Thinking of upgrading my DC. Is it worth the it?

[Wayne G.]

Currently have a Delta 50-589  1.5 hp motor and fan only.  I've used 6 inch duct with this for years with 4 inch drops and its done well.  Recently I was thinking of upgrading to a 2 hp motor and fan on the same trunk lines.  It looks like its only 200 cfm more.  I'm looking at roughly $350 to get the Pennstate unit but I'm questioning if 200 cfm makes much difference at all.  I seem to have a fair amount of the finer dust lingering around my running tools and my Grizzly planer and jointer always have a pile of chips that don't get extracted and these units are within 6 feet of the fan.  Input appreciated.   

Thanks,

Wayne

[teetomterrific]

Currently have a Delta 50-589  1.5 hp motor and fan only.  I've used 6 inch duct with this for years with 4 inch drops and its done well.  Recently I was thinking of upgrading to a 2 hp motor and fan on the same trunk lines.  It looks like its only 200 cfm more.  I'm looking at roughly $350 to get the Pennstate unit but I'm questioning if 200 cfm makes much difference at all.  I seem to have a fair amount of the finer dust lingering around my running tools and my Grizzly planer and jointer always have a pile of chips that don't get extracted and these units are within 6 feet of the fan.  Input appreciated.   

Thanks,

Wayne

You're going to have to up-size more than to a 2HP motor to see much of a difference in performance. Going to both a lager motor and larger impeller with a long cone cyclone body is the direction you should consider. It does take more $$$ but way worth it especially if you run piping to every machine with blastgates.  

I finally pulled the trigger after saving up and replaced my 2HP Grizzly G0548 with a 5HP cyclone G0442. It is astounding how much better my dust collection is now that I've finished installing the new DC with new Spiral pipe and fittings throughout the shop.

[Wayne G.]

You're going to have to up-size more than to a 2HP motor to see much of a difference in performance. Going to both a lager motor and larger impeller with a long cone cyclone body is the direction you should consider. It does take more $$$ but way worth it especially if you run piping to every machine with blastgates.  

I finally pulled the trigger after saving up and replaced my 2HP Grizzly G0548 with a 5HP cyclone G0442. It is astounding how much better my dust collection is now that I've finished installing the new DC with new Spiral pipe and fittings throughout the shop.

I wonder if they sell just the fan and motor assembly.  I'll need to look that up later.

[teetomterrific]

I wonder if they sell just the fan and motor assembly.  I'll need to look that up later.

I suppose you could buy the motor and impeller housing with impeller as replacement parts but it is designed for the cone and weighs around 200 lbs.The entire G0442 weighs over 600 lbs. I'd be scared to try to Frankenstein a DC with that impeller and housing.

[®smpr_fi_mac®]

What's your filtration medium? That's going to affect the fine dust more than more power will.

[Wayne G.]

What's your filtration medium?  That's going to affect the fine dust more than more power will.

As mentioned above, I only use the motor and fan.  I have a can collector on my jointer and planer but everything from there exits straight outside.

[fredhargis]

Well, it seems like you would be moving to a 12" impeller from an 11" (?), I suspect it would result in a little more air flow. Whether it's enough to make that switch worthwhile is questionable. The reason you have the fine dust is due to inadequate air flow (and a few other things), but the new unit may not be enough of an increase to mitigate it. I think the larger unit would get the chips from the planer/jointer, though. But remember, even a world class DC setup doesn't get it all...there is dust produced by hand held tools that the DC doesn't catch. If the fine dust is a nuisance you don't want to clean up, get an ambient air cleaner. If you're worried about your health, I'd consider a much more robust blower.

[TDKPE]

Currently have a Delta 50-589  1.5 hp motor and fan only.  I've used 6 inch duct with this for years with 4 inch drops and its done well.  Recently I was thinking of upgrading to a 2 hp motor and fan on the same trunk lines.  It looks like its only 200 cfm more.  I'm looking at roughly $350 to get the Pennstate unit but I'm questioning if 200 cfm makes much difference at all. 

Those are based on marketing air flow values, which are typically about twice what you could expect in service, though with no filters, you're probably getting more than half the published value.  Depends on what it's connected to, of course.

Have you even put an ammeter on the line to see how close to rated power that motor is working?  Most small DC's, with bags/filters, don't get very close to the motor's rated current when connected with a 4" flex to a tool or machine.  This is where the fan curve makes a difference, as one with a higher max static pressure will pull more air through the same piping network than one with a lower value.  Usually.  Helps to see the fan curves for both, which are usually not available to the public for these small commodity type DC's.

But I agree with the others - if you're going to upsize, start at 3 hp and go up from there if you can.  Restricting the air flow won't hurt the motor, as it actually unloads the motor, like a vacuum cleaner (universal motor) that speeds up when you block the air.  So going big has no downside in that respect.


Four inch hose, especially corrugated, will present a lot of flow resistance, by the way, so you can increase air flow by going up in size if you can and/or going to smooth hose.