Quote Originally Posted by Ole Anderson View Post
Makes you wonder who is right. Many fan curves from the manufacturers don't agree, even roughly, with curves in the side by side magazine tests. At least the tests by the magazines, and there have been more than one, supposedly test all of the machines in the same manner, so there is a fair comparison between them. I would lean toward using curves from a side by side test rather than manufacturer's curves simply because you have no idea if the manufacturer's info is right compared to another manufacturer's data.
There is no standard testing method to make it easy for consumers to compare stats from one company to another almost a waste of time.
But, I tried anyways, when I was looking to buy a cyclone in 2011. I gathered as many stats and curves as I could find and entered them into a spreadsheeet for comparison.

One of the strange numbers was the 22 amperage rating of both the shop fox and griz 3 hp cyclone. (22amps X 220 volts= 4840 watts / 746 = 6.48 computed hp) Not sure how this works, but I have two 5 hp USA made motors that are rated at less than 22 amps.


Another annoying stat was the CFM rating found on Oneida's website section (comparison advantage) for the 3 hp super gorilla. The page shows an unnamed competitors stats for comparison, which based on the stats, was a Grizzly. The griz had 1654 cfm at 2" of static pressure, as compared to 1713 for the S.gorilla. I charted this info into the spreadsheet along with numbers pulled from fan curve charts. When you look at the stats for the Super Gorilla there is a fan chart that shows 1554 cfm at 1.8", and the line is at about 1500 cfm at the 2" static pressure mark. I'm not an engineer, but I was left scratching my head, trying to figure out out how the S.Gorilla could have two CFM numbers that were about 213 cfm diffrent at the same static pressure. I e-mailed Oneida about this, 3 years ago. Their reply was that the competitive advantage comparison was based on a prior version of the S.G while the stats page reflected their current production model. They said they would have their IT dept make the correction shortly.

Well.... Their IT dept. must be mighty busy as the same inaccurate "competitive comparison" stats are still there for all to read with the assumption that they are correct.


Disclosure: I ended up buying a 3 hp shop fox 1809, because it was being discontinued and was discounted down to $ 1,110.00 plus gas to pick it up and I was into it for under $ 1200. My biggest concern with the S.F. was the motor. With the savings between the S.Fox and my 2nd choice "Clear-Vue" and 3rd choice "Super Gorilla", I could buy a new Baldor motor if the shop fox motor quit and still have spent less than my 2nd or 3rd choice.


my.02