Cyclone filter - a better way???

[Mike Hollingsworth]

My first answer was to have an extra filter to get back to work quickly. Better answer was to vent outside. If anyone in So Cal can use an extra just let me know, it's yours.
cyclone.jpg

[Chris Parks]

My problem with exhausting outside is that my cyclone sits in the corner of a poured concrete basement and the top of it is right at ground level. I'm not about to cut a 6" hole through the band of my house. We live in cluster homes and my neighbor is only 20 ft away.

You could duct the exhaust to a better exit point if that helps. I have seen exhaust ducting exit the building and go vertical to get it above the building line and this also dissipates some noise as well.

[ian maybury]

Chris' point about making sure the drum is well sealed and the cyclone working properly is important. Don't know how often it happens, and it seems unlikely - but too much CFM seemingly may also overdrive a cyclone so that it doesn't separate fines as well as it could.

It makes sense too that placing an exhaust where it spreads whatever dust it puts out over a larger area, and ideally into moving air (prevailing wind direction?) must greatly reduce any visible consequence...

[Rick Potter]

I don't get it. What is the difference between venting a small amount at a time outside, or cleaning your filter with a leaf blower outside all at once? Speaking in generalities here, I realize Kens situation with the neighbors is pretty tight, but since others mentioned they do the same thing...

My outside vent blows directly at a block wall about 8 feet away, and I see nothing on it.

Mike, I gave mine away also.

[Steve Peterson]

I don't get it. What is the difference between venting a small amount at a time outside, or cleaning your filter with a leaf blower outside all at once? Speaking in generalities here, I realize Kens situation with the neighbors is pretty tight, but since others mentioned they do the same thing...

My outside vent blows directly at a block wall about 8 feet away, and I see nothing on it.

Mike, I gave mine away also.

You are absolutely correct Rick. There is no difference in the amount of dust released into the air. The only difference is the perception of the neighbors.

Steve

[Bernie May]

Let's not forget that you have to make up that air you blow outside, which is not ideal when there is a large temperature difference inside versus outside.

[Charles R Johnson]

Fine dust from my drum sander clogged up my final filter on an Oneida 3 hp Gorilla in short order. After replacing the final filter with Wynn filters which greatly improved the operation because of the added filter surface area, I installed prefiltration right at the drum sander. It consists of a 35 gal trash can and a modified Wood Crafters separator with two shop vac filters in series inside . The dust is captured at the source and never makes it to the main DC. I can forward some pictures if interested.
Ducting outside is not an option for winter operation in a colder climate. The DC actually does a pretty good job of heating the shop when operating. Thankfully I live in a cooler climate and therefore don't need to direct it outside in the summer.

[Roy Harding]

Let's not forget that you have to make up that air you blow outside, which is not ideal when there is a large temperature difference inside versus outside.

That's what I thought too, until I tried it.

As I said in my original reply, I live in northern Canada (I can drive into Alaska in about 4 hours) and the heat loss I experience, while noticeable, is not enough to concern me. I originally thought I'd vent outside in the summer, and live with having to constantly clean my filter during the winter. And yet, when winter came, I found that I could continue to just vent outside.

I don't run my dust collector all day, but continuous usage of 1 - 3 hours on any given day is not unusual, and cumulative usage of short duration (say 5 minutes) over any given day can be over 4 hours (all of the preceeding usage estimations, of course, are dependant upon what I'm doing that day).

[Roy Harding]

Fine dust from my drum sander clogged up my final filter on an Oneida 3 hp Gorilla in short order. After replacing the final filter with Wynn filters which greatly improved the operation because of the added filter surface area, I installed prefiltration right at the drum sander. It consists of a 35 gal trash can and a modified Wood Crafters separator with two shop vac filters in series inside . The dust is captured at the source and never makes it to the main DC. I can forward some pictures if interested.
Ducting outside is not an option for winter operation in a colder climate. The DC actually does a pretty good job of heating the shop when operating. Thankfully I live in a cooler climate and therefore don't need to direct it outside in the summer.

That is ingenious - I'll keep it in mind should outside venting become problematic for any reason (the main culprit in my system is also my drum sander.)

[Chris Parks]

I don't live in a cold climate but one important detail gets lost in the venting outside debate and that is the heat or cold stored in the building itself. When the air temperature is held at the required level the building then absorbs heat or cold from the air and when air is replaced by running a dust extractor the air is quickly brought back to the required temperature by the heat held in the structure of the building. I forget where I read about it but it is a very significant factor in heat loss or gain in the air temperature. As for venting outside the dust fall out is insignificant and can be further dissipated by running the exhaust vertically above the building line or elsewhere if required.

[ian maybury]

Guess it makes a difference whether you are of the run the dust collector all the time to keep the air clear, or of the switch it off once each operation is finished schools. It'd also make a big difference what sort of work you do - i'm for example usually (but not always) in the spend ages getting set up and then take only minutes to make the cut scenario… High volume repetitive stuff might well result in a very different story....

[Roy Harding]

Guess it makes a difference whether you are of the run the dust collector all the time to keep the air clear, or of the switch it off once each operation is finished schools. It'd also make a big difference what sort of work you do - i'm for example usually (but not always) in the spend ages getting set up and then take only minutes to make the cut scenario… High volume repetitive stuff might well result in a very different story....

You're right - my dust collector has a remote control fob which is fastened to my shop apron. I do all the set up, and then push the button on the fob as I reach for the machine's on button - and the reverse when finished. I don't run it all the time - I have air cleaners which keep the air clear.

[Allan Speers]

Ken,

I just remembered a "crazy" idea I once had about cutting down the dust from a filter-less, outside-vented cyclone system.
It may not work, and in moist cases it's not necessary as can be seen from many posts in this thread, but FWIW:

I thought about adding a "water filter" on the outside. Basically, just a bucket of water. The DC's output would first get channelled to a number of smaller tubes, then those tubes would be inserted into a bucket full of water.

That's pretty much it. The dust would collect in the water, as the air bubbled out. Every once in while you'd just dump the bucket in the back yard. Maybe a safety valve could be rigged so that if the water got too thick with dust, back pressure would open the valve and everything would go out into the air. Also, you'd need a way to keep the bucket full of water, and mosquitos out.

Heck, you could probably even do this indoors, if you have a slop sink, or a way to pump the bucket outside.

It probably would work, and could solve the "really close neighbor" problem.

[Mike Chalmers]

Ken,

I just remembered a "crazy" idea I once had about cutting down the dust from a filter-less, outside-vented cyclone system.
It may not work, and in moist cases it's not necessary as can be seen from many posts in this thread, but FWIW:

I thought about adding a "water filter" on the outside. Basically, just a bucket of water. The DC's output would first get channelled to a number of smaller tubes, then those tubes would be inserted into a bucket full of water.

That's pretty much it. The dust would collect in the water, as the air bubbled out. Every once in while you'd just dump the bucket in the back yard. Maybe a safety valve could be rigged so that if the water got too thick with dust, back pressure would open the valve and everything would go out into the air. Also, you'd need a way to keep the bucket full of water, and mosquitos out.

Heck, you could probably even do this indoors, if you have a slop sink, or a way to pump the bucket outside.

It probably would work, and could solve the "really close neighbor" problem.

I believe that this would kill your CFM. I do not think dust collectors have the power to overcome the pressure a column of water would exert.

[Allan Speers]

I believe that this would kill your CFM. I do not think dust collectors have the power to overcome the pressure a column of water would exert.

Not if all the tubes only get inserted a few inches. The silt would then settle to the bottom.

Well, maybe. It's certainly worth a try, if the "neighbor" situation is that bad.