New to SMC - with "dry bin full" DC question

[Pete Grass]

Hello SMC - for me, 2006 is time to stop lurking and join a great group of forums. I appreciate the advice and look forward to participating.

Also have a question - working on an Oneida DC install in my small shop and want to put in a "dry bin full" indicator - Oneida sells one and what you see below (I hope the photo shows) is what I got. This 220V set up came without papers - so my thinking is this unit should mount in the top of the DC bin cover. This turns at 1 rpm and does have a wiring diagram on the side of the motor housing. Anyone using one of these?

A related question - How does this unit reset itself? I plan to hook it to an indicator light that will come on when the vane can't move - NOT to shut down the DC motor.

Thanks in advance.

Pete

[Rob Will]

Welcome Pete (coming from the other end of the state). Im not sure about this but when the arm is no longer able to move it makes / breaks the circuit (?)
You might need to add a relay to handle a light?
There are a few EE's here who can set this straight.

Rob

[Jim Dunn]

Pete, Welcome to the Creek. No idea about your initial question though.

Jim

[CPeter James]

Finally!!! I'm glad you finally got active and stopped lurking. After our conversation yesterday, I've thought about this and wonder if Oneida intended this unit for use on a much larger collection bin than the thirty five gallon drum that you have. If it were installed in the drop tube/hose, I would be concerned about large shavings and junk hanging up on it and causing a clogging of the tube.

CPeter

[John Bailey]

Welcome the the "Creek" Pete. You're gonna' like it here. It's the best. As for your question, I don't have a clue. But you'll get the answer, I'm sure of that.

John

[tod evans]

welcome pete

[Rick Thom]

Pete, welcome. Don't know about your switch, but curious why you don't just contact the manufacturer and get the instructions from them. I would be surprised if they aren't a click away via their website and customer service/ tech advisors. Their website looks good including user forum.
Always good to have the instructions for down the road later.

http://www.oneida-air.com/

[Frank Hagan]

Also have a question - working on an Oneida DC install in my small shop and want to put in a "dry bin full" indicator - Oneida sells one and what you see below (I hope the photo shows) is what I got. This 220V set up came without papers - so my thinking is this unit should mount in the top of the DC bin cover. This turns at 1 rpm and does have a wiring diagram on the side of the motor housing. Anyone using one of these?

A related question - How does this unit reset itself? I plan to hook it to an indicator light that will come on when the vane can't move - NOT to shut down the DC motor.


I'm going to be ordering a Dust Gorilla as soon as I get back from vacation (unless I flip-flop again to Grizzly!)

Oneida's web site is awful. They have a ton of broken links, and if I didn't know how good their products were, I'd choose a Grizzly DC for that reason alone ... it makes them look very amaturish.

Anyway, if you go to http://www.oneida-air.com/tech/main.htm, the instructions for the level sensor are the very first link on the page that comes up. "Assembly Instructions for the Level Monitor".

The kit should have all you need. The beginning of the document says "In operation the small motor slowly turns a paddle. When the dust level rises enough to hit the paddle and impede it from rotating a small switch in the motor sends electricity to the strobe light which flashes to alert you."

I think it resets when the paddle can move again, and the strobe light goes off. The installation instructions are pretty good; its too bad you have to search so hard to find them on the site (and that they didn't include them with your unit!) Here's a pic (if it will link through):

http://synergy.oneida-air.com/public/docs/BacoDiscussionsBlob.asp?ID={9B16D740-C448-4D38-81E4-61D161D7B651}

[Pete Grass]

Guys - thanks for the help - I did call Oneida today and in seconds had the missing paperwork in .pdf format sitting on my PC - wiring and general installation guidelines. I think these just got left out of my large order a few weeks ago.

With this solved, my electrician is coming over Thursday night and we get to work on that 220v line...

I will tell you that the construction of this unit, while I haven't completed the installation yet, is first rate. Look for a posting from me when I have it up and running in a few more weeks (it's that day job thing again...)

Thanks again.

Pete

[Corey Hallagan]

Welcome Pete, your going to love it here!

corey

[Steve Clardy]

Welcome Pete!

[Tom Drake]

Welcome to the group Pete.

[Keith Weber]

Am I reading their website correctly? $334 for that little thing? Wow!! I thought it would be a neat retrofit to my Dust Monkey if it were, say, $50-60. For that price, it would be cheaper to hire one of the neighbors' kids to sit in a chair next to the dust collector and let me know when it was full!

Keith

[Dev Emch]

Am I reading their website correctly? $334 for that little thing? Wow!! I thought it would be a neat retrofit to my Dust Monkey if it were, say, $50-60. For that price, it would be cheaper to hire one of the neighbors' kids to sit in a chair next to the dust collector and let me know when it was full!

Keith

Exactly how does thing work? First of all, if that paddle is revolving at say 1 RPM, then the implication is that there is a tiny gear reduction unit on that motor. Nonetheless, if the paddle stops, what happens to the motor? In its rawest form, that is a rotor lock up condition. What are they doing to keep the motor from frying itself alive when the paddle stops?

Second, how does the signal get out. Thinking about this in a casual like mannor, I would think that they have a tiny digital counter chip that trips in about 60 seconds. A crude clock circuit provides the pulse train. Maybe a filtered R-C circuit of some sort? I doubt its a crystal circuit. At any rate, each time that paddle swings by, it resets the timer to mark zero. If the timer is allowed to expire, it trips and that triggers a small reed relay which allows a 110 volt, low amp power source to illuminate the strobe light.

A trip to radio shack with a twenty dollar bill and a couple of parts from surplus city (gear reduction motor of some sort) and your off to the races. Not a bad idea if there is some form of protection or reset on that motor. Crude but Effective as my old boss used to say.

Tell us more about it. Got any instructions? How about any schmatics in the back. Courious minds want to know.

[Stu Ablett in Tokyo Japan]

Have you guys seen the sensor that is on Bill Pentz's site....?

http://billpentz.com/woodworking/cyclone/Sugi/DustLevelSensorCircuit.gif

Sugi's Dust Level Sensor (http://billpentz.com/woodworking/Cyclone/DustLevelSensor.cfm)

Looks good to me, I should make one..... :D

[Pete Grass]

Got any instructions? How about any schmatics in the back. Courious minds want to know.

Dev - a scan of the rather tattered instructions page from Oneida is too large to post here and I can't find the link to it on Oneida's site - I have the original on another PC - will try to send it out direct to you tomorrow.

Pete

[Barry O'Mahony]

Funny, the description on the web site does not match this schematic. Looks like the design was updated to replace 2 transistors with a comparator. But the idea is the same. Under no load, the motor draws 15 ma, and the inverting input of the inverter sits at 3 volts. The cap provides extra startup current for the motor. As dust loads the motor and eventually stalls it out, the voltage drops down low enough that the inverter output flips and the LED turns on. R1 limits the motor current to 20 ma, so nothing bad happens when it is stalled.

Once the obstruction is cleared, the circuit may or may not reset. Even when cleared, C1 is charged and thus cannot supply startup current. By briefly powering down the circuit, however, C1 is discharged and the whole thing will reset.