the collection bin was less than half-full. I had to remove the cartridges and take them outside to blow out. During a blizzard of course.

Just wanted to share a new discovery for me, which everyone else probably already knew. I used an electric leaf blower which produced a fair number of cfm but in not too confined an area. In other words, not the high pressure stream you'd get from a air hose nozzle. It worked great. I also was not concerned about blowing a hole in the pleats which has never happened to me, but would have been a disaster if it had. Cartridges reinstalled, the manometer dropped from 2 to .2 ... and everything is back to functioning.

Does anyone have practical ideas on how to avoid this scenario. My jointer dust outlet is 5+ inches and is about 50 feet (of pipe) from the cyclone. Most of the pipe is 6" and 7".

[David Kumm]

I've had that happen with maple because the shavings are so long. I suspect pine is sticky too. Your Torit has a 7" outlet? The fact that the smaller pipes didn't clog tells me more cfm might not help. Lighter cuts on the jointer maybe. You did good with the leaf blower. Nano filters are not ones to touch with a brush or compressed air over 70-80 psi from a close distance. One stick from the table saw stuck in the outlet will start a clog too. Dave

[Bill Adamsen]

The outlet is rectangular, the inside is 10" x 5" which would be the same cross-section as an 8" round (inlet is 8" round). I think the cyclone neck - where it dumps into the bin - is 6". I attached the plenum design doc to the post.

When I got on my back and looked up into the cyclone with a flashlight, I was completely freaked out that it looked like the entire impeller housing might be jammed with crud. Turned out not to be the case, but I realized that the serviceability of the motor/impeller is not very good. For instance, I used silicone to attach the motor plate to the cyclone thinking that would reduce vibration and seal off any air losses (in my defense, that was the way I got the machine as well). I should have done something easier to service. Perhaps foam tape. I could have also designed the plenum with an easily removable trap door on top ... which would have given better access. I can get access when the cartridge is removed, but that's an operation.

Ultimately, a small adjustment in how I was jointing (I was flattening the 10" face to square up) would have avoided the issue. Plus, knowing it was a potential problem, I could have inspected after a few passes. To your point, there is just certain material that can create that problem. Live and learn.

[David Kumm]

Nice plenum and cartridge bin. My Torit has an additional bolted on fitting on the bottom. Does yours run a straight or curved blade and is it 5 hp? Dave

[Jon Nuckles]

That's a nice looking shop! I'm glad the leaf blower worked for you. I have an electric one that I have tried in the past on my Wynn cartridge, but I didn't have much success.

[Bill Adamsen]

Does yours run a straight or curved blade and is it 5 hp? Dave

3hp (3-phase) and straight. Noisy - loud. If it breaks down I'd likely change the impeller (lots of metal cutting) but probably keep the hp. I sized the wire (in conduit) for the VFD and whether I'd want to pull new wire and shell out the bucks for a 5hp vfd is questionable.

[David Kumm]

When the gate to the jointer is open, what is the amp draw compared to FLA? That cyclone is most often paired with a 5 hp 15x3.5" blower but if the draw at the jointer is under fla and the service factor is 1.15 you could speed the fan up to whatever hz maxes the motor. Might help you with the shavings. Dave

[Bill Adamsen]

David: Very interesting exercise and extremely easy to perform. The FLA at 208/230 is 8.1/7.6. With one large gate open the draw is 7.1 amps at 60hz (max for VFD) and 5.1 amps at 50hz. When I open "numerous gates" the amp draw oscillates slowly ... that is is swings from about 7.0 to 7.6 and then back down, up and down repeatedly, over about a five second cycle. Turbulence? Can't think what else.

During normal operations I typically run the cyclone at 60hz - possibly for ten minutes or more if planning a lot of material - with no apparent issue. Am I risking damage to the motor doing that?