Dust collector ducting question

[ed kerns]

For anyone who's been following along, you may know that I've been installing a used (new to me) Super Dust Gorilla w/ a 3HP motor. I'm getting down to the nitty gritty, the machine is in and most of the duct has been run. I had Oneida do a duct drawing for me, and so far things have worked out ok. I'm now to the point where I'm actually hooking machines to the runs and now I have a couple of questions.
Question one; I have a 5" duct run to my jointer (a 6" Powermatic) the port on the machine is only 4". Do I reduce the duct to 4", or increase the hole in the port to 5"? Oneida's drawing shows a 4" wye to the jointer, but for some reason what I have is a 5" wye. I realize all manner of calculations could go in to this decision, however enough material spews out of this jointer that to me common sense says 5" is better than 4".
My second and scarier question, is what should I look at before actually turning the unit on for the first time? I did quickly click the motor on and off once just to make sure it worked and my power supply was good. Other than that it was purchased as a literal basket case. All advice appreciated!

[Cian]

This always seems to bring up opposing opinions, but I will share my actual experience. I have 6" mains and reducers to 4" at all the machines, including my 8" jointer. The farthest tool is a 15" helical head planer that is over 30' downstream, and even after a few ducting turns it still gets every bit of it. I have a basement shop with a 2hp Oneida Super Gorilla and it provides a dust free experience. I take safety and specifically air quality very seriously given its a confined space.

[Big Dave]

This ^^^^^^

[ed kerns]

Thanks guys. My main trunk line is 8". It steps down to seven about half way and pretty much all the drops are 5"- this as designed by Oneida. My lathe is about 35' away, but its a pretty straight shot (diagonally). I have 9 drops in total, but should only have one gate open at a time.
From the sounds of things I may be over worrying this. I have no experience with a bigger DC. My only comparison is my Jet 1100. Still nervous about kicking it on for the first time.

[Cian]

ed kerns said:

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I have 9 drops in total, but should only have one gate open at a time.

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This is key.



The only time I'll have two gates open simultaneously is my over/under setup for my tablesaw.



I even have 22" drum sander connected prior to the planer but downstream of the tablesaw - lets say at about the 25' mark - and using it is a non-dust-event as well.

In fact, the DC is so effective, that I can easily tell when I dont have a gate open or forget to turn it on in the first place.

[Big Dave]

ed kerns said:

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Still nervous about kicking it on for the first time.

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If your power supply is properly sized and installed, turning it on shouldn't be an issue. And unless you've done something to the motor controller that came with the unit, that shouldn't be a worry either...

An observation I made the first time I started my 2hp unit was that the fiber barrel actually lifted off the floor about an inch. Nothing wrong with that as it showed that my ducting was reasonably tight/sealed, and I knew it would settle back to the floor after it filled up a bit with chips.

So, open a gate and start that sucker up!

Dave

[Cian]

Big Dave said:

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An observation I made the first time I started my 2hp unit was that the fiber barrel actually lifted off the floor about an inch.

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That phenomena always makes me smile.

[sroxberg]

Cian, How do you keep the plastic bag from getting sucked up when it is empty.

[Cian]

sroxberg said:

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How do you keep the plastic bag from getting sucked up when it is empty.

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Since I had a basement shop, I knew lugging a full 35 gallon drum full of sawdust up the stairs would be challenging if not eventually disastrous, so I opted from the get-go to utilize bags. In order to keep the bags in place, Oneida at one time offered a small vacuum pressure unit for the drum. It's tied into the remote 220 switch and provides adequate (negative) pressure to hold the empty bag in place. Works perfectly.

[Cian]

When your Paladin character achieves the 10th level, you can then opt to equip a drum level sensor/alarm.



After defeating a dragon or two, then you enter the realm of Magnehelics.



Sorry. Must've had a crazy dream.