Grizzly G0441 3 HP Cyclone Dust Collector owners.....

[clayton sansbury]

I originally posted this on the wrong forum....

I am in the market for a cyclone. I was very impressed with the construction quality, included remotes, dust bin, etc on the Grizzly G0441 3 HP Cyclone. My only concern from spending too much time researching this subject is if 110 sf of filter is enough surface area for long term operation. Bill Pentz's design has 600 sf for example. If any owners of this Grizzly machine can comment it would be very helpful. If I end up having to upgrade the filters at the cost of around $400 then this cyclone quickly loses its value.

Background: I have a small shop (450sf) that I use to build hollow wood paddleboards. One of the steps is thickness sanding 34" x 12' long boards down to the finished thickness of 1/4". I end up sanding 1/16" off both sides of 24 feet of cedar. This is a TON of fine dust but it is only done once a month. The other big dust producer is resawing, ripping, then routing 12' 2x6's into 1/4" bead & cove strips. Most of my work is with hand tools but currently the shop is never free of dust.

My decission is really just between the Grizzly G0441 3 HP Cyclone and a Bill Pentz/Clearvue. I have been quite hesitant to buy or build a 5hp Bill Pentz/Clearvue as it might be overkill 99 percent of the time. I have considered venting outside for these two dusty days a month through the cyclone with no filters this doesn't seem very responsible for the neighbours.

Thank-you!!

[Cyrus Brewster 7]

Clayton,

I was in the same boat as you this time last year: Grizzly 3hp vs CV. For the record I went with the CV primarily for the Leeson motor. At the time the Grizzly was on sale for $200 off.

Just so you know the Grizzly cyclone body has a helical inlet like the Pentz/CV design. It also comes with a bin and remote switch. Like you mentioned, I priced upgrading the Grizzly to 2 Wynn Nano filters which would have put the cost around the same as the CV (this did not include a remote switch or chip bin for the CV).

I am extremely happy with the CV but if were presented with the same choice: Grizzly @ $200 off vs CV, I would probably go with the Grizzly. Simply because the system is all inclusive, metal construction, and would be the same price with the filter upgrade. Or maybe... I would still choose the CV (I actually like the "kit" design).

For performance of the Grizzly, I have read nothing but great user reviews. Sorry for not answering the you question directly.

[clayton sansbury]

Cyrus, Thank-you for the reply. I might end up going with the Clearvue cyclone as well as there seems to be so many happy customers. I have thought about ordering a CV cone and 2 Wynn Nano filters and starting with a 3hp blower that I already have. When my shop grows I could easily upgrade the blower to the CV unit. I would really like to hear from some happy Grizzly customers as I am only 30 minutes from Grizzly, WA and could have this collecting dust right away.

[Brian Hale]

Clayton

Just a couple points to consider....

The grizzly has a 8" intake and the CV has a 6". 8" pipe is $$$$$ so you may want to reduce it to 6" which may change the CFM and FPM numbers.

Grizzly requires a 40 amp circuit for a 3hp motor (8ga wire), CV requires 30 amp (10ga wire) for 5hp Leeson. I suspect the Leeson is more efficient.

CV does not come with a chip bin but most use fiber barrels, Grizzly comes with a 55 gallon drum. That is a LOT of chips to empty which is going to be messy unless you use their bags ($7 each).

CV does not offer a stand but sells wall mount brackets, Grizzly offers a stand for $275.

I just went through what your doing and got the CV 1800 with the 16" impeller. About 3/4 way through the install so I have no real world information to offer as to it's performance but I did start it up with a blast gate on the bottom of the cone and a short piece of 6" pipe on the intake and it's scary when you get your hand near It. Amazing amount of suction...

Brian :)

[Matt Mackinnon]

I bought the ClearVue Max just because I wanted to only spend the money once and not look back with regret. The unit really works well and the extra power overcomes any of the inefficiencies that ended up with routing ducts. My big dust producers are kept well at bay and my dylos dust meter hardly ticks up at all now when before it was common to see it up in the thousands.

[clayton sansbury]

Thank-you to Cyrus, Matt, Brian you have helped me to make my decision. I am going with the Clearvue cyclone as everyone seems happy and as Matt said I only want to do this once. I am going to start with a 3hp 22amp motor and 14" Cincinnati fan blower that I already have and see how that works. I will order the larger blower when I move to a larger space in a few years time.