What I did today - Thien seperator lid

[jkristia]

Today I finally got around to build the Thien separator lid
http://www.cgallery.com/jpthien/cy.htm

I tried it as soon as I was done with the in/out take ports and I was amazed at how well it worked, so I didn't even bother adding the baffler, instead I build this R2D2 'creature' (That’s what my wife called it when she saw it ), and that will do for now.

After using it for a couple of hours today it had collected a couple of inches of saw dust in the trash can and the vacuum is still completely empty, except for some very fine dust in the filter itself, I'm not sure if the baffler would actually help or that or not.

Jesper

[dbhost]

The baffle won't help at this point, get more than about 1/4 full and you should start experience scrubbing, where the stuff that settles in the bottom gets churned up again and gets sucked into the vac. Add the baffle, it is well worth it...

[pelligrini]

Cool, I'm going to have to try a seperator again.

My first attempt lasted less than a minute. http://www.bt3central.com/showthread.php?t=43345 I'm glad I didn't sepend a bunch of time on thien attachment for it. I'll be sure to drill a relief hole too.

[jkristia]

>>My first attempt lasted less than a minute

ha ha ha, yes while I vacuumed the floor the hose did suck on to the floor for just a second and the trach can did make some crushing sounds, and that is with just the small shop vac, I can imagine how your larger shop vac could really crush it in no time.

Maybe when I add the baffler I should at the same time add some cross braces.

Jesper

[pelligrini]

I'll probably drill a 1" hole in the lid and put a little rotating cover to adjust the amount of flow for it. I just hope I don't turn it into an oversized tea kettle whistle.

I thought some sort of bracing inside but they would probably just create problems with airflow and emptying. I also considered an exterior reinforcement, but emptying would be a pain again.

[dbhost]

Yeah, the common galvanized trash cans do tend to implode if you have a strong vac, and no inlet air...

But then again, automobile sheet metal tends to get all bent up when you drive your car into a wall too...

Try to keep at least SOME air flow going in the line, or shut off the vac before the can crushes...

If you keep killing trash cans, I would suggest getting a ridgid barrel like a 55 gallon steel, or plastic barrel.

[pelligrini]

or shut off the vac before the can crushes...

Hehe, That's about the same as saying just turn off the ignition before you hit the wall. It's not that easy (BTDT At least it was a short wall.)

I've got a really strong vac, and it took just seconds to crush it.

[tfischer]

Has anyone had success with doing this with 4" size lines? I just have a small portable DC (the little ones with the side bag, similar to what Rockler's been promoting lately) but it gets decent airflow if you use 4" lines... Also doesn't have that much suction so I woud't have to worry about crushing cans. Plus it's much quieter

[pelligrini]

Sure, most of the commercial trash can seperator lids are primarily designed for 4" connections. The Thien baffle should work well, I believe that is what it was really designed for.

[dbhost]

Phil's baffle design scales well. I have a 4", but am not using it. I opted to put the baffle inside my inlet ring to save space. That can is being used for cutoffs now...

Mind you, there are some galvanized cans that aren't much thicker than a food can, and they crush REALLY easily. (I think the 30 gallon models from Lowes are some of them...). I have a 20 gallon from a different MFG that is a lot thicker that I got from my local Ace Hardware store...

The static lift of a DC I seriously doubt would crush even a thin galvanized can. I have seen reports of DC setups using braced Rubbermaid trash cans... I am pretty sure just about any galvanized can would work better...

[BobSch]

How would a cardboard barrel, one with steel rims top and bottom, work? I've got a 30-gallon one sitting in our computer room that I've got my eye on.

[LCHIEN]

...
The static lift of a DC I seriously doubt would crush even a thin galvanized can. I have seen reports of DC setups using braced Rubbermaid trash cans... I am pretty sure just about any galvanized can would work better...

A can 20" in dia. and 36" high has a surface area of around 2900 sq inches.
7" static lift of a DC is a small fraction of a vacuum but over 2900 sq inches will exert around 51 pounds to squash that can.

The walls might hold up but the ends would cave in. If they did not, a small bump or dent would probably cause the side to buckle, then cave in.

[rjwaldren]

I built a 4" one onto one of the tall round office type cans. The diameter of the can was a bit tight for the fittings and required a bit of shaving on the inlet. It works great with the green HF portable DC. The can is heavy gauge so I've never had any concerns with it crushing.

I put a dryer vent in the garage wall and vent straight outside - There are no noticeable fines but if I give the shrub that it blows torward a whack with a rake it puts up a nice cloud - So I just make sure to hit that area with the blower when I'm doing the yard work. The combination of the HF DC, Thien Sep and a box fan with a pleated filter strapped to it have worked wonders.

If I was to build a standard sized separator I would go with the 30gal from ACE, it's fairly heavy gauge, the sides are smooth for the top half and only about $20 around here.

[tfischer]

The combination of the HF DC, Thien Sep and a box fan with a pleated filter strapped to it have worked wonders.

I use such a box fan myself, hung from the ceiling (airflow points directly at the ceiling, with filter on the back sucking up air from the room). I'm amazed how efficient it really is. I just cleaned the filter again the other day (compressed air) and was quite full. I use a good quality pleated 3M filter.

-Tim

[chopnhack]

gotta love LChien with the instant calculations....god, how do you do that? Is that the engineering education that allows you to do that? if not teach me, lol. Sorry, side tracked, O.P. very nice setup and I love the vertical use of space, keeping the footprint small on your thien separator. Good job!