Clearvue Max closet question

[Jim Becker]

My DC closet uses a return baffle in the ceiling (between joists) and amounts to about 8' total (4' folded). (see illustration below) The inside of the closet has unfaced fiberglass insulation in 2x4 walls with 1/4" Masonite perf-board with the rough side exposed. This has worked out very well to contain noise from both my cyclone and my compressor.

[mreza Salav]

Marty, the exhaust of my closet it right up above the motor. So the air coming out has to go up around the motor and then out the closet. I had the same format in my previous (basement) shop. These are old photos of my old shop (smaller closet):

cyc3.jpgcyc4.jpgcyc5.jpgcyc13.jpg

[mark mcfarlane]

Has anyone tried just using something like 30' of flex duct for the return? Put return grill assemblies in closet and far end of shop, connect with 30' of 10" insulated flex duct wiggling around here and there,...

My engineered joists are going the wrong direction to build something into the joist cavities, so I'll have to go over them.

[Jim Becker]

Mark, that would likely work just fine as long as the duct is "oversized" and has a few gentle bends to thwart direct sound transmission...the reason that effective returns are "bent" back in the first place. Given the use for adjacent space in your proposed environment, any sound mitigation you do for the shop will be a good idea in addition to just plain making working in the shop more pleasurable.

[Chris Fairbanks]

Life has finally slowed down a little and over the last two weeks I was able to get the cyclone up and running. The last issue I am running into is the bin. I originally was trying to tuck the motor up between the rafters but trying to do that limited my ability to do soundproofing so I had to choose mounting it lower. This meant I could not use 55g drum I was originally planning on using. So I ended up building a 25"x25"x25 box out of 1/2" plywood. If my math is right that is around 65g in capacity.

I figured that would work great so I started to build the lid and get the system going. I cut some 1/2 acrylic I had laying around as a lid and epoxied a short piece of 6" pvc into it for the connection to the clearvue. I then picked up some nice closed cell foam gasket material that I attached to the acrylic lid. I was concerned that the gasket material right against the edge of 1/2" plywood might leak so I cut some 1/8" acrylic and used the Lexel caulk to attach the the 1/8" to the plywood edge. I let all of that dry overnight and fired up the system. At first it seems like everything was working great with no leaks. So I proceeded to joint and plane a bunch of redwood for some tables and benches for my mom. As the afternoon went on I noticed even when I was not planing, some wood chips were constantly circulating in the cyclone body. I figured there was a leak somewhere. By the time I was done I had fully filled up the bin and when I went to open it up I was surprised. The cyclone bowed in the sides of the plywood bin and forced the caulking and 1/8" acrylic lip right off of the plywood.

Does anyone have thoughts alternative and leak free designs for a square bin that can stand up to to clearvue max system? Or do I say screw it and go buy a steel 35g drum and call it a day. I would hate to cut my bin size in half but I won't want leaks that are going to cause me to have to clean the filters. Thanks!

[Jim Becker]

A circular bin may handle the pressure better, Chris. You can get a 35 gal fiber bin, too, rather than steel if you want to save weight. My original Oneida system came with the 35 gallon setup, although I quickly moved to the 55 gallon fiber drum to keep from having to empty even that smaller cyclone so often...

[Andy Giddings]

That is one powerful system if its bowing 1/2 ply! It sounds like adding an external bracing frame would make it rigid enough - as you've gone this far with your design I would try that before going out and buying a smaller drum. Using some of that Redwood will keep it light.

I've also found some light chips swirl around the cyclone for a while with the DC running (I suspect Redwood would be worse as the wood is relatively light). Its not been an issue as they drop down in the bin eventually

[Carl Kona]

Chris,

Andy is correct about lighter particles staying airborne longer. Another explanation is you filled your bin sooner then you thought and you were getting back flow into your filters. You may want to check your filter bin as well just in case. As the debris exits the cyclone the swirling debris enters your bin. If too much debris is close to the top of the bin the swirling debris stirs it up and can allow it to enter in the swirling air exiting up through the vortex tube. This will enter your filters and filter bin.

Hope that helps,

Carl

[John K Jordan]

The cyclone bowed in the sides of the plywood bin and forced the caulking and 1/8" acrylic lip right off of the plywood. ...
Does anyone have thoughts alternative and leak free designs for a square bin that can stand up to to clearvue max system?

Chris, I use a 30 gal galvanized trash can for my CV 1800. It barely fits with ti motor against the 9' ceiling.

The first can I tried collapsed with the 1800! I switched to an older version of the same model of can which is a heavier gauge.

For your installation, since you originally wanted to use a 55-gal drum I might do this: cut a 55-gal drum down to what ever height would fit in your installation. I'd probably cut off the top ring, shorten the drum, then weld the ring back on.

Another option might be salvage your plywood bin with external (angle iron or square steel tubing) or internal bracing to eliminate the flexing. For internal bracing I suspect it would be best to devise something that left the center clear near the top.

JKJ

[Chris Fairbanks]

i just got back in town from a work trip and saw the posts. Thanks for the advice. I think I am going to cut some hard maple I have laying around and build like a 1x2 lip inside the box about 1/2 from the top. That hopefully will keep it from flexing and it will give me a good spot to seal the lid to the bin. I would do it on the outside but I do not have enough clearance in the storage closet. If that fails I'll just go pickup a 35g drum and call it a day as I sold thr 55g one off a while ago . Thanks.

[John K Jordan]

i just got back in town from a work trip and saw the posts. Thanks for the advice. I think I am going to cut some hard maple I have laying around and build like a 1x2 lip inside the box about 1/2 from the top. That hopefully will keep it from flexing and it will give me a good spot to seal the lid to the bin. I would do it on the outside but I do not have enough clearance in the storage closet. If that fails I'll just go pickup a 35g drum and call it a day as I sold thr 55g one off a while ago . Thanks.

To bad San Francisco Bay is not down the road from Clinton TN! I have a couple of spare steel drums behind my barn and around here you can usually find them for cheap (I've seen them for $5) or free - I've never paid for one except for stainless steel. I could even cut and reweld one for you. Cattle farmers here often cut them in half to make feeders. This is my "new" stainless steel burn barrel:

burn_barrel_stainless.jpg

I need to get back out to SanFran - when I was working I made numerous trips, usually to develop software for Livermore labs. I spent weekends exploring the Bay and points up and down the coast (and inland). I always managed to get to the Exploratorium as well. Come to think of it, I don't remember seeing stacks of cheap surplus 55gal drums in either Sausalito or Burlingame. :-)

JKJ