Anyone have a Mini Gorilla or other 1.5 HP DC they use as a ducted system?

[Tim M Tuttle]

How's it working out? What's your setup and what are you using for the ductwork?

I have one and am trying to figure out if it's worth it to try and duct the system. It's mobile right now and always seems to be in the way.

Thanks

[Carl Kona]

Tim,
I don't think you will be happy with the results. Looking at the Oneida curve your are suppose to get 583CFM at 2" of SP (unit with hose attached). That is under lab conditions with a brand new filter. In reality with a used (clean) filter you are probably in the 4-6 SP range or 383-483 cfm. This is the bare minimum you ant to operate at for 'chip' collection (way below fine dust collection). So if you use 5" hvac ducts (don't even think of trying 4" that will totally kill performance down to a high end vac) you will need to calculate your specific layout using a reference like this (https://airhand.com/designing/) to see what additional SP drop you ductwork will add to the loss of the system. Since you are probably operating at or just above the minimum range now you most likely won't be happy with the results.

There are plenty of people who have used less powerful systems than yours and piped their shop with 4" duct and claim to be happy. The reality is a good shop vac would work just as well. The good news is if you plumb in 5" duct work and it does not perform well enough for your expectations then when you bump up to a 2 or 3 HP blower you will be ready. This is really dependent on your expectations. Going from mobile to stationary ducting, your performance will only go down. If you want a permanent setup and better performance, then something else must change.

Hope that helps. Let us know what you do.

Carl

[Tim M Tuttle]

Thanks for the info, Carl. I thought about ducting for 5" and seeing what happens but if it doesnt work out I would want 6" on a new DC. I'll probably throw my Gorilla on Craigslist and get a new DC.

Thanks