How concerned should I be about Clearvue impeller coming loose?

[mreza Salav]

I have the chance to pick up a used (but in good shape) Clearvue cyclone.
My major concern with these units is that the impeller wings are held with two spot welds AND the impeller housing provides little protection if something ever happens to it and one of those wings come flying at 1000's of RPM :eek:
Or if the impeller comes loose entirely from the shaft.

How good are those welds and how can one provide a little better protection for the impeller housing, just in case something catastrophic happens?

[Robert Reece]

If the impeller came loose from the shaft,the impeller would be unable to leave the housing. It would fall down an inch or something and stop. However, keep in mind it is held on with a taper lock which is pretty secure.

As for an impeller wing coming off that is certainly possible, however I'd think you have a better chance of dying in a car accident. Welds are amazingly strong. The spot welds on mine are rather substantial, more like a 1/2" or more long. An engineer that designed part of the structure of my house told me a proper weld can hold something crazy like 4000 lbs per inch (I'm sure I'll get corrected on this).

Are other impellers made with a full weld? The clearvue impeller seemed to be a high quality construction.

[John Coloccia]

Re: spot welds

That is nonsense perpetrated by Oneida's web site. They show you one side with spot welds on it. If you look on the OTHER side you will find full length welds. If you'd like, I'll take pictures of mine to show you.

[mreza Salav]

Re: spot welds

That is nonsense perpetrated by Oneida's web site. They show you one side with spot welds on it. If you look on the OTHER side you will find full length welds. If you'd like, I'll take pictures of mine to show you.

So there is weld along the whole length of each wing? Or you mean something else?
That's great to hear (even the picture on ClearVue website doesn't show it).
A photo would help a lot.

Thanks!

[Alan Bienlein]

Yes there is a full weld on one side of the blade on the impeller. I have a 16" impeller from clearvue and they are very well made. Onieda uses the photo on there website to mislead you by not showing the complete impeller.

[John Coloccia]

So there is weld along the whole length of each wing? Or you mean something else?
That's great to hear (even the picture on ClearVue website doesn't show it).
A photo would help a lot.

Thanks!

Go back to the Oneida website and look at the zoomed out view. If you look at the blade in the lower left corner, you can see the back of the blade and you can clearly see a full length weld. This is exactly how I would do a weld on, say, an airplane. You tack one side and you do a full weld on the other side. No reason to do both sides if you get proper penetration. I believe the Oneida blades are molded, which is perfectly OK as well and leaves a smoother surface, but the Clearvue blades are perfectly fine too. I would have 100% confidence in both impellers and that shouldn't factor into your decision.

I will say that I'm completely satisfied with my Clearvue install, have little experience with the Oneida install, but I've heard very little but positive comments about both.

[Dan Friedrichs]

Re: spot welds

That is nonsense perpetrated by Oneida's web site. They show you one side with spot welds on it. If you look on the OTHER side you will find full length welds. If you'd like, I'll take pictures of mine to show you.


One more thing that leaves a bad taste in my mouth about Oneida...

[Paul Wunder]

Have you looked at the welds on the impeller? The blower wrapping is made of clear PETG and therefore you should be able to see the full length welds for yourself.

I have never heard of a single failure of any ClearVue impeller (or any other major brand). Keep in mind that ClearVue bought their impellers from an established manufacturer and then re-inspected them before shipment to their customers. Since you are buying a used unit, if you truly want "peace of mind" I would suggest doing the following:

Re-mount the impeller on the motor shaft paying careful attention to the tightening specs per the ClearVue and/or the manufacturers web-site

Bring the impeller to a welding shop if you are unable to judge for your self re the "quality of the weld"

Finally, before I bought my ClearVue I also considered other brands such as Oneida. I did not like the way they disparaged other competitor's products, whether it was Grizzly or ClearVue, especially when I could judge for myself that Oneida was misleading in their comparisons.

[Paul Wunder]

Go to page 10 of the installation instructions on the ClearVue website. As they discuss how to install the taperlock you can see a good picture of the impeller's welding pattern: tacks on one side and full length welds on the other side. Just as it should be.

[mreza Salav]

Thank you! yes, I can see the full weld.

The unit is not nearby and I have to drive 4 hours to see it.

[Chip Lindley]

DC impellers self-destructing are about the same as dust explosions in home shops. Practically unheard of! 90% of things we worry about never happen! Why worry? Be happy!

[Cameron Reddy]

One more thing that leaves a bad taste in my mouth about Oneida...

Agree. Totally. Very disturbing.

Cameron Reddy

[mreza Salav]

That clearvue was posted yesterday. Called him and talked to the guy and kind of agreed on the price and that we can meet on the weekend. Called last night to set up time and location when he told me someone else is coming to take it :mad::mad:

[Callan Campbell]

That clearvue was posted yesterday. Called him and talked to the guy and kind of agreed on the price and that we can meet on the weekend. Called last night to set up time and location when he told me someone else is coming to take it :mad::mad:
It sounds like someone with cash showed up, and the owner of the cyclone you wanted, went with the cash and forgot their promise to you. I've seen this for years, sorry it happened to you.:(

[Paul Wunder]

Mreza,

It may be a long shot, but a call to Ed Morgano at ClearVue might be fruitful. Although he is retiring and has stopped actively selling, he did state that that he will reviewing inventory. Perhaps he can get you a cyclone body and blower cage. You could then obtain a motor and impeller from his suppliers directly. You may or may not want to do all this, but it will give you the ability to wind up with a ClearVue.

I am sorry that the other one got away.

Paul

[Van Huskey]

That clearvue was posted yesterday. Called him and talked to the guy and kind of agreed on the price and that we can meet on the weekend. Called last night to set up time and location when he told me someone else is coming to take it :mad::mad:

Sorry, that sucks. CL is the wild wild west in some ways and frankly I can hardly blame a guy who takes cash in hand.