Thoughts on Oneida SDD XL 6”

I was looking at Oneida’s Super Dust Deputy XL, the 6” version.on their website, they say “ ultra-high efficiency with integrated air ramp and 6" neutral-vane inlet”. I sent them an email just to confirm and this is what they replied:

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Thank you for reaching out to us. Great question, The neutral vane technology is a feature included on most cyclone separators. The "vane" refers to an extension of the inlet pipe that protrudes into the cyclone body itself. Similar to an air ramp, neutral vanes reduce static pressure loss by better guiding the airstream and reducing turbulence inside the cone.

With our larger Cyclones such as the XL this area of the cyclone acts like a neutral vane. I have attached a picture of the area I am referring to for your reference. While we don't have a flat wall like on the 2" and 2-1/4" Dust Deputy, the functionality of the neutral vane is still present.
It does not have an air ramp but the neutral vane which is similar.

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https://sawmillcreek.org/blob:https:...2-2da2707bac03

So they don’t have an air ramp and are trying to say they have a neutral vane.
how critical is an air ramp and neutral vane to the operation of a cyclone. I think I read somewhere that they can reduce the static pressure penalty of a cyclone?
I was hoping to get away from making my own cyclone …
Sorry for the different formatting. I can’t seem to modify it.

thanks,
aaron

My cyclone I installed a so called neutral vane slipped inside the inlet tube. It increased suction pressure by 10-15%. I think it extends about 2" farther into the body. No fancy angle cut or anything else just a roll of sheet metal held in place with one screw. Adjusted with vacuum gauge hose held in the middle of the intake pipe.
Bill D

I'm not an expert on the nuances of some of the design elements of cyclones, but the vendor you are looking at has been exclusively focused on small to medium shop dust collection for decades. Their systems tend to deliver what they say they do and they are happy to provide fan curves, etc., to document. I will tell you this...I just put the 5" version of the SDD in my temporary shop and I'm impressed with it so far, with further testing to occur as soon as my electrical final inspection is passed. For such a small setup, it seems to be pretty well engineered and the intake does appear to be ramped from the inlet over most of the circumference of the cyclone body. Because these things are molded, you can see the exact contour that the air path follows.

Have a 5" and a 6" both work best with lot of fan on them
real static pressure killers
have a two horse dust collector fan and a 3horse dust collector fan on the 6" and not happy with the static at the inlets
HOW EVER it rely packs the dust in the bin, as long as the bin is tight
have a 2 hp on the 5" and have not used it enough yet to have a solid opinion
the 6" was bought to replace a 6" metal one bought off of ebay by guy who manufactures them, both cyclones act the same no real difference I have found so far
at this time I would buy one again if I have a need for another dust collection setup

I have the 6" version with 3 hp blower, 6" PVC pipe (blast gates at each machine), and cartridge filter. About every 5-6 times that I empty my 30 gal chip barrel (so, 150+ gal of dust collected), I also check the trap under the cartridge filter... typically much less than a 1/4 cup of fine dust found there.. basically a dusting in the catch pan. About every 10-12 times that I empty, I'll pull the cartridge off and clean it outside, which causes a brief "dust cloud" creation event. My point is that I feel like this cadence shows that the SDD is doing a nice job at separating as barely anything reaches the filter.

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Originally Posted by Bill Dufour

My cyclone I installed a so called neutral vane slipped inside the inlet tube. It increased suction pressure by 10-15%. I think it extends about 2" farther into the body. No fancy angle cut or anything else just a roll of sheet metal held in place with one screw. Adjusted with vacuum gauge hose held in the middle of the intake pipe.
Bill D

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What type of cyclone do you have Bill that you are able to modify it?

Thank you Jim for providing that balanced viewpoint. You are right. They have been doing this for many years and their are many good reviews.
As an aside, I assume that your ducting is all 5” metal? How many horizontal feet do you have and how many drops? Are the drops 5” as well? I am sure you have read bill Pentz’ view about 6” ducting. Is the reason you went with 5” is because of your dust collector?

thanks, Aaron

Thank you Ron. So you say both use up a lot of the static pressure, leaving little for the ducting? Are you not getting much suction at the inlets? What type of ducting system do you have for each?

Sounds like your system works well for you. What brand and model of dc do you have? Do you know the size of the impeller?

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Originally Posted by Aaron Gatzke

What type of cyclone do you have Bill that you are able to modify it?

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I think it is an Onidea. easy to do since it has a 5" diameter round pipe sticking out for an inlet. I just took a piece of thin sheet metal more then 16" wide and rolled it up so it fit inside the 5" pipe. It became about a 6-10" long tube. Thin metal is fine since it has no pressure acting on it. cardboard would have worked.
Bill D

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Originally Posted by Aaron Gatzke

Thank you Jim for providing that balanced viewpoint. You are right. They have been doing this for many years and their are many good reviews.
As an aside, I assume that your ducting is all 5” metal? How many horizontal feet do you have and how many drops? Are the drops 5” as well? I am sure you have read bill Pentz’ view about 6” ducting. Is the reason you went with 5” is because of your dust collector?

thanks, Aaron

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The duct work is 5" clamp together from Blastgate Company. Two drops are 4"...CNC and bandsaw/router table, one is 5"...J/P and one can be either 5" or 4", depending on what I'm using it for. This is for my temporary shop. Total run length to the last gate is about 25' max. When I get my shop building built, my main trunk will likely be 7" or 8" initially with 6" beyond the first branch. I generally use 5" drops because they work well for both 120mm ports and 100mm/4" ports. Of course, that will not longer be serviced by a SDD. I picked this one up used from another 'Creeker strictly to service this temporary shop setup. And yes, I'm aware that the two drops over the gear in the middle of the space should not be pointing down, but that's a necessary evil in this particular space and is temporary.

Attachment 461651 Attachment 461652 Attachment 461653

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Originally Posted by Aaron Gatzke

Thank you Ron. So you say both use up a lot of the static pressure, leaving little for the ducting? Are you not getting much suction at the inlets? What type of ducting system do you have for each?

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6" 30 gauge out to wye 4" to wide belt sander, a 6"wye for 6" Radial arm saw, a 6" wye down to table saw, jointer and floor sweep all 4" runs, 6" straight out to planer which reduced to 5"
changed over to 6" to 6" wye with 5" to radial arm saw at an angle, to 6 " wye to 4" down to jointer, 6" to 4" down to table saw, from first wye straight 6" to 6" wye with 4" to band saw, straight 6" to planer
need to cut in 4 " to wide belt and 5"?? to shaper
measured vacuum levels on both sides of filters, cyclone and all inlets. Don't remember readings anymore and did not write them down. just remember was surprised at how much loss thru cyclone
It took a 3hp fan and a 2hp fan to convince me I was not going to get better performance thru cyclone. However the sawdust, chips were packed hard in the dust bin by this time. Actually had a crater under the cyclone outlet instead of a hill
Tried using the 3hp fan to feed the cyclone and the 2hp on the exit side this pressurized the dust bin
Never came close to sucking the 6" 30 gauge pipe closed like has been said on here will happen
Ron
Ron