venting canister dust collector outside

[William A Johnston]

I have a 2hp grizzly collector and want to upgrade to a cyclone but due to limited tool funds I was wondering if anyone has a similar collector and came up with a way to remove the filter and vent outside? Would this work? Since getting a drum sander my filter clogs quick and I loose all the performance of the machine. Would it be better to retro fit an after market cyclone to the fan or just stay with what I currently have and keep saving for a real cyclone machine?

[Fred Belknap]

I have the same dust collector and used the motor and blower on the inside of the shop. It is exhausted through the wall into the collector which is mounted on top of a 55gal drum with the top cut out. The upper part is attached to 5" pipe to exhaust above the roof of the shop. I do mostly turnings so it takes a while to fill the drum. When the drum gets about 3/4 full a lot of the chips go out the upper exhaust. Lets me know it is time to empty drum. I tried exhausting directly outside through the wall, it made a mess in the yard to clean up. What I have works pretty well for what I do, might not work if I made a lot of dust.

[William A Johnston]

Fred, do you by chance have a picture of your set up?

[William C Rogers]

I believe there are several who vent everything outside into a bin. I bought a ebay cyclone (not setup yet) and intend to vent outside without a collection box. I would suggest you might want to build a Thien baffel. I have been using one for several years and it is quite effective. I don't think it would eliminate an outside bin, but would greatly reduce the need to empty it often.

[William A Johnston]

I did read in another post about the ebay cyclone and I did look at it online. Do you think the cyclone from ebay is good workmanship? When do you think you will have it up and running? And do you plan on doing a review once you get it complete? I know I can use my fan and motor with that unit and still vent out side and still have a bin inside my shop and this might be a better option. I am just trying to do something instead of spending $ 1,500- $2,000 on a cyclone set up at this time, I know at some point I will have to upgrade. I have all the piping already run. Mine seamed to work pretty good although I am not sure how much fines were coming back into the shop from the canister filter. Of course I did not have any idea about the amount of dust produced by a drum sander till I got one. For that matter the amount of chips from a planer or jointer.

[Peter Aeschliman]

I did read in another post about the ebay cyclone and I did look at it online. Do you think the cyclone from ebay is good workmanship? When do you think you will have it up and running? And do you plan on doing a review once you get it complete? I know I can use my fan and motor with that unit and still vent out side and still have a bin inside my shop and this might be a better option. I am just trying to do something instead of spending $ 1,500- $2,000 on a cyclone set up at this time, I know at some point I will have to upgrade. I have all the piping already run. Mine seamed to work pretty good although I am not sure how much fines were coming back into the shop from the canister filter. Of course I did not have any idea about the amount of dust produced by a drum sander till I got one. For that matter the amount of chips from a planer or jointer.

I have the eBay cyclone with my 3hp grizzly motor and impeller, vented outside. If you are going to vent outside, it is good enough. Remember that the main differentiating factor between good and mediocre cyclones is their ability to separate fine dust from coarser dust. That is a really important factor when you have filters because good cyclones slow down the clogging process.

But if you don't have filters to clog, then you only need the cyclone to be good enough to keep the outside of your shop from getting covered in dust. I can tell you that the eBay cyclone is good enough for that task and is a great option for what you're considering.

The build quality is passable. It's pretty thin gauge steel, but it works just fine. I caulked all of the seams for good measure, it I don't think that was necessary.

[Jim Andrew]

I live in Kansas, so can't compare the weather to Arkansas. Would suspect winter is much nicer there. The worst problem I would expect would be if you air condition your shop, you will lose a lot of your cool. Also if you use a forced air furnace in winter. Both systems warm or cool air instead of objects, so are more negative to exhausting your DC. Keith, our moderator, says exhausting your DC outside doubles it's performance.

[Fred Belknap]

Took a while but found them. outside dust barrel.jpgDust collector.JPG

[William C Rogers]

I have the eBay cyclone with my 3hp grizzly motor and impeller, vented outside. If you are going to vent outside, it is good enough. Remember that the main differentiating factor between good and mediocre cyclones is their ability to separate fine dust from coarser dust. That is a really important factor when you have filters because good cyclones slow down the clogging process.

But if you don't have filters to clog, then you only need the cyclone to be good enough to keep the outside of your shop from getting covered in dust. I can tell you that the eBay cyclone is good enough for that task and is a great option for what you're considering.

The build quality is passable. It's pretty thin gauge steel, but it works just fine. I caulked all of the seams for good measure, it I don't think that was necessary.

I did read in another post about the ebay cyclone and I did look at it online. Do you think the cyclone from ebay is good workmanship? When do you think you will have it up and running? And do you plan on doing a review once you get it complete? I know I can use my fan and motor with that unit and still vent out side and still have a bin inside my shop and this might be a better option. I am just trying to do something instead of spending $ 1,500- $2,000 on a cyclone set up at this time, I know at some point I will have to upgrade. I have all the piping already run. Mine seamed to work pretty good although I am not sure how much fines were coming back into the shop from the canister filter. Of course I did not have any idea about the amount of dust produced by a drum sander till I got one. For that matter the amount of chips from a planer or jointer.

It will be a month before I get mine up and running. Regarding the ebay quality, he does package them well. I didn't notice any voids in the braze. I am glad to hear it should work for venting outside.

[William A Johnston]

Thanks for the picture that helps me put two and two together. I use an electric Dayton heater and no A/C in the summer. I do realize I will have to have make up air which I can crack the garage door or a window. I think I'm going to try the eBay cyclone and see how it works out. This is only a hobby shop so it only gets use on weekends. Thanks for everybody's help. Once I get the cyclone set up I'll take some pics and give my honest opinion on the performance.