HF DC reborn!

[final_t]

I give you... the Cat Sucker 9000!






The whole thing towers 8 feet tall, and is shimmed level but also chained to the wall "just in case". Total build time about 8 hours, including the trips to HD for the 2-bys. The cyclone is one I picked up on eBay for $200 shipped - it does a good job from what I've been messing with. Enough suction to make an air-tight sear with the trashcan lid to its body, so I didn't have to do any gasketing there.

It works out really well, and now I need to upgrade from the HF doughnut ring to a cartridge filter, but not sure what I can use in this setup - Pen State and Onedia-Air have stuff on sale, so I'm looking into that.

Also planning on enclosing the blower and cyclone parts with sound deadening.

[Ed62]

I give you... the Cat Sucker 9000!

Thanks very much. Will you deliver it, or do I have to pick it up?

That looks really good. Kind of what I'd expect from Rod.

Ed

[Jaden]

Ya, that aughta keep yer shop a cat free zone, but there's gonna be a heck'uva rackit in that trash can tho'

Nice work

Steve

[sparkeyjames]

I love the name.

[cgallery]

Outstanding!

[hermit]

Nice job! Do you notice any decrease in performance from the standard configuration? I know the cyclone is more effecient, but I think you lose some sucking power going that way. Just wondering, since I've heard so much about the HF, I was wondering if the blower would be better or worse than my Leemade homegrown blower on my cyclone.

Todd

[final_t]

Nice job! Do you notice any decrease in performance from the standard configuration? I know the cyclone is more effecient, but I think you lose some sucking power going that way. Just wondering, since I've heard so much about the HF, I was wondering if the blower would be better or worse than my Leemade homegrown blower on my cyclone.

Todd

I previously had a lid seperator on a trashcan, and I noticed that it had a lot of loss there, so this is actually an upgrade in terms of power for me. I've never ran the DC "stock" past the first day since I didn't want hard stuff whacking the blades.

It will suck loose chunks of wood that don't get stuck in the hose with no problem and rattle around pretty good.

I have no idea how to properly measure "power" for this, but it held up a 14" square 3/8" thick chunk of maple on the open 4" port. Maybe some smart cookie can figure out how to measure so we can compare?

[thestinker]

Where exactly did you get your cyclone from an ebay...does he have a store and make different sizes?

[SHADOWFOX]

Nicely done and great name!

[Ken Massingale]

Cat Sucker huh? Hey, can I borrow that for just a little while??? ;-D

[LinuxRandal]

As someone with a 6' ceiling limit, what size trash can did you use?

Can you post pics a little further back? (I saw the bag next to it) Was the bag empty before you did this, or had you not emptied it yet?

Thanks

[final_t]

eBay dude selling these things: eastcaroga, out of New York. Doesn't seem to respond to email, so I had to ask previous buyers of them for more info. YMMV. The construction was clean and good, packaging was decent, came with no damage. But it's totally bare-bones cyclone.

Trashcan size: it's a 32 gallon, about 26" tall; the 22 gallon is 24".

Unit size: the lower body is 20", the top is about 15". Upper and lower ports are 6", and the intake port can be ordered as either 4" or 6", no cost difference.

Blower/motor: combined is about 17", but you also need head clearance for the cooling fan to blow air around. This is where an open ceiling works in my favor; with a closed 8" typical garage, I'd probably be in trouble.

Add all that up plus the connecting bits and the clearance for the connecting hose from the can to the bottom of the unit, I doubt you'll get it into a 6" ceiling with the stacked design - you'll either have to make your own squatty "can" that's 12" tall, or else mount the blower to the side of the cyclone (see link at end of post). I opted for this design because it cleared out a bunch of room on the floor with the DC unit and the trashcan sprawling around.

I figure I've got a total of about $425 into this whole thing - $150 for the HF DC years ago, $200 for the cyclone, $20 for the trashcan, $40 for the bags from TWC (now gone, sob), and misc wood & screws. If I had to do-over I probably would have gone for the straight PennState or Onedia units, but that'd be $600-$900 in one lump, not a over-the-years, upgrade-as-needed thing.

"Inline" left-to-right retrofit for a Jet DC
http://i15.ebayimg.com/05/i/000/7c/06/d55f_1.JPG

[final_t]

Can you post pics a little further back? (I saw the bag next to it) Was the bag empty before you did this, or had you not emptied it yet?
Thanks

You mean the filter bag? I dismounted the dougnut from the base and lagged into a standoff brace on the wall - not bestest job, but will do until I figure better accessable design that makes it easier to change bags. There was a little left it in from before, so I just left it as-is to avoid more dusty gunk in my face.

[cgallery]

I have no idea how to properly measure "power" for this, but it held up a 14" square 3/8" thick chunk of maple on the open 4" port. Maybe some smart cookie can figure out how to measure so we can compare?

I think the generally accepted test in the biz is Cheerios.

[Knottscott]

Cat Sucker huh? Hey, can I borrow that for just a little while??? ;-D

How many kitties per minute (KPM) is it rated for?