Dust Collection(Again)

[Marc Prudhomme]

Hi guys,
Im still thinking of buying this dust collector from penn state.Is 850 cfm with a 1hp motor good enough.I am a hobbiest and I will be hooking only one machine at a time.How much sawdust and chips will this unit hold before I have to change the bag?Can you re-use the bag or do you have to throw the bags out after a few fill ups?Ive never used one so I am a bit ignorant.Is this a good starter unit for me.I am thinking that If I really want to persue this hobby more I can always upgrade later.What are your thoughts?I will be using the Rigid Tablesaw,a router table,sanding table,thickness planer,etc.Will it do the trick?
http://www.pennstateind.com/graphics/dc1bxl.jpgRating: none
Code: DC1BXL-1M
Price:$239.95
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FREE:8' Duct Hose -- $14.00 value! Shipping Charge $36:$36 Shipping for this item
Continental US Only Quantity: http://www.pennstateind.com/store/graphics/00000001/wishlist-add-but.gif (http://www.pennstateind.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Store_Code=PSI&Screen=WISHLOGN&BrokAction=ADPR&FromPage=PROD&Product_Code=DC1BXL-1M&Quantity=1&Attributes=1&Wish=1&Category_Code=DC1) http://www.pennstateind.com/store/graphics/00000002/supersale.gif FREE -- 8 ft. duct hose included ($14.00 value).

Our most popular collection system now comes with 1 micron "Vu-thru" bags!! Connects to almost any machine!

Features include:
- "Y" inlet for two 4" connections
- Efficient 1 Hp motor, 110/220 VAC
- 10" impeller now delivers 850 CFM
- Super high filtration 1 micron "Vu-thru" filter bags and band clamps

Note: Dust collectors perform best with 4" diameter duct and machine ports. Performance degrades significantly when duct or ports are less

[Sam Chambers]

Marc:

I had the same unit - my first dust collector. It worked pretty well, but it's more of a chip collector than a fine dust collector. Best to limit the amount of flex hose. In other words, get it as close to the machine as possible.

As far as the capacity goes, it depends on which machines you're running. If you're running your planer and/or jointer a lot, it'll fill up pretty quickly. Also, on mine, there was a metal grate behind the plastic 4" adapter, which prevented larger chunks of wood from reaching the impeller. Since planer and jointer "chips" tend to be more like long strands, they plugged up the inlet almost immediately. I used one of those plastic trash can lid separators, and that solved the problem.

[Rick Thom]

Marc, I agree with Sam's comments and advice. To that I would add that I would go for a more powerful unit of 1200 cf/m or more. We are becoming more aware of the hazards associated with dust and the more you can intercept at source, the better off you will be. Although they advertised 850 cf/m unit may grab the larger dust and chips, the fines are only collected by larger volumes of air being sucked into and trapped in your dust collector. Even for a mobile DC only connected to 1 or 2 separate machines and using blast gates, you are looking at something like 2 hp and 1200 cf/m or more to be effective. Some here have been snapping up the Harbour Freight units for $175 or so on sale and seem pleased with them. You want a filter bag or canister filter in the 1 micron or lower(better) rating.
I have a King 1 1/2 hp, 1200 and wish I had bought more. It was pretty much industry standard 3 years ago, but would be considered substandard by most today. The ratings provided by most manufactures are considered very 'optimistic'.

[Marc Prudhomme]

does going with a 2 horse power unit mean that I have to go with a 220 hook up?I wanted to keep it at 110
Marc, I agree with Sam's comments and advice. To that I would add that I would go for a more powerful unit of 1200 cf/m or more. We are becoming more aware of the hazards associated with dust and the more you can intercept at source, the better off you will be. Although they advertised 850 cf/m unit may grab the larger dust and chips, the fines are only collected by larger volumes of air being sucked into and trapped in your dust collector. Even for a mobile DC only connected to 1 or 2 separate machines and using blast gates, you are looking at something like 2 hp and 1200 cf/m or more to be effective. Some here have been snapping up the Harbour Freight units for $175 or so on sale and seem pleased with them. You want a filter bag or canister filter in the 1 micron or lower(better) rating.
I have a King 1 1/2 hp, 1200 and wish I had bought more. It was pretty much industry standard 3 years ago, but would be considered substandard by most today. The ratings provided by most manufactures are considered very 'optimistic'.

[glenn bradley]

"does going with a 2 horse power unit mean that I have to go with a 220 hook up?"

Generally, yes. I have a 1HP Delta with a trashcan seperator. The seperator puts a helluva hit on the already meager airflow. The chip collection benefit is worth it for my particular situation. I get away with it by realizing it is a chip collector, gate to one machine at a time and live where I can have the garage door open 11 months a year.

If you are in a closed shop area the cost of putting in 220 will be a bargain compared to the medical costs; both finanacial and personal.

[Rick Thom]

Marc, there are some DC in the 2 hp range that will operate on 110 or can handle either 110 or 220.
For example, the HF unit I mentioned http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/Displayitem.taf?itemnumber=45378 is claimed to be 2 hp and operate on 110V at 14 amps. My preference would be a 20 amp line but as long as it's the only thing running on a line, a normal 15 amp will probably do the job. This unit is claimed to suck 1600 cf/m and comes equipped with 30 micron bag. I would want to either go with a canister conversion (pleated filter) which is 1 micron for $169 at HF or a better filter bag which is somewhere between $30-50. Wynn Environmental sells filter for @$139. The pleated filter would be my preference because it is less restictive for air flow, but the bag can also do the job although will require more cleaning and probably reduce that air flow more than canister would. Either way, that's a big difference vs the 850 unit you are considering.
There are many other competing brands around as well of both DC and filters. This is just an example that is considered great value for a pretty powerful no nonsence dc.
Others wiser that I may comment of the 110V issue and their experiences. It could be that in this example, the 1 micron bag may be better if it does add a little resistence to keep the motor from constantly drawing the 14 amps.

[David Cramer]

I too owned that dust collector from Penn State and actually used it for my planer. It has a metal band clamp that comes off easily to empty the lower bag and dump out the sawdust/chips. It is a fairly quick process. Unless you're planing a lot of wood everyday, it is a very good collector to have for just planing, in my opinion anyways. If you can afford a cyclone, well then that is a different thing altogether. As Sam said, it is more for chips than sawdust. I hadn't upgraded to the 1 micron bag, so I had the 5 micron bag that comes with it, or should I say came with it. I bought it at least 4 years ago.

Dave