Leaking Cyclone Exhaust

[Gary Chester]

I have a one year old 2hp Grizzly cyclone (sneaky late gloat) that I think has a leak somewhere in the exhaust. My reason for thinking this is that I can run the cyclone after not being in the shop for a day and smell and taste dust in the air. This is with one unused port open and no tools running.


To find the suspected leak I plan to use a stick of burning incense or something similar to try to find air movement around connections, although I'm not sure how well it will work near the filter.

Any other thoughts or ideas are welcome...

[glenn bradley]

I would think a close inspection looking for escaping dust residue would do it. In my install, a bit of this would be done with a mirror on a stick ;-) You could rip a bunch of walnut, padouk or other dark wood. This might be more easily seen.

[John Coloccia]

Is the exhaust going into HEPA filters? My clearvue does that too sometimes. I called Wynn (the guys that make the filters) and they said that sometimes you get the oils coating the filters, and you can smell this when running it. It doesn't necessarily mean there's a problem with passing dust, though. In my case, it's a burnt mahogany smell that I get.

I eventually bought a Dylos meter after driving myself nuts looking for a leak. It confirmed that I don't have a leak. So I guess what I'm saying is that maybe you can find someone on this board that lives in the area and has a Dylos, and you could confirm if you're leaking somewhere before driving yourself crazy.

[John Spitters]

I have the 3hp grizzley cyclone and have noticed a few blowback points on mine where the flex hose attaches to the filter and the muffler. It's very miner though, I've used it a lot and only recently noticed this. An easy fix was to wrap metal duct tape at each joint from the fan to the filter.

John

[Matt Armstrong]

If you're using the filters that came with the cyclone, they are almost certainly in need of replacement. You mention the cyclone is old and I'd suspect you've cleaned them a couple of times by now, making them probably full of holes.

[Alan Schaffter]

As Matt said, cleaning is really hard on cartridge filters. The more you clean the more damage to the filtering efficiency.

Remember, however, most odor particles are down at the molecular level and small enough to easily go through most filters. Remember, too, taste is significantly affected by smell- sometimes your body will be confused.

[Mitchell Andrus]

A dark room and a strong flashlight will help you see the dust plume.
.

[Chip Lindley]

....not being in the shop for a day and smell and taste dust in the air.

I suspect you are just smellling the wood dust; not eating it. If your DC is truly leaking, There would obviously be a fine coat of wood dust coating all surfaces in your shop. You say nothing of dust *fallout* in the shop! Do you???