Making my Dust Collector "Suck"


guyswoodshop

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Hey all,

 

  I have lurked on these forums for a while, and waited to post this until I thought I may be able to add something to the community, and I hope some of you can benefit from it.

 

  I have long suspected that my DC doesn't get close to the CFM that is needed to draw the chips and dust efficiently. So I bout a cheap anemometer and ran some tests with it. Now I will say that this test is far from scientific or 100% accurate, however the anemometer at least let me establish a baseline for the rest of the testing and of course the upgrades and rebuild that I did to it.

 

  The unit starts out as a 15 yr old Powermatic model 93 with a stated CFM of 900. I then add a Super Dust Deputy and a Wynn Environmental HEPA filter to it, and generate some number for that configuration. A video of those tests can be found here:

 

 

 

  After that, I do a complete rebuild of the system and make it resemble a commercially manufactured cyclone unit. Then a 5" hose is added to connect to the machines. All I can say is that the results are impressive! The rebuilt unit and the results can be viewed here:

 

 

  My reasons for this post are really to help anyone looking to improve their dust collection system without breaking the bank or buying new equipment. I welcome your comments, and would be more than happy to answer any question that anyone has.

 

Guy

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First post Guy...Welcome!  Lurk no more. The results you achieved with the re-engineering are impressive.  The filter made a huge difference; but then , two things that also made a big difference was moving the dust Deputy to be in semi-direct contact with the DC and switching to the 5" hose.  Question....wonder how it would have functioned if you had left the DC configured as it was with the filter on top and then moved the DD closer and switched to the 5" hose? The drawback would be the height.  The filter would be in the rafters.

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Guy, Welcome. Thank you for sharing your ideas and test results. I just purchased a Harbor Freight DC system and have researched different re-configurations online. Most also use the Wynn filter. You setup is very impressive. Thanks again.

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First post Guy...Welcome!  Lurk no more. The results you achieved with the re-engineering are impressive.  The filter made a huge difference; but then , two things that also made a big difference was moving the dust Deputy to be in semi-direct contact with the DC and switching to the 5" hose.  Question....wonder how it would have functioned if you had left the DC configured as it was with the filter on top and then moved the DD closer and switched to the 5" hose? The drawback would be the height.  The filter would be in the rafters.

 

Thanks Tim. Before I even started all this I knew the biggest issue with the system was the DD being connected with a 4" hose, and then the 4" hose to the machine. The HEPA filter I knew would help some, but it offered a better improvement then I originally thought. And Yes, the filter on top would have been way too darn tall! But I think the resulting increase in CFM would have been the same. Another benefit to this particular design was a decrease in the footprint. Space in a garage workshop is always a premium. Thanks again for the comments!

 

Guy

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Guy, Welcome. Thank you for sharing your ideas and test results. I just purchased a Harbor Freight DC system and have researched different re-configurations online. Most also use the Wynn filter. You setup is very impressive. Thanks again.

 

Glad to be a member of the community K! I wish you as much luck with your design as I had with mine. Please post your results!

 

Guy

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