Another DC question; Oneida V2000 vs HF Mod

[brian cammarata]

Looking for inputs in regards to DC options.

Option#1: I was just about to construct a modified HF DC. With Rikon Impeller, Super Dust Deputy XL, Wynn Filter.

Option #2: buddy has recently upgraded his DC and is offering up 7 year old Oneida Air V2000 for $725 (home hobby use)

Long story short....pretty much $ for $ the same cost and I can return all of option #1 parts

Would you stick with new mod HF or go with used V2000?

thanks for feedback

ok...thanks for all the guidance. Picked up the V2000 yesterday and returning all the HF mod components. Cant wait to put this thing to use

[Mike Burke]

After rebuilding my unit...which I am Very please with and glad I did the upgrade.....

I would still

Agree with others V2000 !!!

[Josh Kocher]

Congratulations.
I'm sure you'll enjoy your new system and its benefits.

[Art Mann]

There is one thing do-it-yourselfers need to realize about increasing air flow using larger filters. Increased air flow also increases load and current draw on the motor. There comes a point when you substantially reduce motor life. I doubt if this will happen with the undersized fan on the HF unit but it would be easy to do with the after market fans people are retrofitting. At some point, you just need more power than the HF motor can supply without self destructing.

[Roger Robitaillle]

Patrick, I'm in the process of the same mod and have all the parts sitting on the bench at the house. What size ducting are you using. I reached out to Oneida to ask if the SDD with these upgrades would support 6 inch and they won't comment on a mod like this...not that I blame them. The folks at GreyHouseStudios used 6 inch ducting....as have a ton of other forum members here and on Lumberjocks. What are you seeing for performance already?

[Carl Kona]

Roger,

If you look at the FAQ for SDD and SDD XL you should find your answers but in general the SDD has a 5" input so that is the maximum duct size for that separator (and generally the optimum size for 1.5-2HP DCs). You NEVER want to increase the size of the duct (5 to 6" in this case). The SDD XL has a 6" input but requires a 3HP or 850 CFM requirement. Neither of which the HF mod can provide. Many people reference the GreyHouse YouTube video (which uses a SDD XL), and incorrectly assume it was done correctly (which it was not). If you have a very short run of 6" duct (like in the video) you might get away with not having it clog due to the lower velocity and what type of material you are collecting. Also the test in the video was performed with a handheld meter which is highly inconsistent and inaccurate. My testing showed a handheld meter was ~30% higher than the measurements made with my Pitot tube.

Not sure what or how you are going to set up your system with duct length or what machines you want to support. I have not seen very many people use 6" duct with the HF mod, most use 4" due to cost. Unfortunately the small pipe diameter strangles the gains made with upgrades. As I mentioned earlier, most 1.5-2HP DCs (with 11-12" impellers) will run best with 5" ducts. As your filter becomes more seasoned and dirty you will struggle with a 6" duct to maintain enough velocity to keep material airborne. 5" ducting will force you into metal ducting which if you look around or visit a local HVAC shop is in the same cost range as PVC.

[Mike Chalmers]

You NEVER want to increase the size of the duct (5 to 6" in this case). The SDD XL has a 6" input but requires a 3HP or 850 CFM requirement. Neither of which the HF mod can provide. Many people reference the GreyHouse YouTube video (which uses a SDD XL), and incorrectly assume it was done correctly (which it was not). If you have a very short run of 6" duct (like in the video) you might get away with not having it clog due to the lower velocity and what type of material you are collecting.

I use 6" ducting as I had it in place when I had a 3hp short cyclone unit for a short time. I am now back to my Craftex (Canadian Grizzly) 2hp with a metal SDD. Granted, my longest run is only about 15' which reduces to 5" at my 20" planer, but, the fact remains, it never gets clogged, nor is there any dust sitting in the ducts. Elbows do tend to have a little accumulation, very little. I see these types of statements frequently, but cannot credit the validity of the comment considering my real life, personal, observed experience.

[Carl Kona]

Mike,

I wish I did see best design practices statements more frequently, unfortunately I see more statements about how someone made something work and another reader takes that as the norm. Having been blessed/cursed with an engineering degree I have a hard time doing something that is not the most efficient or optimum. I am glad your system works. I am envious of those that can put something together and as long as it moves air they are happy. I also take at face value the subjective comments made buy some like "it works great" . I know a lot of people don't care about doing it the best or even right way but....
car-with-a-little-wheel-big.jpg (-:

[Patrick Cosentino]

I went with 5" snap lock to match the 5" inlet of the SDD. Oneida mentions on their website to not have a reduction at the inlet , so i took that advice (originally I was going to go with 6" as well).
As far as performance , i'm very happy with it......but (there's always a "but"!) , i have zero to base my performance on. Except for the stock HF unit , right out of the box. It seems to have more power , is definitely more quieter than stock. There's zero dust in my 14" laguna bandsaw (the 14/12 model) , works as great as a shopvac on my disc and rigid belt sander (i go 5" --> 4" --> 2.5" ports for the sanders) zero dust from my dewalt 735 (the built in blower does most of the work regardless of what DC you have).
And I maybe just going insane on this part , but i swear i'm getting more sawdust out of the top of my table saw than i did before. There's not a ton of dust in the cabinet , but I feel like i will need to address an overhead dust port for the table saw blade.

So long story short , it works great for me in my set up. I searched a long time looking for before and after numbers to see the improvements on HF mods , but as i'm sure you've found out by now , concrete numbers for dust collection , and discussions on the internet never play well together

Should you stick with 6" ? I honestly don't know.
Wish I could be more help , and good luck setting your system up!