Clearvue Cyclone Gloat

[Robert McNaull]

Well at least I think it's worth gloating. Got a Clearvue 1800 cyclone for $700 off craigslist tonight, had to make the 3 hr run to Rochester to get it but was worth it. The unit is 5yrs old and has never been installed. The cyclone is cracked in a couple places and is going to require some work to get it in full working order, I think someone dropped it in its journey as it has been in the box and moved several times. The folks at clearvue were very helpful in providing info on how to repair it and said since most of the crack is in "dead" air space above the ramp it should be repairable. So a bottle of their recommended adhesive and sheet of PETG plastic later to apply reinforcing patches later I will be in good shape. The best part was he wanted $850 for it, asked for pictures and the guy found out is was cracked when he unpacked it from the box for the first time last week. We got in contact with clearvue about how to fix it and then said he would take $700. Being engineer, I figured I can fix it, or in the words of my dad, "do your best, and caulk the rest."
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Everything else is with the unit and has 0.5 micron filters. Also included 6 6" blast gates as well. Just excited as I woodwork in my basement and would not have gotten this quality of a dust collection system without some luck.

[Matt Mackinnon]

Congratulations. That is quite the deal.. but from the looks of the picture, you will need to make the transition piece from the blower to the filters. I have the larger MAX unit and if I could make a suggestion from experience. They suggest removing one of the gaskets from the filters and bolting the two together making you to now silicon both the upper and lower part of a connected filters to the transition and the cleanout box at the bottom.

DON'T DO IT.

what you should really do is leave both gaskets in tact. connect both filters together at the flat top with your silicon and have the square ends with the gasket at the top and bottom. Make your transition have a nice square bottom the same size at the square on the filters. Then you can simply bolt on the filter assembly to your cyclone. Same with the clean out box at the bottom. The advantage is now if you want to take out your filters to wash them (that wynn suggests) you can as they are not fixed (silicone glued) to our cyclone, they are easily bolted that can be removed. I curse the day that I followed the clearvue directions, and after it was all done I realized my mistake.

[Robert McNaull]

Matt,

i do have all the parts, the rest is in a box out of the picture. Thanks for the info on the filter assembly, will definitely be modifying that part of the assembly.


Bob

[Jim Andrew]

About the cracks, I have used a fiberglass repair kit to repair cracks on motorcycle plastic parts, mix a little liquid with hardner, spread it around the crack, then put a layer of fiberglass cloth and add enough liquid to smooth it out, let it dry and paint another coat of the liquid with hardner on. If you can work some of the liquid between the crack it is even better.

[Steve Peterson]

That price is definitely worthy of gloating. The new units have painted mdf parts. You could consider doing that while you are working on the other repairs. I never bothered with it. Also you can start looking for a collection barrel. I use a plastic 55 gallon drum on casters. I have a 10' ceiling, so it was great to be able to use a large drum that is still easy to roll around. I got everything assembled, then built the cleanout box. Mine ended up about 18" tall.

One additional piece of advice would be to plan a location that will allow building a closet around it later. The noise levels are considerably lower with a closet. I built mine in a corner with screwed together walls that can be dismantled if needed. The access panel for the drum is the only part that gets opened often.

Steve

[Erik Christensen]

you can also significantly reduce impeller noise with a carefully placed block attached to the impeller discharge housing - it must be EXACTLY placed so that it is 1/2 wavelength away from the discharge outlet & sets up an opposing noise wave that cancels out a lot of the impeller sound - i got about a 60% noise reduction with that mod & also put it in a closet - when it is running & I am next to the tool it is drawing from the tool pickup noise is much louder than the CV unit itself

nice score - i have a similar vintage CV and have used it a lot with nary a single problem - other than overfilling the dust bin (what a pain to clean the filters) - my addition of a McRabbet bin sensor has cured that

[Brian Brightwell]

Great buy Robert. I looked and waited to find a bargain and finally just paid full price which I am not known to do often. I have the ClearVue Max.

[Al Bacon]

you can also significantly reduce impeller noise with a carefully placed block attached to the impeller discharge housing - it must be EXACTLY placed so that it is 1/2 wavelength away from the discharge outlet & sets up an opposing noise wave that cancels out a lot of the impeller sound - i got about a 60% noise reduction with that mod & also put it in a closet - when it is running & I am next to the tool it is drawing from the tool pickup noise is much louder than the CV unit itself

HI Erik

Could you post a picture of the block and how do you determine " EXACTLY placed so that it is 1/2 wavelength away "

[Mike Goetzke]

Did you run the motor yet? I got a similar deal a few years back and everything was still wrapped no cracks or damage. When I got home I took the motor out of the plastic and crate. I noticed one of the mounting feet was bent a little but figured I won't be using it anyway. But, thought I should try it out so I hot wired it and it didn't sound right. I contacted Ed (former owner) and he helped me out. Ended up the impact displaced the shaft enough to do damage to the end housing and caused cent. switch drag. Per Ed's instructions I put the shaft back in place and he sent me free of charge a new end housing. Has worked great for the past 4-years. Just inspect the motor well because it's a pain if you assemble it and have to take it apart.

Good Luck.

[Paul Wunder]

Below is a note that Ed Morgano sent me in 2009 re the noise reducer in the blower. Hopefully the link will take you to picture. It was too dark to copy it. You may need to join the ClearVue forum to view the picture


First, we have made a big improvement in the noise level since you bought your unit. You can make an easy modification to your blower that will accomplish the same thing as we have. Please see: http://www.clearvuecyclones.com/Bullentin/showthread.php?t=996&highlight=noise+cancellation. If you have any questions about this I'll be happy to help.

[Paul Wunder]

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I don't know if this drawing of the blower noise reduction modification will show, but here goes.

[Erik Christensen]

that drawing looks about right - I can look in my email when I get home to see what the specs were but i do remember it was challenge to get it positioned in a blower that was already hung on the wall with the outlet ducting installed and sealed - I had to stand on a ladder and reach up to position it and then secure it.... the first time I did it i got no noticeable improvement so i called Ed for some advice - he had me measure where I put it and it was off by about 3/4" - I then repoistioned it and it was a big improvement. they claim 10bd which is a factor of 10 reduction and that is about what i found - it was almost as much an improvement as enclosing the entire DC system in an insulated closet

[Robert McNaull]

Thanks all for sharing your experience and advice. It's going to hang from my floor joists along the wall. I can't quite get it in the corner because my radon suppression system is located there but the location will work for blocking off and insulating.

Will definitely install the noise canceling block. Next up is sourcing duct which looks like will end up being hvac duct since I have no where local that sells to the general public unless I make a contractor friend.

[Robert Payne]

nice score - i have a similar vintage CV and have used it a lot with nary a single problem - other than overfilling the dust bin (what a pain to clean the filters) - my addition of a McRabbet bin sensor has cured that
Hey Erik,

How about sharing your experience with the Bin Sensor -- you've had it for about two months now and I'm curious to hear if you've filled the bin a few times and are pleased with the unit's performance. Thanks -- and congrats to the OP for a great score (and "Hi" to Mike Goetzke).

[Jim O'Dell]

Yes, I'd say that is a good score. I got mine about 7 years ago now, not too long after Ed came out with them. In fact, at that point you ordered the motor separately from the supplier. I haven't made the noise cancelling modification, and my closet doesn't have a door on it yet, and the noise level is not bothersome to me. Of course I exhaust outside, so that makes a huge difference for me.
If you are going to hang it from the ceiling joists, which are the floor joists for the room above, look into some vibration isolation mounts from someone like McMaster-Carr or maybe Reid Supply Company. Your life will be much better if you don't transmit any noise, or at least cut down as much as possible, into the house. :rolleyes: Jim.

[Paul Wunder]

Here is a diagram of the hanging bracket I used to go between the joists with my CV 1800. My motor is about 1" from the subfloor above. I used heavy gauge carpet underlayment as an isolation medium between the bracket and the CV mount. The diagrams are per Ed Morgano and the 1" clearance had Ed's blessing.268726