Clogged Intake on Jet 650 DC - Any ideas?

[James Ross]

As a newbie, I recently began using my Rigid Jointer. I connect a clear flexible 4 inch hose between the Jet DC and the machines. I can feed only a few feet of maple through the jointer before the intake grille clogs. The jointer shavings are long, stringy, and catch on the grille sheet metal bars. I had to loosen the hose clamp and remove the ball of shavings several times.

The obvious solution is to cut and remove the grill bars. I assume they are there to prevent large scrap from entering the impeller so I am reluctant to modify the DC. Otherwise, the DC is great.

Any other ideas?

Thanks for your interest.

Alan Ross

[Brian Penning]

I cut it. Though I have paid the price now and then.....

http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f193/Bri68/Miscilaneous/IMG_2749.jpg?t=1206629272

[Harley Lewis]

I have a Grizzly DC, and had the same problem so, like Brian, I cut out most of the grid, left enough to keep the really big stuff from getting through. If you just use the DC for machine dust collection you will be fine by removing the grid, if you clean up the floor with it you will get "cans" and other like objects in it like Brian did. Been there and done that, now I only use the shop vac to clean floors.

[Peter Quinn]

Maple produces those fluffy shavings that just love to clog collection pipes. As photo above shows removing the cross bars on a single stage collector can get dicey and pricey. I'd invest in a garbage can preseperator, possible use Phil Thein's brillant design, or even a store bought option is pretty effective.

I use one inline with my JDS DC and find I rarely have to empty the bag on the collector as long as I empty the garbage can by 3/4 full. I have 3 cans so I can swap them out quick and empty them at the end of the day. Takes care of that maple problem. I was getting clogs every 20' in maple with the planer till I added the preseperator, now clogs are rare.

[Steven Wilson]

The old Jet I had didn't have crossbars and I didn't have that problem. Get out the Dremel and make them disapear.

[Gary Herrmann]

Long and stringy? Do you know the moisture content of the maple? I don't think I've seen long stringy maple shavings come off either jointer I've had. Off the lathe yes, but not off my jointer.

Just a thought.

[Anthony Whitesell]

I really good bad idea or really bad good idea would be to cut out the grid and put a 90 just before the inlet.

Reading this thread made me think of the manufacturer's design of my DC. The Rigid I have DC bends 90 degrees up then runs ~18 inches to the inlet with no grids.

[Lee Schierer]

I'm not familiar with that brand of DC, but if it has plastic vanes in the impellar you don't want any solid objects hitting the blades or they may break. I would suspect that is why the grill work is there. Older models probably had metal impellars so solid things hitting the blades wasn't a big deal.

[Greg Cole]

The only clog I've ever had was with a floor sweep and some Neander curlies...... those are long shavings. Never seen what the OP describes off my jointer (tailed jointer that is).....? Some love the floor sweep, me not so much. Good DC set ups should catch much of the mess and 30 seconds with a broom gets my Neander messes just fine.

Brian,
Thats just funny.... have to change your pants after that one?

Greg

[Brian Penning]

T
Brian,
Thats just funny.... have to change your pants after that one?

Greg

Let's just say I now have a very slick and rust protected impeller. I also now know that I can't run as fast as my DC suction is. :o

[John Michaels]

I cut out my dividers also, too many clogs. Even with the dividers, something like a nail or piece of gravel can still go through. I heard somewhere that a kid stuck his hand in a DC while running and now for liability they put the dividers in.

[Josiah Bartlett]

I removed the grille on the HF collector I have, but it has a metal impeller. Its picked up a couple of loose screws to no seeming ill effect. I was getting clogging from my planer. I pick up the leavings of hand planes once in a while and you can hear them hit the impeller but they seem to have not damaged it.

[Jim Becker]

The only clog I've ever had was with a floor sweep and some Neander curlies......

Of course, it needs to be stated here that a floor sweep should only be used with a 2-stage system. (Pre-separation) Picking up metal by accident and having it hit steel impeller blades could really not "make your day"...

[James Ross]

Thanks for all the input. I especially like the pre-separator info.

Thanks again.

Alan

[Howard Acheson]

There is nothing better than a pre-separator for your DC system when jointing and planing. Even the garbage can type separator will work well to remove almost all the shavings before they get to the fan intake.

You can remove the grating at the fan intake. Anything sucked into the hose upstream of the separator will end up in the separator and never get to the fan intake.

[Greg Cole]

Of course, it needs to be stated here that a floor sweep should only be used with a 2-stage system. (Pre-separation) Picking up metal by accident and having it hit steel impeller blades could really not "make your day"...
Or use a broom for 30 seconds.:rolleyes:
Little chunks of wood make a nice ping too. DAMKHIT.
If I hadn't boxed my DC in a noise abatement "closet" I would DEFINATELY be using a pre-separator, but the DC "closet" just isn't big enough.
Gets me thinking..... in all seriousness now.
In regards to the pre-separators... is there loss of functionality if the pre-separator is placed close to the tool and not immediately next to the DC?
I've never seen it done that way, but with my DC "closet" it is my only option for adding a pre-separator now.. unless I add on to the closet and give up more space in an already crowded shop. FWIW, to change bags on my DC, I have to roll it out of the closet as I made it as small as I could manage to save floor space, so there's just no chance of stuffing a garbage can in there.
Thanks.
Greg