DC question(s)

[Brian Greb]

I was washing my DC bags tonight and had some thoughts run trough my head... I posted this in workshops firs but didn't get any bites. maybe it will do better here.

1. How many times can I wash my DC bags.

2. Would it be worth it to up-grade to an upper canister? ...can I up grade?(delta 1hp DC)

3. Can you soop up a 1hp DC... is it worth it if you can?
(I'm tired of moving the hose from one tool to another I'd love to go to a central system, or at least a quasi central system)

...or should I start saving my pennys to get a new DC with a 1 micron bag and more power?

[glenn bradley]

Save your pennies. A 1HP machine is only going to do so much. I squeezed an extra period of time out of my 1HP Delta by switching to an American Fabric Filter top bag and going solid on the bottom. The top bag was much larger than the stock bag and should have been even larger.

The move to a finer, larger top bag and a solid bottom bag really was noticeable. I just stuck a lawn and leaf bag inside the old fabric lower bag. So much so that I kept the machine after I installed my 2HP Cyclone. It serves my jointer and planer but, I still move the hose from one machine to the other ;-)

[Van Huskey]

Easy for me to spend YOUR money but I would suggest moving up and using a canister. Even if it is a Harbor Freight special.

[Tom Veatch]

...
3. Can you soup up a 1hp DC...

Short answer: No.

If the present motor isn't overloaded, hanging a bigger motor won't do a thing to move more air. The bigger motor won't develop any more power than needed to spin the impeller at the motor's rated speed, and the present motor (if not overloaded) is already doing that.

To "soup up" the DC, you'd need a more efficient, or larger impeller that can move more air against the existing system's pressure drop. Or improve the existing system to reduce the pressure drop as much as possible. The impeller would then consume more power and, depending on reserve capacity in the existing motor, you might need a larger motor.

But you can't just hang a bigger motor on the same impeller with no other changes to the system and expect the performance to improve.