Cyclone Suggestions

[Curt Taylor]

I'm looking for feedback from Members that own or have used small shop Cyclone dust collectors. I'm leaning towards the purchase of a Penn State Tempest. In particular the TEMP142CX model. The price seems to be reasonable and it looks like it would do the job for a small shop, 24'x24', with planner, jointer, TS, router, and the rest of the normal stuff that makes plenty of dust and shavings. Anyone out there own one of their Cyclones? I'd also like to hear any suggestions for other brands in that same price range. Or bad experiences with these types of systems too.

[Jim Becker]

I'm an Oneida fan. (pardon the expression...) Small shop cyclone dust collection systems are their specialty and there is a reason that they are generally the leader in most independent performance testing.

[Curt Taylor]

Thanks for the feed back Jim. I'll look into em. Is that what you have? If so what model?

[Frederick Rowe]

Curt - Another satisfied Oneida cyclone owner here. 2 HP Super Dust Gorilla. Haven't seen many posts on the Penn State cyclone.

[Jerry Booher]

I spent quite a few hours on the Internet trying to decide which cyclone to buy. I decided on the Oneida Super Gorilla 2.5hp "green" (uses less electricity than the 2hp motor).

Jerry

[Tim Marks]

the Oneida Super Gorilla 2.5hp "green" (uses less electricity than the 2hp motor).

OK, I will bite. The "Green" version uses a 2.5 Hp 0.96 rated efficienct motor drawing 11.5 amps and delivering 1349 cfm. The ungreen version is almost $300 cheaper with a 2.0 Hp motor drawing 10.9-11.5 amps and delivering 1349 cfm.

Am I missing something... both draw essentially the same current for the same flowrate. It might be nice to see the 2.5 Hp on the labelplate, but not for $290.

[Frank Hagan]

The standard Super Dust Gorilla is a 115v / 230v motor that has a maximum amperage of 23 amps (on 115v) or 11.5 amps on 230v.

The specs for the Green model say the motor can run on 208v or 230v with maximum amperage of 11.5 / 10.9 amps. So on 230v you would be pulling a maximum of 10.9 amps. But that .6 of an amp is not where the savings come in ... but unfortunately I can't find a reference to the "rule of thumb" I know. Maybe one of the motor guys here will know for certain.

The Green model uses a capacitor start / capacitor run design, and my informal experience in observing these things is that the cap start/cap run motors pull about 10% less than a more common cap start motor. But that's in a backyard with an amp meter, and I'm afraid I couldn't find anything authoritative on the net about it.

[Chris Friesen]

OK, I will bite. The "Green" version uses a 2.5 Hp 0.96 rated efficienct motor drawing 11.5 amps and delivering 1349 cfm. The ungreen version is almost $300 cheaper with a 2.0 Hp motor drawing 10.9-11.5 amps and delivering 1349 cfm.

The "green" version will deliver 2.5 HP at 11.5A. The non-green version delivers 2HP at 10.9-11.5A.

However, given the same impeller and the same airflow, the "green" motor will only be running at 2HP, and so will be drawing roughly 20% less than its full rated amps.

This gives you roughly 20% savings on operational cost.

[Jim O'Dell]

For the price, 695.00 plus shipping, it's probably not too bad. Any of the others mentioned, and the Clear Vue I have will run considerably more, but you do get more performance for the money spent. Hopefully others will chip in (pun intended ) with some real life experience with the Tempest units. Jim.

[Dave Lewis]

I have that Penn State model. Installed ~ 3 years ago, it works fine. The assembly could have been clearer. And get a friend to help with mounting (the unit is very top heavy and awkward).

You may wish to review ductwork costs since that can actually equal the cyclone cost - it did for me in a 14' x 39' basement shop. I just bought more "economy" ductwork.

With any cyclone though, they're better than the bag units.