Mods to my AP400 dust collector

[smorris]

This has always had a roar to it, more so than I thought it should and the suction wasn't what I thought it should be given its 1hp rating. Last night I couldn't sleep and ended up reading about neutral vanes, turbulence and such and decided that today I would look into that.

When I opened it is it obvious what part of the problem is, that big cavity has to generate a lot of noise and turbulence in the airflow. The second picture shows after I added about $3.00 of cutup ducting to make a neutral vane and close the cavity off. Probably not optimum but the end result speaks for itself. It is much quieter and the suction seems MUCH improved. Next up is adding a Thien separator once I figure out how to do it.

[LCHIEN]

looks like a nice job.

[toolguy1000]

smorris...i have the same DC and have wondered how to do what you've already done and are planning to do. any additional pics you could post of how the current modification was fabricated would be appreciated. thanks.

[smorris]

Toolguy,

I don't have any more pictures of the current mod but can describe it in hopefully lucid terms.

I got a 4" piece of ducting from lowes, about 2 feet long. Flattened it out and 6" back from the end I cut material away to leave the center 4" (I think, best to measure) for the entire length. Snap the ends together for the round end and slip it into place forcing the duct over the air channel cutout from the impeller and press the tail into place. 2 screws to hold the neutral vane in place and 2 at the end of the tail piece to hold it down tight. Does that make sense?