Jerry Booher
01-21-2008, 12:23 PM
I had many problems installing my Super Gorilla. Some of you may get a laugh at me, and potential buyers may want to avoid my errors. The cyclone has 4 parts. The cone is fairly light and the motor which goes on top is 90# - much heavier than my wife and I can lift 8' into the air. Here are the steps I performed trying to install it in the corner. One wall is block and the adjacent wall is a 2x4 stud wall with sheetrock.
1. I hung the bracket on the wall studs with a plywood backing plate using lag screws into the studs.
2. I hung the cone onto the bracket and set the barrel on top of the cone. They were not level due to slight give in the bracket mounting and that bothered me. I then welded up a 2" angle iron stand and started over. I left the required 2" ceiling clearance when I built the stand. Unbolted the 2 pieces, removed the bracket and plywood, patched the holes.
3. Bolted the cone onto the stand. Bolted the barrel onto the cone. Climbed ladders with the heavy fan housing. Oops. Can't get to the bolts. Need to assemble the barrel and fan housing and then climb the ladders with both pieces. We are not strong enough to do that. We decided to slip a piece of hardboard between the cone and the barrel+fan housing and tilt it on its side so I could get at the bolts. Tilted it back into upright position and thought all was well.
4. Unboxed the 90# motor and saw the fan protruding 5" below the motor. Oh, no! The total height needed to be 5" greater than appeared in the installation manual. I cannot put the motor on top of the assembled cyclone and drop the fan 5" into the fan housing.
5. Disassembled everything again. Cut 6" off the stand legs. Knowing I would never be able to lift the 90# motor 8' into the air, I assembled the entire unit on the floor.
http://i235.photobucket.com/albums/ee184/jerrybooher/Oneida%20Cyclone/Oneida1.jpg
6. I used an engine hoist with a rope wrapped around the motor. The hoist would not lift it greater than 30 degrees so I called 2 buddies to push it the rest of the way. Like they say on TV. "But wait, there is more."
7. We pushed it into the corner, put rubber under the steel legs to isolate sound from the concrete floor.
http://i235.photobucket.com/albums/ee184/jerrybooher/Oneida%20Cyclone/Oneida2.jpg
8. Tried to add the filter. The fan exit cannot be against the wall. Scooted the entire unit 7" away from the wall and built a box with internal 2x4s to bolt the stand to the wall. With that much weight 9' into the air, I was afraid it might tip over.
http://i235.photobucket.com/albums/ee184/jerrybooher/Oneida%20Cyclone/Oneida3.jpg
http://i235.photobucket.com/albums/ee184/jerrybooher/Oneida%20Cyclone/Oneida4.jpg
After making all of these mistakes, I decided to reread the installation manual to see where I went wrong. The only error I picked up was the very first one. 3 different methods to mount the barrel and fan housing were presented. When I tried to go cone, barrel, fan, I was inventing a new step that did not work. I wrote this so you could have a laugh at my mistakes, but also to help the next guy avoid them.
Jerry
1. I hung the bracket on the wall studs with a plywood backing plate using lag screws into the studs.
2. I hung the cone onto the bracket and set the barrel on top of the cone. They were not level due to slight give in the bracket mounting and that bothered me. I then welded up a 2" angle iron stand and started over. I left the required 2" ceiling clearance when I built the stand. Unbolted the 2 pieces, removed the bracket and plywood, patched the holes.
3. Bolted the cone onto the stand. Bolted the barrel onto the cone. Climbed ladders with the heavy fan housing. Oops. Can't get to the bolts. Need to assemble the barrel and fan housing and then climb the ladders with both pieces. We are not strong enough to do that. We decided to slip a piece of hardboard between the cone and the barrel+fan housing and tilt it on its side so I could get at the bolts. Tilted it back into upright position and thought all was well.
4. Unboxed the 90# motor and saw the fan protruding 5" below the motor. Oh, no! The total height needed to be 5" greater than appeared in the installation manual. I cannot put the motor on top of the assembled cyclone and drop the fan 5" into the fan housing.
5. Disassembled everything again. Cut 6" off the stand legs. Knowing I would never be able to lift the 90# motor 8' into the air, I assembled the entire unit on the floor.
http://i235.photobucket.com/albums/ee184/jerrybooher/Oneida%20Cyclone/Oneida1.jpg
6. I used an engine hoist with a rope wrapped around the motor. The hoist would not lift it greater than 30 degrees so I called 2 buddies to push it the rest of the way. Like they say on TV. "But wait, there is more."
7. We pushed it into the corner, put rubber under the steel legs to isolate sound from the concrete floor.
http://i235.photobucket.com/albums/ee184/jerrybooher/Oneida%20Cyclone/Oneida2.jpg
8. Tried to add the filter. The fan exit cannot be against the wall. Scooted the entire unit 7" away from the wall and built a box with internal 2x4s to bolt the stand to the wall. With that much weight 9' into the air, I was afraid it might tip over.
http://i235.photobucket.com/albums/ee184/jerrybooher/Oneida%20Cyclone/Oneida3.jpg
http://i235.photobucket.com/albums/ee184/jerrybooher/Oneida%20Cyclone/Oneida4.jpg
After making all of these mistakes, I decided to reread the installation manual to see where I went wrong. The only error I picked up was the very first one. 3 different methods to mount the barrel and fan housing were presented. When I tried to go cone, barrel, fan, I was inventing a new step that did not work. I wrote this so you could have a laugh at my mistakes, but also to help the next guy avoid them.
Jerry