Dust collector choice confusion

[Craig D Peltier]

Which size should I look at?

My scenario : Have a 1.5 HP Delta with 1 micron filter with two inlets.

When I change from TS to Drum Sander or Planer I have to attach pipes to them.Its getting to be a pain, getting on hands and knees to get under the TS to unhook it.I know I can put a splice and unhook it higher up, just dont.

My planer a PM 20 inch takes such big shavings of of softwood that the shavings at the inlet get hung up ( on the crossbars, why there there I dont know) and clog. The splitter also had 2 bars (maybe to block large sticks) I cut one out.

So my budget may be 800-900 with pipes. Doesnt need to be hard piped as far as I understand?
I want my jointer,planer,TS, hooked up all the time with one extra inlet for sander ,BS, Router etc
Will only a cylcone type unit give me all this pull or a 3hp 2 bag unit work just as well. Is it cost effective just to get a cylcone type an if so whats the economical version one, Grizzly?

The run to each unit:
TS 10 feet
Planer,Drum Sander, Router, Bandsaw 12 feet
Jointer 4 feet

Thanks

[Jim Andrew]

I have a 2hp woodsucker, and a 18" woodmaster. Of all my equipment, the planer takes the most power to suck up everything. If my filter is pretty clean, the dc is just right. For everything else it has plenty and extra. Think If I had your size planer, would be looking at a 2 1/2 or 3 hp dust cyclone. Grizzly looks to have built a pretty good cyclone, although I haven't seen one installed. The dust gorilla is pretty reasonably priced too, isn't it? Thing is, your pipe will cost considerably. I went with all 6" and even changed out some equipment openings. The bandsaw and edgesander are hooked together with 4" and no gate. The pipe and fittings in my shop wound up costing more than the dc. Jim

[Jim Becker]

Craig, take the wye adapter off the existing DC and hook up a larger hose...5" or 6", depending on the DC's actual input port size. That will greatly improve your ability to evacuate chips and shavings from tools such as your planer and jointer which produce such in copious amounts. Use a reducer right at the machine if necessary to adapt the larger hose if you cannot change the hood to a larger size. Moving between machines with one hose is a lot easier than dealing with a "two-armed creature"...especially if you use quick disconnects.

A cyclone has the advantage of pre-separation and generally better filtration than a single stage system. Generally you're definitely looking at "permanent" duct work with a cyclone, however, so that needs to be figured into your cost. You have a number of choices for cyclones that are likely sized well for your shop and tools. Oneida, Grizzly and Clearvue are the ones you'll hear the most about. JDS and PSI also have offerings; the former is newer on the market and looks interesting, especially where there is low head-room in the shop. PSI has had cyclones for a long time, but IMHO, they are not engineered as well as the offerings from the first three manufacturers I mentioned. Personally, I'm on my second Oneida and very pleased. (The first one was too small when I expanded my shop and tooling)

[Stephen Edwards]

My scenario : Have a 1.5 HP Delta with 1 micron filter with two inlets.

My planer a PM 20 inch takes such big shavings of of softwood that the shavings at the inlet get hung up ( on the crossbars, why there there I dont know) and clog. The splitter also had 2 bars (maybe to block large sticks) I cut one out.

The run to each unit:
TS 10 feet
Planer,Drum Sander, Router, Bandsaw 12 feet
Jointer 4 feet

Thanks

I had the very same problem with the crossbars at the inlet becoming clogged with planer shavings. (I imagine that the crossbars are there to protect the fan blades from a block of wood). My very inexpensive solution was to build a seperator. You can read about it and see photos by clicking the on the link in the first post by Dennis Peacock in this thread:

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=82112&highlight=dust+collection+seperator

I was having trouble getting the link posted so Dennis graciously helped me with that.

Since building the seperator I haven't had any more problems with clogging. Works for me.

[JohnT Fitzgerald]

Craig - I just got the same unit (1.5HP Delta) - it was delivered today, in fact - and my plan is to pipe it to all my machines. I've heard a lot about the 'clogs' when using a planer, so I plan on making a pre-seperator to get the larger chips and shavings before they get to the DC unit itself. It isn't obvious to me that you need a larger unit HP-wise per se, but rather a better handling of the shavings from the planer.

[Craig D Peltier]

Craig - I just got the same unit (1.5HP Delta) - it was delivered today, in fact - and my plan is to pipe it to all my machines. I've heard a lot about the 'clogs' when using a planer, so I plan on making a pre-seperator to get the larger chips and shavings before they get to the DC unit itself. It isn't obvious to me that you need a larger unit HP-wise per se, but rather a better handling of the shavings from the planer.
Yes its powerful enough, I bet I have 12 feet of 4 inch hose on it and 10 feet of 5 inch and it didnt have any problem sucking it out. I know this is a very long run for this unit.

[Craig D Peltier]

I had the very same problem with the crossbars at the inlet becoming clogged with planer shavings. (I imagine that the crossbars are there to protect the fan blades from a block of wood). My very inexpensive solution was to build a seperator. You can read about it and see photos by clicking the on the link in the first post by Dennis Peacock in this thread:

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=82112&highlight=dust+collection+seperator

I was having trouble getting the link posted so Dennis graciously helped me with that.

Since building the seperator I haven't had any more problems with clogging. Works for me.

Thanks for this, I will take a long thorough look at it.

[JohnT Fitzgerald]

Craig - just curious, did you wire it for 120 or 240? I'm debating what line to run from the panel. has anyone noticed that much of an improvement running it at 240?

[Jim Becker]

John, there will be no difference in performance with either voltage. It doesn't change the horsepower or anything else other than the way the windings are connected to the current source.

[Craig D Peltier]

Craig - just curious, did you wire it for 120 or 240? I'm debating what line to run from the panel. has anyone noticed that much of an improvement running it at 240?
Left it as was 120.

[Craig D Peltier]

I have looked at the grizzly cyclones. There were enough complaints to keep me from buying one for now. See link and click on the 2hp reviews an the 3hp for there reviews. Both had only 3 reviews but I think 4 werent good.
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_gw?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=grizzly+cyclone