Dust collection modification

[stan shields]

<p>
So I am gonna convert my single stage 1.5HP Shopfox to a two-stage by adding a cyclone seperator. I have seen many pictures of these conversions and so, have a question: Some systems have a plastic bag or other container attached to the bottom of the cylindrical air filter connected after the cyclone. Some just have the filter which is open at the bottom. So what is up with this? Do I need the bag?</p>

[Mike Kreinhop]

So I am gonna convert my single stage 1.5HP Shopfox to a two-stage by adding a cyclone seperator. I have seen many pictures of these conversions and so, have a question: Some systems have a plastic bag or other container attached to the bottom of the cylindrical air filter connected after the cyclone. Some just have the filter which is open at the bottom. So what is up with this? Do I need the bag?

I don't think you need the bag as long as you have a way to clean the filter and remove the fine particles that accumulate. I used separate filter pans on my setup that provide additional filter surface area and allow for quick removal to dump anything that makes it past the cyclone.

[stan shields]

Thanks Mike. I have seen some (cylindrical) filters mounted horizontally, I wonder if stuff accumulates on the side of the filter nearest the floor. I would love to vent the system outdoors but it gets cold here in New England and I am not crazy about the idea of blowing all the heat out of the shop, maybe I should do a winter/summer switch...

[stan shields]

Mike-What kind of cyclone is that? is it a 6" inlet?

[Mike Kreinhop]

Mike-What kind of cyclone is that? is it a 6" inlet?

It's the Oneida Steel Super Dust Deputy. It has a 5-inch inlet and a 6-inch outlet.

[Carl Kona]

Stan,

Not sure what your plans are with the cyclone after you attach it to the DC. I have an older Oneida 1.5HP Cyclone with a 12.5" impeller (I think yours has a 11") and with an 8' 6" duct and a 4" flex connection I am barely pulling 550CFM at my TS. With a smaller DC like yours, adding any separator in front of it will help filtration but really hurt flow. I actually found 5" duct on that short run had better velocity and not too much of a CFM drop. 4" pipe was a significant reduction. All tests were done with a Pitot tube.

A setup like Mike will optimize your blower performance by eliminating flex pipe and the existing DC separator.