Penn State Bin Sensor

[Matt Meiser]

OK, since I've gotten my new planer, I've overfilled the bin on my cyclone twice. Luckily, both times the bin only had planer chips so cleanup wasn't too bad. My first step in solving the problem is going to be changing out the dust drum from a 32 gal trash can to a 55 gallon fiber drum. I'm also considering Penn State's bin sensor (http://www.pennstateind.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=BINSENSOR&Category_Code=) which I can wire into my contactor to shut down the cyclone on a full condition. The only other alternatives I've been able to find are industrial level indicators, including the one that Oneida sells, which are way too expensive. Is anyone using one of these? How do you like it?

[Larry Browning]

Matt,
What about cutting a small hole in the bin lid for an inspection window? you could screw/glue/seal a piece of plexiglas over the hole. Then just look in to see how full the bin is getting. Terry Hatfield has this on his and he says it works pretty good. I was thinking I would do this to mine. I just haven't figured out how to cut the hole yet.

Larry

[Matt Meiser]

Larry,
The problem is noticing that its getting full--when planing a bunch of stuff, it fills up faster than I realize and then its too late. The bigger container might help with that.

[Larry Browning]

Larry,
The problem is noticing that its getting full--when planing a bunch of stuff, it fills up faster than I realize and then its too late. The bigger container might help with that.
Matt,
I am the proud NEW owner of a Oneida Gorilla. I have never owned a DC before, hence the following silly question. So, what happens when the bin gets full? Is it a big disaster? Is it something I should avoid at all costs? Will it fill the shop with dust?

Larry

[John Miliunas]

Matt,
I am the proud NEW owner of a Oneida Gorilla. I have never owned a DC before, hence the following silly question. So, what happens when the bin gets full? Is it a big disaster? Is it something I should avoid at all costs? Will it fill the shop with dust?

Larry

Larry, I can't pass this "oportunity" up; Ask Jim Becker that question!:D :) :cool:

[Jim Becker]

Larry, I can't pass this "oportunity" up; Ask Jim Becker that question!

Well..."cyclone filter proctology" is what happens...

[CPeter James]

Been there, done that, seveal times. The window is NOT the answer. I have a short clear flex hose that connects the cyclone to the bin and when planing pine, even though I try to keep an eye on it, sometimes I do miss. On my 1 1/2 hp Oneida, it fills up the cyclone with wood chips and I have to take it apart and clean it out. A PIA, but not the end of the world. More mess than anything else. The full bin shutoff sounds like a good plan. How does the Penn State unit work?

CPeter

[Steve Cox]

Of course, if you had my Woodsucker all you'd have to do is take off the plastic bag and clean off the OUTSIDE of the filter. :D :D :D :D :)

[Matt Meiser]

I'll probably be rebuilding my filter so that the dirty side is out, but I'll have to buy new filters because I'll never be able to get the current ones clean enough. Its pretty much impossible to get all that fine dust out of the pleats inside the filter.

[Andy London]

Matt,
I am the proud NEW owner of a Oneida Gorilla. I have never owned a DC before, hence the following silly question. So, what happens when the bin gets full? Is it a big disaster? Is it something I should avoid at all costs? Will it fill the shop with dust?

Larry

It's an interesting and painful experience :rolleyes: It has happened to me twice, very recently....what happens is the cone starts to fill and depending on when you catch it, it starts to fill the filter area and depending on how fine the dust is, well it makes quite a mess.

I am a little suprised at how fast the bin fills, with my son and I working together this past long weekend, we were emptying it twice a day and while we were using the planer off and on, we were not in a production type mode.

I have a hard enough time with teh 35 gallon bin, I would think the larger one would be very hard to manage.

Andy

[John Miliunas]

Of course, if you had my Woodsucker all you'd have to do is take off the plastic bag and clean off the OUTSIDE of the filter. :D :D :D :D :)

I'm with you, Steve!!!:D :D :D GREAT "overflow" protection!:) :cool:

[Fred Ray]

Matt:

We have a local woodworker's guild here that has it's own shop. Our dust collection system is a 7 1/2H.P. Onieda two stage with the 55 gallon fiber drum collector. Because we have a ton of people using the shop we have a constant overfull issue with the DC. We have just purchased the PSI sensor package. Haven't got it installed yet, But: It works like this. Drill a small hole through the cover of your collection drum, a small motor then mounts to the top of the cover with shaft protuding through the cover. A plastic "beater like" paddle goes on the shaft inside the drum. Supply 120 volts to the motor, it turns the beater. When the beater cannot turn, due to barrel being ful or other obstruction, a set of contacts actuates inside the motor terminal housing. This contact action can be used to stop you collector motor or set off alarms. In our case, I have obtained a donation of a bright red strobe light that will be mounted inside our shop area (DC is outside in another room). on filling up the strobe will start to flash telling our shop supervisor on duty that he/she has a problem. One word of caution, The motor turns if it has 120 volts on it. Therefore I intend to wire this one through the DC motor starter so that it only turns when the DC is running.

I believe an alarm to be a much better method than shutting down the system. Shutting down would potentially leave a lot of material in the ductwork. I don't claim to be an air flow or dust extraction expert, but I do know that if the material falls out of the air stream inside the duct, it is much harder to get it entrained in the air flow again.

I hope to get this system wired up and working within the next couple weeks. I will post results then.

[Matt Meiser]

Fred, please do update us. I hadn't thought about the issue with the material in the ducts -- that is a good point. Even a small, bright flashing light would probably work well for most shops.

[Fred Ray]

You got it! Since my Guild activities are volunteer, and my honey dos are required, I expect it will be a couple of weeks. But I will get back.

[Bill Lewis]

Wow Fred, you guys really do have a problem. A 55 gallon drum on a 7.5 hp system with multiple users is tiny. I have a 55 gal. drum on my 2 hp system and I'm surprised how quickly I can fill it up.

One other question/concern about this sensor. It appears that you have to be able to lift the lid off of the drum the entire distance of the paddle (8-10"?) . On my system, I have maybe 3" of flex hose between the bottom of the cyclone, and the top of the lid. Unless the paddle was on a very flexible shaft, it would not work on my system. In fact, I'd venture that this would not work on most home systems because of the added height needed.