Power requirements for the HF 2HP Dust Collector(#97869)?

[Jim Laumann]

I've seen many good remarks here on SMC regarding this machine, strongly considering the purchase.

I've been looking at the manual on the HF site, and some thing isn't adding up - that - or I am missing something....

The manual states:



120 Volts, 60 Hz, 2HP, Single Phase, 20 AMPS Peak




This suggests that a 20A circut has the potential of being pushed to it's limits, and that a 30A circut is really required (or convert the unit to 220v). Yet elsewhere in the manual, it talks about using a minimum of a 16ga extenstion cord.

So can someone tell me how the unit comes wired, give me the specs off the motor plate, etc?

Many thanks

Jim

[Cyrus Brewster 7]

First, this unit cannot be wired for 240V. I have the same unit and wired it to a dedicated 20A breaker with 12 ga wire. No problems at all.

Hope this helps.

[Matthew Sherman]

I agree... same unit I have and I also have a dedicated 20amp circuit. Never had it pop the breaker. I did have my kill-a-watt unit hooked up to measure kwh and it is rated for 15 amps. That will make the unit beep quick at startup.

[shane lyall]

I have mine on a dedicated line at 20A with 12-2 Romex and never had a problem. I think HF is a little off on the 2HP thing but it works well for me whatever it is. 15A/14-2 would be pushing it as it pulls hard on start up with a gate open. YMMV

[Thom Porterfield]

How many of you fellas with the HF unit in question, have it hooked up to a fixed-duct system? And if so, duct size, maximum lengths, etc?

[Matthew Sherman]

How many of you fellas with the HF unit in question, have it hooked up to a fixed-duct system? And if so, duct size, maximum lengths, etc?

I have mine running through 4" pipe with a Thien separator. My maximum lengths are probably 25-30'. I probably could use more CFM, but it is what I went with because I have a small area in my garage. Paired with a Thien is dust very good.

[Cyrus Brewster 7]

I have mine running through 4" pipe with a Thien separator. My maximum lengths are probably 25-30'. I probably could use more CFM, but it is what I went with because I have a small area in my garage. Paired with a Thien is dust very good.

Thom,

I have nearly the same setup as Matthew. My longest run, however is about 20'. And I will repeat - Thein baffle (w/ Wynn filter added) that works great and could also use more cfm. I may actually build a pre-seperator.

I will probably upgrade to a cyclone in the (distant) future - $ - but am plenty happy for now. You cannot beat the set up for ~ $300 (including filter).

[Thom Porterfield]

Cyrus and Matthew, are the lengths of your ductwork measured, or adjusted SP losses due to elbows and hoses?

[John Gustafson]

Jim,
if you are going to spring for the 2 hp unit, consider sooner than later. Check the latest issue of Wood Magazine. There is a coupon there for $149 which is about as low as I've seen that unit.

[Bruno Frontera dela Cruz]

With a Wynn filter and 5" duct and a Thein baffle, mine will pull around 12 - 13 amps when the filter is clean...put it on a 20a circuit and you will be all set.

[Matthew Sherman]

Cyrus and Matthew, are the lengths of your ductwork measured, or adjusted SP losses due to elbows and hoses?

I didn't really get that technical when designing mine. I just laid out the lines using the places they could potentially go and then trying to make the shortest runs. I attached some pictures.

221321221322221323

[Cyrus Brewster 7]

Cyrus and Matthew, are the lengths of your ductwork measured, or adjusted SP losses due to elbows and hoses?

Thom,

My length is measured.

[Ole Anderson]

If those "2 HP" HF units work well on a 120 volt 20 amp circuit, well, then they aren't 2 hp dust collectors IMHO. Maybe 1.5 hp might be a better approximation of their power. But then I have a "3.5 HP" shop vac that only draws 10 amps on 120 volts.

[Thom Porterfield]

Yeah, Ole. I'm figuring the HF unit to produce real-life power in the 1 1/2-HP range. There is no motor plate--apparently the Chinese don't want anyone really knowing what that motor is--but there is a decal on the filter ring that claims it draws 14 amps.

Cyrus and Matthew, thanks for the info. Matt, if you're happy with the performance you get through all that spaghetti, I think I'll stop worrying about static pressure losses and FPMs and avoiding fittings and just install the thing so I can . . . GET BACK TO MAKING SAWDUST!

Thanks, guys. :)

[Bob Riefer]

I have that unit pulling through a thien baffle and exhausting directly outside. I piped with 4" PVC throughout the shop, longest run probably about 35 feet if you count the 45 degree bends etc. It really helps keep the shop so much cleaner, but I still need to sweep after lots of work. I wear a 3M respirator while working too because I'm aware that I don't have sufficient power to capture the fine dust, just the chips and mess. Once in awhile, I use a leaf blower to give the entire shop a good clean out.

The biggest loss I have right now in my system is how I have my connection to the thien baffle separator. Since I exhaust outside, I plan to take the baffle out of the equation completely and just allow everything to run past the impeller and dump into a bin in a closet outside my shop. That little closet will have some vents covered with furnace filters to keep from causing a mess outside the contained area, and the rest will just be a gravity bin that I can empty or burn. This should be a big win for the suction of the system.

edit: Oh, and to answer your actual question, I have a 20 amp dedicated circuit running this just fine.

[nikolas britton]

I did some testing using my GCM-221 amperage meter...

Reference Voltage: 124V
No Load Draw: 14.5A
Inrush Current: 75A
Full Load Draw: 11.5A
Wattage: 1800W
Horse Power: 2 HP, assuming 85% energy conversion efficiency.

Reference voltage is the voltage I measured during amperage testing, this is used to calculate the wattage of the unit.

No load draw is the amperage with nothing connected to the blower subassembly, meaning no intake or exhaust hoses (or exhaust manifold) were connected.

Inrush current was the peak meter amperage reading during initial startup, the motor is a split phase capacitor start induction motor. What this means is the motor has a starter winding and capacitor that is disengaged with a centrifugal switch. The click noise that you hear after you turn your motor off and it spins down is the centrifugal switch re-engaging the startup circuit. Without this it would take a really long time for the motor to get up to full speed.

Full load was the reading when I completely blocked the intake port so that no air could move. In a ShopVac this would typically spike the amperage, but this is not the case here. Ether it has something to do with the differences between AC induction and AC brush motors or something to do with increased efficiency (less drag) due to the impeller creating a strong vacum within the blower cavity.

The bottom line: Any machine that comes with a NEMA 5-15 plug and had a no load reading greater then 15 amps is a code violation and would not be UL approved, this does not apply to peak or inrush load though.

Additionally, it is not possible to re-wire this motor for 240 volt service at all. I disassembled part of it, and the motor is sealed with only two, hot and neutral, wires coming out of the case. I saw no easy way to get at the internal windings.

I picked up a remote control for mine, it was $10 at Menards (Model Number: 32555, Menards® SKU: 3635414) and made by Coleman Cable (Woods i think). It's rated only for 13 amp, but so far it's still working fine. If you had a 240 volt motor you could wire two of them together (one hot leg on each device with a bonded neutral) that are both on the same channel.

[Prashun Patel]

FWIW-
Harbor Freight has a 25% of sale tomorrow. So you may wanna pull that trigger a little sooner than you anticipated.

[David Hostetler]

How many of you fellas with the HF unit in question, have it hooked up to a fixed-duct system? And if so, duct size, maximum lengths, etc?

I have mine hooked up, ducted to 5" line, split to 2 4" lines. Longest run is 20' and it is straight as an arrow. No problems with flow at all.

My rig is set up on a 20 amp circuit, and it is the only thing using that circuit when I use the DC...

[Alan Bienlein]

I did some testing using my GCM-221 amperage meter...

Reference Voltage: 124V
No Load Draw: 14.5A
Inrush Current: 75A
Full Load Draw: 11.5A
Wattage: 1800W
Horse Power: 2 HP, assuming 85% energy conversion efficiency.

Reference voltage is the voltage I measured during amperage testing, this is used to calculate the wattage of the unit.

No load draw is the amperage with nothing connected to the blower subassembly, meaning no intake or exhaust hoses (or exhaust manifold) were connected.

Inrush current was the peak meter amperage reading during initial startup, the motor is a split phase capacitor start induction motor. What this means is the motor has a starter winding and capacitor that is disengaged with a centrifugal switch. The click noise that you hear after you turn your motor off and it spins down is the centrifugal switch re-engaging the startup circuit. Without this it would take a really long time for the motor to get up to full speed.

Full load was the reading when I completely blocked the intake port so that no air could move. In a ShopVac this would typically spike the amperage, but this is not the case here. Ether it has something to do with the differences between AC induction and AC brush motors or something to do with increased efficiency (less drag) due to the impeller creating a strong vacum within the blower cavity.

The bottom line: Any machine that comes with a NEMA 5-15 plug and had a no load reading greater then 15 amps is a code violation and would not be UL approved, this does not apply to peak or inrush load though.

Additionally, it is not possible to re-wire this motor for 240 volt service at all. I disassembled part of it, and the motor is sealed with only two, hot and neutral, wires coming out of the case. I saw no easy way to get at the internal windings.

I picked up a remote control for mine, it was $10 at Menards (Model Number: 32555, Menards® SKU: 3635414) and made by Coleman Cable (Woods i think). It's rated only for 13 amp, but so far it's still working fine. If you had a 240 volt motor you could wire two of them together (one hot leg on each device with a bonded neutral) that are both on the same channel.

Actually you have it reversed. With no inlet or duct work that dust collector is working at maximum load since it's moving as much air as it possibly can being unrestricted. Once you blocked of the inlet the motor was running under minimum load since it couldn't move any air. I wouldn't be surprised if it didn't operate at about 12.5 to 13 amps max connected to a machine.