For those with cyclone dust collectors enclosed in a closet...

How much fine dust do you get on the floor and walls of the closet?

I'm asking because in my current shop I have a cartridge dust collector and air compressors in the same closet and I get a lot of fine dust caked on everything inside the closet. In my next shop, I will be buying a cyclone and I need to know whether or not I can put the compressors and cyclone in the same closet or build two separate closets. The closet will also have shelving with all my hardware, parts, and supplies that I would prefer not to have covered with fine dust. I'm leaning towards putting the cyclone in a separate isolated closet but if the cyclones really do as good a job of filtering the fine dust as they say, I'm wondering if it will be okay to just set it up in the main closet.

Thoughts?

The closet becomes your second stage separator with your old system.

I just got my dust collector installed so not much data yet. I do get a good puff of dust from removing the bin to dump it. That may be my biggest source. The amount of dust that gets through the filter does depend on the filter. The one I have is supposed to be super duper but it will still be some. You will have to check the compressor’s filter more often and maybe vacuum the closet occasionally. Since you mention it, checking the particle count in the closet versus the shop while milling lumber would tell the difference. I will do that just to know how clean the collector’s exhaust is.

My compressor is a Porter Cable pancake that lives in a corner of the shop. I don’t use it much

When I first installed my cyclone in the closet I got a fair amount of dust on the floor and other horizontal surfaces. Once I figured out that the oneida gaskets compress quite a bit after assembly and re-tightened all the gasketed flanges between the blower and the filter the amount of dust dropped a lot, but there is still some over time. And as Thomas said, emptying the drum usually results in a fair amount of dust on the floor; enough to sweep up.

I've been tempted to move my compressor into the closet to reduce noise, but I think if I did it I'd try to find a way for it to pull inlet air from outside the closet.

I built a 'sound proof' closet for my compressor and 5 HP dust collector along with some shelves for storage. It has a cyclone and a HEPA filter. No dust at all, like not even a trace. As with Paul, I did initially have a bit, but that was because I hadn't tightened the filter bolts down enough.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Frank Pratt

I built a 'sound proof' closet for my compressor and 5 HP dust collector along with some shelves for storage. It has a cyclone and a HEPA filter. No dust at all, like not even a trace. As with Paul, I did initially have a bit, but that was because I hadn't tightened the filter bolts down enough.

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Same here. No detectible dust in the closet from the first use (5hp ClearVue cyclone, 5hp air compressor). In fact, the long cone ClearVue separator is so efficient I barely see fine dust in the clean-out box at the bottom of the filter stack. Even talcum-fine sanding dust goes into the bin. As Frank indicated, it’s important to seal everything well (especially the bin, from what I read) which I must have accidentally done at while installating. I highly recommend the ClearVue, not only based on the separation efficiency, but for the ability to watch the separation swirl on installation to make sure everything is working properly. It’s entertaining, too!

JKJ

I've had my dust collector in a closet for about 10 years and I don't know if I ever cleaned it. I just checked it and there's a very light amount of dust on the other tools in the closet. Hardly enough to notice.

Mike

Honestly, there wasn't much of any in the closet at the old shop that wasn't associated with my own foibles with plugging the filter and needing to clean it out. If you have your ductwork sealed well, there should be little issue with a large level of fines in your closet. And as has been mentioned, the extra isolation just adds to the improved air quality out in the general shop area since a non-direct vent of air back to the shop also reduces transmission of the fines...you can even enhance that with additional filtration if you really, really want to.

I didn't have a lot until I backed up the collector twice and had it dumped all over the floor. I tried to clean up some, but honestly I don't care enough to get it completely clean.

Not to speak of closets but I find it pretty funny that most of the pics of peoples dust collectors and piping show that the outside of the dust collector systems are covered in dust.

If you are getting significant amounts of dust in the closet there is some leakage in the system.

Attachment 479021
I found working with purple heart to be a good "leak detector" on my Oneida system.
:)

My 5HP Oneida and air compressor share a soundproof closet. The only time I get dust, is when I take out the plastic Oneida insert that keeps the bag down inside the 35gal drum. That always generates dust. When just running, I've never noticed any dust.

And if there is any procedure that I wear a great respirator while doing, it's emptying the drum. I've measured the particles in the workshop while doing that. It's not pretty, and that's 20 feet away.

I had my 1.5 hp compressor in with my 3 hp Oneida for years and had no problems. Minimal dust in the closet, what was there was probably from emptying the filter or the drum. Definitely less fine dust than the rest of the shop. The only reason I took it out was that my 2 hp in the garage died and I realized I could get by with just my little quiet Makita in the shop.

Thanks for all the replies, fellas. Based on the responses, it looks like I can just install them together in the same closet. I can always enclose the dust collector later if dust becomes an issue.

I'd say the "short cone" cyclones ( Laguna , Jet , etc . ) are going to leave some dust in your space . Full size will be better .