Dust Collection Vertical Drops

[Drew Pavlak]

Well I am proud to say, I pulled the trigger and purchased a ClearVue. Everything has been delivered and I am in the planning stages and would like a little advice. I am planning on running 6" PVC for everything that I can. The question that I have and haven't been able to get a clear answer on is vertical drops. I have 12' ceilings and would like to keep all the ducting as close to the ceiling as possible. This will mean that I will have vertical drops close to 10' to 11' long. Is this going to be a problem?

I should mention that the ClearVue I purchased is a CV1800 LH with the 16" impeller.

Any comments will be appreciated.

Thanks,
Drew

[Brian W Smith]

One short note,and it's off to the shop for me,haha.

Before you even start to hang/position your ductwork:Work out a strategy or "system" for hanging.Not the labor side(hang mains first vs starting with branches).....Nope,the hardware side.Figure out exactly what type or style of hangers would best work for not only your shop,but also your skill level and any special equipment needed for their fabrication.Then start going over any possible "hanging" scenarios like:Verts,mains,mounting substrates ect.,that effect your style of hanging system.You're trying to came up with not only a professional install.....but one that is easy to manage,both,during and later should you need to add a line.

It's an area that usually goes unnoticed.....But can be the backbone of a well designed duct system.It's like form work in concrete world....we always focus on the concrete data,but miss the fact that the form technology is every bit as important,and can make or break the job.Best,BWS

[Drew Pavlak]

I have most of that already worked out. One reason I would like to keep it as close to the ceiling as possible is it will make my life a little easier. Just thinking to myself, and I wonder if vertical even really matters. Really what I was concerned about was larger debris and the DC's ability to overcome gravity. Pull it up 10' to 11', but it might be the overall length of pipe I might need to be concerned with and not the vertical(or as concerned). The particles should be rather small, as long as there is enough air movement to keep the particles suspended then they should continue on down the pipe. Any thoughts?

[Rick Moyer]

Well, I have a 2HP Grizzly with a 14" or 15" impeller and I've sucked up some cut off pcs. that I wish it wouldn't have. (table saw top hose, didn't reduce the air flow so it wouldn't, even though I knew that was a possibility). I don't think you'll have a problem. I'll leave the empirical data to others.

[Drew Pavlak]

Good to know, mind if I ask how high your ceilings are? And are you running most of your ducting at ceiling height?

[Robert Delhommer Sr]

All my 4" ducts run from the ceiling, I have a 8' ceiling. Works for me with my HF 2Hp DC and Thien separator.

[Paul Stoops]

Being the previous owner of a ClearVue cyclone having only the 15" fan, and plumbed with 6" PVC, I would be very surprised if you had a problem with vertical lift, as long as you have only one gate open at a time. I don't have any experience with the 16" impeller, but it move substantially more air than the one I had. You might address the question to the ClearVue folks and visit their forum where a lot of users have shared their experiences.

[Michael W. Clark]

It is really just additional duct length and pressure drop. The fan doesn't care if the duct is horizontal, vertical, or at an angle. The only time vertical or horizontal really matters is if you have very heavy particulate. For example, steel shot from a shot blast can fall down a vertical duct and plug it so you have to run those system a little higher velocity. With wood dust and your set up, I doubt you will have a problem.

[Robert Payne]

Drew,

As others have said, you won't have any problem moving any chips or dust vertically over that distance (I have seen a 25' tape measure sucked into a 6" riser and into the bin on a CV MAX without any delay!). As a ClearVue owner, I'd recommend using 6 x 6 x 6 wyes in your ceiling runs that are aligned to shoot down at each drop and then use a short length of straight pipe to a 45 degree elbow to bring the drop to vertical; continue with straight pipe to your blast gate and then flexible hose to the machine ports. To reduce static pressure loss, minimize the amount of flexible duct.

HTH

[Drew Pavlak]

Great advice, this is exactly what I was hoping to hear. Hopefully soon (1 to 2 months time) I will be posting some pics of my setup. I didn't think of running the 6 x 6 x 6 wyes in that configuration, you may have just saved me some 45 degree elbows. I think in your suggested config, this should eliminate 1 per drop, Thanks!

I will try to use as little flexible duct as possible. That stuff is expensive. :-)

[Jim Neeley]

+1 on Robert's comments. There's little-to-no *inherant* impact (within reason) due to the length of the vertical drops. The ability of the system to lift the debris is based upon the velocity of the air in the duct. As long as you size the system to maintain sufficient velocity, it will not be a problem.

The caveat here is that it's *possible* that the debris could have enough momentum from a horizontal run that a relatively slow speed in a vertical run could have the material decelerating. In that case it could "stall out" before getting to full height but if you've properly designed your system this will not be a problem.

Jim

[Ole Anderson]

A potential problem with allowing the wye drops to point down is that offcuts scooting along the bottom of the pipe can fall down the unused wye leg and cause a problem. I ran all of my wye drops horizontal and used a 90 to then go vertical. You get a smidge more loss in that drop pipe, but it is a better design, IMHO.

[Jim Andrew]

I have a 2hp cyclone, and mine would suck cutoffs up the hose on my tablesaw's shark guard. Would try to stop the saw and get the pieces, but usually they would go zoom up the hose. Always found strips in the barrel when I dumped it. With your cyclone, I would be careful so it doesn't get hold of your work piece. My pipe was on top of the ceiling joists in the attic, above 10 feet. I am presently moving it down under the ceiling, due to a shop remodel. Been thinking about trying to buy a new impeller for my 2hp, seems they have increased the diameter of impellers in many different cyclones. Just looked at the Grizzly catalog, the 2hp cyclone now has a 14 1/2" impeller, and the 3hp has 15 1/4". Was thinking the spec on mine was 14", which I didn't check till I took it down to move it, and found it measures 13 1/4". So a 14 1/2 would be a big improvement.