Please post pics of DC setup!

[justicefan23]

I have learned a great deal by browsing around this forum. My latest inquiry is on dust collection systems. To bounce off of a related thread that is current, could you please post any pics that you may have of your DC system? I have the HF model, and would especially like to see your connections from the inlet to the ducting. I'd like to keep the collector as snug to the wall as possible without comprimising its performace.

Also, for those that use a separator, do you just use flex for these connections. I know the idea is to keep as much of the system hard pipe as possible. Thanks for looking!

[LarryG]

If you've been browsing you may have already found them, but if not you can see pics of my setup here.

Included are some close-up shots of how I connected the main trunk to the impeller inlet of my own HF 2HP DC.

[Popeye]

Some WW equipment has changed but this is still the basic setup. http://bt3gallery.fhauto.com/view_al...umName=album15 Click the pics to enlarge them. Pat

[justicefan23]

Thanks for the visual aids!

I appreciate you posting the photo links. Pat, are you satisfied using the flex duct to connect the DC to your PVC at the top?

Both of you did a great service by snapping these assembly pics. That's what I needed.

Mike

[ksum]

For the only picture I currently have, see my reply to http://www.bt3central.com/showpost.p...9&postcount=42 It does not show the connection between the piping and the DC unit. I used 6" PVC for the piping, and have a Bridgewood 2hp DC. That has a 5" intake that I connected to the 6" PVC with 2 5" flexible metal HVAC bends and a 6"x5" metal HVAC reducer. I had heated the 6" PVC to soften it, then shoved the reducer in and got a good seal. The DC is actually closer to teh wall than shown in the sketch. Probably about 12" from the wall at the most. This works because my piping is on the floor at teh wall and the 5" flex connections allowed me to make a gentle bend down and over.

[Popeye]

Pat, are you satisfied using the flex duct to connect the DC to your PVC at the top?
Mike

The flex hasn't caused me any problems. Without it I'd have a hard time getting the lid off the seperator drum the way the baffle sits down inside. Let me know if you need any more detail pics. Pat

[Hoakie]

Here is my first attempt at setting up the DC plumbing etc. I used white 4" S&D pipe and used the green 4" S&D pipe for the friction fits as needed.

The longest run right now is to the RAS. I have included close ups of the setup there. The piece is the floor sweep fitting from the Woodsmith Store in Des Moines (a Rockler affiliate). After making a few cuts I think i will build a box around it to help channel more of the chips onto the vac. It probably gets 90% of the chips but I know it can do better. The rest is pretty much a guess until I get more equipment in place. I plan on having some combination of my DP, sanding station, BS and router table on the wall where there are three blast gates.

After setting up and running for a while I have a couple of questions. First, is it ok to let the DC run for extended periods without and gates open? Second, do others get dust escaping from the plastic bags? I get a little bit at various points. I've tried several different things but it just doesn't seem to keep 100% seal. It is not much but I think I may need to run some tape around the outside to keep this from happening.

[Thom2]

Some of mine are here, and some here

[LarryG]

EDIT: Even though Thom has QTF'd me below, I've edited out the erroneous part of what I originally wrote. According to Oneida Air Systems, and forum members like Loring (LCHIEN), running a DC with all the blast gates closed will not harm the motor. But I will leave the following, since it addresses the issue of getting enough air flow so the impeller will not be "air starved," meaning the system is not moving enough air to have efficient dust collection:

With my system (essentially identical to yours), the debris in the bottom bag barely stirs at all when all the gates are closed; it picks up a little with one 2-1/2" gate open; with either two 2-1/2" gates or one 4" gate open, it swirls like it presumably should.

I do get some dust leakage around the top of the plastic bag. The solution is the usual one: duct tape.

[Thom2]

John, I wouldn't let the DC run without at least one gate open -- I think that would put a strain on the motor that couldn't be good for its long-term health.

I'm curious to see more comments on this.

My thinking says that if all the blast gates are closed, then you're starving the impeller of air, if there's no air for the impeller to move, then the motor's not doing any work. This thinking comes from the understanding that either running too large a pipe or "free-airin" the impeller will actually burn up a motor. The extra air puts more load on the impeller and take the motor to amperages it isn't designed for.

Is my thinking off base here??

[LarryG]

EDIT: As noted up the page, I'm wrong about what I wrote here.

My thinking says that if all the blast gates are closed, then you're starving the impeller of air, if there's no air for the impeller to move, then the motor's not doing any work.

I don't know whether your thinking is off-base or not. Mine says that even though the impeller isn't moving any air, it's still trying to move air.

You know the sound a shop vac motor makes when you put your hand over the end of the hose? To me that sounds like when the motor is working hardest. It would be the same for a DC. So maybe the two most dangerous circumstances for the motor are when it's moving no air at all, or moving too much?

I'd like to see more comments, too.

[Thom2]

You know the sound a shop vac motor makes when you put your hand over the end of the hose? To me that sounds like when the motor is working hardest. It would be the same for a DC.

I think this is a bad comparison ..... let's take this to another thread

[norrodb]

Here is a shot of my seperator tucked in my storage area. The flex has not caused any issues as I can tell.