New DC with lots of questions...

[Jamie Moore]

My wife just bought me a Steel City 1.5 hp dust collector for Xmas (best gift I could've asked for!!) and I'm trying to think of ways to set it up. I've thought about it a lot and really come up with more and more questions as I go.

I really want to add a pre-separator, Phil Thien's baffle style (it seems to work well from what I've read), for convenience and to preserve the impeller. From what I've read, I'd like to keep the largest diameter hose as long as I can from the DC. Can I change the y on the inlet of the blower from 2- 4"ers to one 6 inch inlet to go to the trash can? But I guess before that, can this DC (1.5 hp, 11.5" impeller, 1200 "claimed" CFM) support 6" ducting? If so, can one make a Phil Thien baffle style preseprator out of a 30 gal. trash can with 6 inch inlet and outlets? I believe Greg McAllister made one here but I don't have any way to work metal (that I know of!). Are there any other ideas on this?

Thanks all in advance.

Jamie

[David Giles]

As an owner of a 1.5 HP Jet DC who has messed with more DC setups than I want to remember, here's the summary of 3-4 years experimentation:

Set up the DC as inexpensively as possible with 4" duct and connections. See if you are happy in 6 months. If you are, ignore the rest of this post.

Vent outside if you can. Really. Try again.
Okay, if you absolutely can't....

More pressure drop reduces air flow at the machine. Duct length and fittings add pressure drop. Flexhose adds pressure drop. Garbage can preseparators really add pressure drop. Putting the DC close to the machine helps a lot.

Phil Thien's baffle works well. Put one in your DC as Step One of the DC project.

Bigger duct flows lots more air than 4" duct. Consider 6" duct from the blower inlet to the machine. Changing the machine port to 6" will add another big boost to air flow. Knock off the dual 4" ports at the DC inlet and install 6" duct.

Garbage can preseparators only work for chips (jointer and planer) unless the air flow is really low. They make it easier to collect chips. They make it harder to collect dust at the table saw. If you insist on trying a garbage preseparator, get the biggest garbage can that you can! I tried a small plastic building as a preseparator and it didn't work (with 6" duct).

Good luck, have fun and let us know how it works out.

[Jim Becker]

Many folks have experienced issues using a pre-separator, unless it's a larger cyclone body, with the full 6" inlet capacity of these DCs...the reason being that the CFM jumps up significantly with the larger inlet and it provides more air flow than the typical trash can separator can handle. Hence, nothing gets separated and the can is always clean. 'Kinda a catch-22...

As much as I am a cyclone fan (and user) I'd suggest you go for more air flow and not worry about the pre-separator for now.

[glenn bradley]

I'll chime in; I loved my trash can separator and it still may get used once I switch my current DC to jointer/planer-only service. It just puts such a hit on the airflow on lower powered DC's that I have finally abandoned it till I get the cyclone installed.

It is really great at pre-separation and I would empty the trash can vs. the bag sometimes 12 to 1. The amount of fine dust I was still picking up in my respirator and ambient cleaner finally pushed me off of using it though. YMMV.

[Steve Rozmiarek]

Airflow is king. Without it, you will have subpar collection, so I'd focus on a good low resistance duct system. As the other guys mentioned, if the preseperator is causing less dust collection at the machine, it's defeating the purpose of a DC system.

[Jamie Moore]

Thanks guys, I really think those are the the solutions I wanted to hear! I wanted to get it set up as soon and as cheap as possible and a lot of these posts show some some very time consuming projects! Jim, I agree, I would really prefer a cyclone but I don't have the money and need the portability. I think I'll try 6" duct as far as I can go but I am worried as to how much I will have to empty the bag!

Are the 6" inlets (to the DC) pretty standard? I checked at Steel City and couldn't find one.

Jamie

[David Giles]

On the Jet, the dual 4" inlet plate is friction fit over a 6" metal stub. It pries off with some difficulty. I think the metal stub matches 6" metal pipe, but I could be wrong. One of your fundamental choices is metal duct vs S&D PVC pipe. They don't play well together, so once you choose, it's best to start at the DC inlet and stay consistent back to the machine. Duct tape is your friend to make loose joints fit!

[Jamie Moore]

What's the consensus 'round here on that? I hear you need 26 ga. metal, or S & D PVC. Are they both pretty readily available at BORG's? I thought the metal connections were backwards for the airflow??? And it seems that PVC does not HAVE to be grounded correct?

Jamie

[Steve Rozmiarek]

Jamie, I like steel for the pipe, only because it's easier to source for me, and I like the less weight. Others like the S&D, and both work fine. I like the heavier pipe I got from Oneida a lot better then the Home Depot stuff. A lot easier to work with, and better quality. Sorry, I don't remember the gauges.

[Phil Thien]

For people that want maximum CFM where it counts, I suggest adding a separator in front of the jointer/planter, and run the DC directly to the table saw and bandsaw.

Adding a baffle to the ring of your DC will keep a cart. filter on your DC cleaner, longer. So even when you're using your table saw and bandsaw (and bypassing the separator), your DC will send most of the debris to the lower bag rather than the filter.

Also, there are a number of guys out there that have built separators using my baffle that have a 6" side inlet and a 6" outlet on the top. While it won't separate as much as (for example) a big Oneida cyclone, it is a compromise that many people have been happy with.

[Jamie Moore]

Ok... so Phil you are saying people have added a baffle to the DC itself? This seems like a great idea. I fired it up last night and was shocked at the cyclone effect inside the plastic bag. And I couldn't believe the turbulence when I opened both 4" ports on the intake. I am leaning toward what Jim, Steve and others are saying about keeping the 6" as long as possible and keeping the airflow up. But with that kind of airflow it seems to me you have to do something to curtail the cyclone effect in the lower bag, it looks to me like anyhting smaller than a dime is going to get sucked up to the filter!

Phil, or anyone, do you have specs on a baffle (i.e. radii for the baffle diameters, etc.) for this application. I wonder if the increased airflow would affect the baffle spacing, etc. Or does anyone have ideas to curtail the effect of the cyclone inside the DC?

Jamie

[Phil Thien]

Jamie, if you search around a little you'll find instructions for adding the baffle to the ring of your DC. People have done this on 2HP single-stage DC's with lots of CFM, you shouldn't have any problem on yours either.

The width of the slot in the baffle can be increase slightly if you do lots of planing of soft woods (with stringy shavings). I wouldn't go much more than 1-3/8", though.