Dust Separator Not Separating

[Steve Kinnaird]

I have the Harbor Freight 2HP Dust Collector.
I installed it in a small shed behind my shop so that I didn't hear it running.
I installed the Rockler Dust Right 4" Separator kit. Made sure the fitting faced opposite directions and instructed.
Tested it from my floor sweep and was very pleased to see that the sawdust, chips and shavings all stayed in the 30 gallon drum and there was no noticeable discharge for any sawdust into the shed. That was pleasing as I didn't want to run a filter bag or final collection bag unless I had to. Figured why install them and reduce performance if the Rockler Dust Right 4" Separator did it's job. WRONG!!!!!!!

Here are a few PIC's to show you the results after a few days of cutting and planing in the shop.

First PIC is from when I was installing the system.
Others are from today.

Plumbing of DC Motor and seperator drum.jpg Rockler Dust Right 4.jpg Layers of dust.jpg

[Rich Engelhardt]

I didn't want to run a filter bag or final collection bag unless I had to.

Obviously....you have to add a bag.
As to the dust in the shed, depending on how many times you've emptied the 30 gallon can, that amount may be trivial.

I run a 2HP Sears DC connected to a Rockler Dust Right w/the 10 gallon collector.
On average, I fill that 10 gallon bucket with every 4.5 board feet of 4/4 planed down the 3/4".

Having said that.......

The total amount of dust in the bag of the Sears D/C is about a half gallon - - and that's from planing roughly 350 bd ft of 4/4 cherry down to 3/4".

[Lee Schierer]

I suspect that once your barrel reaches a certain level that the sawdust just keeps on swirling and goes right out the outlet. I have a similar issue with my Delta dust collector even after I added a Thein baffle, which did really help, I get about twice as much sawdust in my barrel before I have to empty it. It just takes longer before the dust starts carrying over.

[William C Rogers]

I think you will need a cyclone to get the performance you were hoping for. The seperator do good for the heavy stuff, but most of the fine dust exits.

[Matt Day]

Wait a minute, so you had no filter bag at all and just a separator? What your pictures show is exactly what I'd expect. The separator isn't perfect and catches I don't know 90% before it hits the filter bag. You've got that 10% on the floor.

[George Bokros]

You do need a bag. I run a garbage can separator and everyone said 90% goes in the garbage can. To eliminate more I would need something like a Dust Deputy which I do use for sanding but only have the smallest DD they have (5 gal bucket size) and run it with my shop vac and my shop vac filter looks completely clean.

[glenn bradley]

I think you will need a cyclone to get the performance you were hoping for. The seperator do good for the heavy stuff, but most of the fine dust exits.

In my experience this is correct. The Rockler style is great for heavy spoil separation. For fine dust something a little more sophisticated is required. I have run that style of separator in 5 gallon and 30 gallon sizes with good success BUT, not for what you are trying to accomplish.

My Dust Deputy for the 5 gallon work is startlingly superior to a standard trash-can separator like the Rockler (fancy performance-robbing elbow fittings or not). My large cyclone has a similar performance advantage over my "bagger" blower with a 30 gallon unit in the path. If a standard DC blower and a trash can separator worked as well as a purpose built cyclone we could all save a lot of money ;-)

[Art Mann]

You may destroy the air compressor by clogging the filter with dust.

[James Gunning]

You are getting exactly what I would expect from your DC plumbed the way shown in the photos. Any of the barrels using the Rockler Dust Right lids (or similar) will pass a certain amount of chips and dust right through the barrel and into the blower. Since you have no filter on the blower outlet, that material is blown all over your shop. If your shop would allow it, you could plumb the blower outlet outside. That would stop the bulk of the fine dust settling inside. Saying the trash can lid separators are 90 percent efficient is being kind. I tried a couple of them and they pass almost all the fine dust and much of the smaller chips right through. If your barrel is too full, all the dust and chips will pass through with little or no separation. With the separator lids, I used a canister filter on my blower outlet and was constantly cleaning it. The filter was packed with chips after a short time running it. However, there was very little dust floating around in my shop.

I can't recommend too strongly to go to a better separation system. Either a cyclone or a Thein baffle with the blower exhaust directed outside, or a good canister filter. Your shop will be vastly cleaner and your lungs will appreciate the reduction in harmful particles lodging in them.

[Art Mann]

My experience with a trash can separator is that when the can is empty, it will separate out maybe 75% of the dust and chips. As the can fills, the effectiveness rapidly declines. By the time the can is half full, the separation rate is something like 25%. I just threw mine away because it is more trouble than its worth.

[Steve Kinnaird]

Thanks for all the replies.
The 30 gallon drum only has about 4" of sawdust in it.
Yes, the air compressor is in harms way without a solution.
Going to go with the Oneida Super Dust Deputy.
The DC is already outside of the shop in a small shed that I built to keep the noise out of the shop.
The plan was to vent it outside, but wanted to give it a god test first.
The DC has only been up and running for about a month and had not been tested with heavy use until the other night after getting the planer and radial arm saw connected.
I will be retesting after the installation of the Super Dust Deputy

More later, I need to go clean up the mess with my reliable Rigid Shop Vac

[Jerome Stanek]

I would make a top hat unit out of it and use the Thein style separatoron top of your barrel

[paul cottingham]

K+1 on a Thien top hat. It won't scrub when the contents get near the top. Or a dust deputy. Just finished rigging up a friends shop with a 1.5 HP blower and a top hat and it works very well indeed.

[Ronald Blue]

First observation is that you really don't have that much saw dust. I have to think another issue is with no outlet restriction of any type the air velocity through dust deputy is not allowing the best fall out possible. I might be wrong but have to think this is a real possibility.

[Steve Kinnaird]

First observation is that you really don't have that much saw dust. I have to think another issue is with no outlet restriction of any type the air velocity through dust deputy is not allowing the best fall out possible. I might be wrong but have to think this is a real possibility.

I will discuss the lack of restriction with the folks at Oneida on Monday.