03-26-2017, 02:20 PM
Your video was very informative, and suggests to me that your ductwork is far too small. It looks like 4". That might be OK for the first couple of machines, but not for the long distance you have it run all the way around to your jointer. Very nice job installing it all, but I think it's far too small. And running up to the ceiling and then back down, as others have said, is another handicap. It would be much better to run it waist high or at floor level. Frankly, with as small as your DC is, it would be better to use it as a portable unit; put it on casters and wheel it from one machine to another with as short length of 4" hose to connect it to each machine. Not as pretty, but more effective.
I just went through my 2 HP DC to improve the airflow to my bandsaw. I had removed my cyclone to get more flow a few months ago, because it added about a 4" pressure drop to my system. That helped but it still wasn't enough; the filter bags were still a problem. I had 11" of pressure drop near the fan inlet w/o the bags, but only maybe 6" with them and by the time I got over to my BS it was down to less than 2". So after looking at all those commercial cyclone systems, I took my DC apart and installed the fan directly on top of the cyclone, with about an 8" inlet between the two. Then I by bypassed the filter bags, increased the exhaust hose from 5" to 6", and ran the hose out a window, as TDKPE described. The cyclone gets all the chips and almost all the visible dust. Those changes gave me 5" of pressure drop at my BS and that works well for good dust collection. Of course I have to open a window to provide make up air now, but it works really well, cost very little to do, and is the healthiest option of all.
Make yourself a simple water manometer from a piece of clear hose and measure the pressure drop throughout your system. Those values will tell you what actions to take, and you can use it to measure the effectiveness of those changes.
John
I just went through my 2 HP DC to improve the airflow to my bandsaw. I had removed my cyclone to get more flow a few months ago, because it added about a 4" pressure drop to my system. That helped but it still wasn't enough; the filter bags were still a problem. I had 11" of pressure drop near the fan inlet w/o the bags, but only maybe 6" with them and by the time I got over to my BS it was down to less than 2". So after looking at all those commercial cyclone systems, I took my DC apart and installed the fan directly on top of the cyclone, with about an 8" inlet between the two. Then I by bypassed the filter bags, increased the exhaust hose from 5" to 6", and ran the hose out a window, as TDKPE described. The cyclone gets all the chips and almost all the visible dust. Those changes gave me 5" of pressure drop at my BS and that works well for good dust collection. Of course I have to open a window to provide make up air now, but it works really well, cost very little to do, and is the healthiest option of all.
Make yourself a simple water manometer from a piece of clear hose and measure the pressure drop throughout your system. Those values will tell you what actions to take, and you can use it to measure the effectiveness of those changes.
John
