Grizzly G0440 Dust collector - opinions?

[Dave Sharpe]

So on a previous thread the majority considered a dust collection system a priority ( see " Help me spend some money" thread) and I'm looking at those. As I've mentioned, Grizzly's annual parking lot sale is this weekend and 40 miles away, so naturally I've been looking at their products. It seems that a 2 hp unit should be sufficient for my one-man, one-tool-at-a-time operation, but I ahven't found a huge amount of info as far as reviews on the web or in my stack of old WW mags. Granted that Oneida's product is impressive, and they have a new "v-series" that appears to be simply a lighter-built version of the Gorilla line, albeit with a tripod stand that seems a bit tippy to me, but they still want a lot more money for their product.
Has anyone here had any experience with Grizzly's cyclone systems? Specifically the G0440 2hp unit? SWMBO is supportive of my spending some money to upgrade the shop, but as always there are other things to spend cash on, so I'll keep myself limited to a 2hp unit at this point.

Thanks again,
Dave

[Charlie Plesums]

I am a one person shop, and have an old Grizzly 2 hp double bag with nominal 1550 cfm capacity. I wish I had a cyclone, and would not want to go lower than 1550 cfm, so I have been drooling at the 3 hp Grizzly cyclone (1650 cfm) rather than the 2 hp (1350 cfm). Another highly regarded unit in this range is the ClearVue - see www.clearvuecyclones.com, often discussed on this forum.

[glenn bradley]

I'm with Charlie. I have a 1HP Delta double bag and it is not enough. When I get a new unit I will probably dedicate the old one to the jointer or the bandsaw. It is adequate for the bottom of my tablesaw only but, I run an overarm. My current cheat is to put all the power to the overarm and then coccasionally flap the blast gate for the lower hose to clean out the cabinet . . . . Ok, ok, stop laughing. Save yourself the grief and go big.

[John Keeton]

Dave, as mentioned in your other thread, I ended up with Oneida, as have many others. There are several threads debating the 3 or 4 main suppliers, and I, like everyone else that has done this, spent weeks making the decision.

Though I have all Grizzly stationary tools in my shop and have been very pleased with those, I just really did not feel that their DC systems came up to the standards of Oneida. The construction of the Oneida is superior quality, and the cost difference is minimal. Noise is a factor, and seems Oneida wins on that one as well.

The big factor for me is that Oneida does nothing but DC. They are US based, and know their stuff. I ended up with the 2.5 hp Super Gorilla. It is relatively quiet, it will suck the paint off the walls, and installation was easy with no surprises. What more could one ask for!

Grizzly DC systems may be fine - I have never owned one. Those that have them probably will speak positively. I have edited this post after looking at the unit you mentioned. You should compare side by side. This link is to Oneida's comparison. http://www.oneida-air.com/oneida_advantages/2Hp_competitor_comparison.php

I should state that I have no affiliation with Oneida except that as a one time customer.

[Dana Vogel]

I have been using this dust collector for two years now and feel very satisfied they each have their pros and cons. I wanted the Oneida at first but the two month wait turned me to Grizzly.

[Mike Monroe]

Heres a post I entered about the G0440 back in March 2005.

"I have a G0440 installed and running. I can affirm that the G0440 does indeed suck very well. So far all I've run duct for is a floor sweep and a Unisaw. The main run is 7", coming straight out the intake and running along a wall supported by a couple cheap shelf supports. The floor sweep is 6". Currently I only have a 5" base dust chute connected to the Unisaw, a 3" overarm blade guard is planned. When ripping or crosscutting on the Unisaw very little (if any) fine dust escapes the G0440 suck via the base chute. The Unisaw is fairly close to the cyclone, I haven't figured out the S.P., CFM, differential statistics, etc... for the ducting, but the performance is more than adequate.

As for hanging the contraption on the wall vs. buying a stand, I went with building a stand out of scrap lumber I had on hand. It took a little thinking but it wasn't all that difficult to build. Assembly of the unit occurred on the floor. I was able to stand everything up with the help of my wife.

The remote control works fine, I've accidentally dropped it a couple times; the battery cover pops off and the batteries fly out, but after reassembly it works.

One thing I noticed is that the G0440 generates heat. My shop is currently normally about 62 degrees F this time of year. After running the cyclone off and on over a period 6 hours the temperature had warmed up to about 68. This is a good thing during the cooler months, but come summer it may be a bad thing."

[Jim Becker]

Of course, being the anal person I am...I need to point out that dust collection systems do not "suck". They move air. Lots of air. (hopefully) That moving air carries the chips and dust from the tool to the bin. The more air you move, the more chips and dust (including the dangerous fines) you can move.

"Suction" equates to pressure drop. Vacuum systems have high pressure drops (suction) in the neigborhood of 80-100 SP (measured in "inches of water"). Dust collection systems are most efficient at about 2-8" of SP. Nope...no "suction" with a DC! :D (But don't let your prize pet near that hose inlet when there is a lot of air moving into it... ;) )

Bringing this back from a cute discussion to something useful, be careful judging systems based on the manufacturer's rating for CFM unless you know how it was measured and/or have the fan curves to compare. Many manufacturers will quote the CFM at essentially 0" SP..."free air"...which does not represent the system installed with duct work, etc. There is also the limitation that the duct work will place on the system. 4" pipe maxes out at about 300-350 real CFM no matter what system it's hooked to. 6" will give you 800 CFM or maybe a little more max. Those larger cyclone systems require 7", 8" and sometimes larger main duct runs to actually get the big CFM numbers that are stated in the specs.

[Tom White]

I've had my G0440 for over a year. So far, I'm totally satisfied. I've got a 6" main line which narrows down to 4" for most tools. I can leave the gates open on at least 2 tools and still catch all of the dust (except for the table saw - which is a fault of the saw's design IMO). As far as build quality goes, I would give it a 9 out of 10.

[Neal Clayton]

my stepbrother has that grizzly 2 bag collector. for the price i think it works pretty well. he's able to handle everything in his shop (main is a ~50 foot run of 6", with about 6 4" drops) except his planer.

only caveats...

1) it's a lot louder than cylcones are
2) obviously not as easy to clean up, since you have to empty bags rather than a can