6" quick connector for dust collector

[Chris Fairbanks]

Anyone know of any good quick connect adapters for 6" flex hose? I have been using Fazloks on my old 2hp jet canister but am in the process of upgrading to a clearvue max and am upgrading all of the tools to 6" ports. I am planning on running an 8" main trunk out of PVC and then jumping down to 6" PVC with clearvue blast gates. I saw penn state had 6" metal quick connect fittings but not sure how we'll those would work with the clearvue gates. Any thoughts? Thanks

[Andrew Petralia]

You can use Fernco rubber couplings and tape as needed to make a friction fit. Not as nice as a Fazlock I imagine, but it works. I have been planning to add a spring clamp to each of my dust ports fitted with flexible rubber couplings to make it more convenient when changing dust ports. You can get them at McMaster-Carr.
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[Jim Neeley]

I purchased the Penn State 6" quick disconnects for use with my Jet 1100 roll-around and they worked really well. They are easy to connect/disconnect and I haven't had any problems with blockage, even when making heavy stock-removal cuts with my planer.

I like them enough that I'm installing them on certain 6" DCs to my tools as I'm installing my cyclone / central DCS. They are handy if you have "stationary" tools on casters (like I do) where you roll them out to use them since I can disconnect the hose, move the tool and reconnect without fighting the flex hose getting twisted over time. This will also permit me to insert an "extension hose" (a section of hose with a male on one end anda female on the other) if I wish to move a tool beyond it's normal short hose run for a particular cut.

Jim in Alaska

[Andrew Petralia]

Jim - I like your idea better. I may still need my Fernco fittings to adapt my metric Minimax dust ports to the 6" coupling. Are the Penn State connections air-tight? Do you notice any suction loss? At $17 a pop, it seems like a great deal if you have to do a lot of changeovers.

[Jim Neeley]

No, they are not "air tight"; they are just concentric sheet metal sleeves but with the vacuum on the inside, air gets drawn in not dust blowing out. Besides, with them on the tool side of blast gates, only one coupling can be leaking at a time. I don't have a quantitative basis for the amount of leakage but I'd estimate it to be well under 1%, which is low enough for me given the convenience it provides.

[Travis Fatzinger]

Since PSI is effectively out of the dust collection business has anyone used another brand of 6 or 5" quick connects? Oneida has some but I haven't been able to find any reviews on them.

Thanks,

Travis

[Jim Becker]

Griz had some quick disconnects in their line that use clamps like Andrew shows above. I have a couple of 4" from them for two overhead utility drops.

[Travis Fatzinger]

Thanks Jim, I"ll take a look at Grizzly.

[Ben Rivel]

Oneida has a friction fit quick connect fitting: LINK (http://www.oneida-air.com/inventoryD.asp?item_no=SCOLLECT50&CatId={6CA3B980-BD80-4A76-B08A-A0E3C6E64D19})

[James W Glenn]

Spiral Manufacturing makes the fittings PSI was selling. www.spiralmfg.com (http://www.spiralmfg.com/) I talked to them yesterday and they sell to the public.

[Alan Schaffter]

I use 6" S&D ASTM 2729 thin walled PVC for my duct work. All my gates had a male (PVC pipe) and female (half of a PVC connector) end. Machine ports were made with one half of a female PVC connector. Now my gates are behind a knee wall but still have about 1/2" of the connector exposed.

It is easy to slip the flex inside the bell end of the S&D PVC pipe, but in a pinch with a little coaxing I can slip 6" flex over a 6" - 8" long section of pipe. Both of which make for good, friction fit male quick disconnects:

The short length of flex here has male ends made with bell ends of pipe- bell slips over the flex. This gate has a male and female half:

http://www.ncwoodworker.net/pp/data/1329/medium/P3070161.JPG

The front of my jointer before I converted all my gates to autogates and moved them behind the wall or under the floor:

http://www.ncwoodworker.net/pp/data/1329/medium/P3030143.JPG

Unisaw machine port made from MDF and half of a PVC connector:

http://www.ncwoodworker.net/pp/data/1329/medium/P3070163.JPG

Two 6" and one 4" wall mounted DC ports- autogates are directly behind the knee wall so all that is visible is the female side of the gate, again made from one half of a PVC connector:

http://www.ncwoodworker.net/pp/data/500/medium/P4060034.JPG

[James Gunning]

I did something similar to Alan, except I used metal HVAC fittings for my hookups. At the time, I didn't have much in the way of PVC readily available, plus the metal fittings I used were more cost effective.

I used a crimped duct fitting on my pickup hose. The full diameter is under the clear hose end. In this application, the crimped end fits into another piece of duct epoxied into an MDF manifold. I made the two pieces from one connector with crimped ends. It was cut apart in the middle with an angle grinder. The joint is not absolutely airtight, but nearly so, not leaking any more than other types of quick disconnects. It is easy to connect and disconnect and stays in place well.

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Here is a link to my original post showing several machines adapted to 6" duct. All are done with metal fittings usually epoxied into MDF: http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?230820-Yet-another-dust-collection-thread-Adapting-the-machines-to-use-6-quot-pipe&highlight=

[Curt Harms]

I also did something similiar to Alan but in my case I stayed with 4" ports. A 6" X 4" PVC adapter will fit over a 6" flex hose. If necessary, I cut slots about every inch in the 4" 'nipples' and bent them in a bit so the 4" adapter would slide over them easily. I would think with 6" ports you could just use a 6" coupling and short lengths of 6" pipe fastened to the machine's outlet.

[Travis Fatzinger]

Thanks for all the great ideas everyone, that is a lot think about.