Super Dust Deputy XL vs Thien baffle

[Doug Bowman]

My choice would be the Thein baffle - you are venting outside and all I would worry about is visible dust which a properly built baffle is very effective at removing.

[Brice Rogers]

I'm running a Thien baffle with a 2 HP Harbor Fright Dust collector and I'm venting it outside. Where I vent it, I have yet to see any debris.

There are a few different variations in the Thien baffle. I would recommend having the intake enter tangentially (like it is when you re-purpose the original metal center section of the single stage DC). I would advise against putting in a PVC 90 as it is too abrupt and interferes a little with the circular rotation of the debris. I would also recommend having the outer edge of the slot to be at the same point as the metal ring. I've seen some Thien baffles where the slot is inboard a bit and that might create a ledge that hampers dust flow. Use rubber seals - - it there are air leaks, it can interfere with the proper operation.

If you decide to build a Thien baffle, you could get better CFM if you use (for instance) 5" tubing between the suction unit and the baffle and between the output to your outdoor vent. If the inlet and outlet are 6", then I'd go 6". But I can't see anything positive by dropping down to something smaller like 4".

[Jerry Cummins]

I'm running a Thien baffle with a 2 HP Harbor Fright Dust collector and I'm venting it outside. Where I vent it, I have yet to see any debris.

There are a few different variations in the Thien baffle. I would recommend having the intake enter tangentially (like it is when you re-purpose the original metal center section of the single stage DC). I would advise against putting in a PVC 90 as it is too abrupt and interferes a little with the circular rotation of the debris. I would also recommend having the outer edge of the slot to be at the same point as the metal ring. I've seen some Thien baffles where the slot is inboard a bit and that might create a ledge that hampers dust flow. Use rubber seals - - it there are air leaks, it can interfere with the proper operation.

If you decide to build a Thien baffle, you could get better CFM if you use (for instance) 5" tubing between the suction unit and the baffle and between the output to your outdoor vent. If the inlet and outlet are 6", then I'd go 6". But I can't see anything positive by dropping down to something smaller like 4".

I did the same thing with a similar dust collector, and I have not seen a single speck of dust outside. It really quieted things down too.

[Ryan Mooney]

I have a thien that I made (top hat design, metal lined, flipped impeller to get a straight shot, pretty standard). A few of things I learned while tuning/using mine:

Narrower slot == better separation efficiency (up to a lot better, like basically zero bypass with gallons of sanding dust shoveled at speed into the intake). However it also meant that it clogged horribly with my planer shavings so I had to widen the slot out let those pass which now allows more fines into my filters. Its not horrible but the separation performance definitely took a hit. Something like ~all~ shavings (that fit through the slot) 99.9% of table sawdust and 95-98% of drum sander dust (depending on the grit/speed/...). Until I got the drum sander filter cleaning was the far end of never, now is somewhat common. On a similar note having the edges of the baffle VERY smooth seems to help as well, as does a sharp edge on it. This took me a while to get right (or at least right enough that it stopped clogging the slot up with planer shavings..) so ease of disassembly is nice.

I got back more suction power by taking all of the flex and bends out of the assembly than I lost due to the baffle. "Got back" is somewhat anecdotally based on how far from an opening it can suck up dust as I lack better measurement equipment. Bends and flex just kill throughput. I can't give solid numbers but the combined modifications were a small net gain in CFM over the stock single stage design.

I have sucked a few larger than desired pieces of wood, paper, etc.. up into the impeller (and stalled out the impeller at least once.. oops.. that really made a horrible noise). A cyclone wouldn't have had that problem.

[paul cottingham]

I have a thien top hat with a blower on top of it exhausting outside. Works great, with very little junk blowing out into the yard. I would try it before dropping the money.

[Staffan Hamala]

Thanks everyone! I'll go with the Thien baffle! :-)

[Mike Turner]

I have the 2hp HF Dc with the Thein tophat. I only use it right now when using the lathe..I use a flexible hose and was wondering if ridgid pipe would help me any.? My run of the flex piping is only 18 or so feet.

[lee cox]

I have the 2hp HF Dc with the Thein tophat. I only use it right now when using the lathe..I use a flexible hose and was wondering if ridgid pipe would help me any.? My run of the flex piping is only 18 or so feet.

When I spoke with Oneida about my SDD and wanting to run 20 feet of hose they recommended against it. They said to use smooth wall pipe with as short as possible hose. You lose a lot of static press through a long hose.

[Staffan Hamala]

I'll buy a 44 gallon Brute trashcan for the Thien Baffle build. That one has a 24" diameter, which should be enough for my 6" pipes. I read, somewhere, that it's recommended to have a minimum diameter for three times the pipe diameter (for better efficiency and less static pressure loss). 3*6=18". So 24" should be perfect.

There's a 55 gallon Brute as well, but I think 44 should be enough.

[William C Rogers]

I used a Thien trash can separator for years with my 1100 Jet; 4" in and out. When I decided to vent outside (with a 3hp DC) I wanted to improve the separation the Thien provided. I felt a cyclone was a better option. While the Thien does a very good job, my experience was it would capture about 95% of the chips and about 80% of the dust. These are my estimates based on my use. The other factor was I could only utilize about 70% of the can volume before it needed to be emptied due to space baffle took and chips starting to bypass when filling up. The Thien may have worked with the bypass being blown away, but I felt the better solution was a cyclone. Since I was venting outside I bought the inexpensive Escarda cyclone around $250 shipped. I am very happy with the performance of this cyclone.

[Cyrus Brewster 7]

I used a Thien trash can separator for years with my 1100 Jet; 4" in and out. When I decided to vent outside (with a 3hp DC) I wanted to improve the separation the Thien provided. I felt a cyclone was a better option. While the Thien does a very good job, my experience was it would capture about 95% of the chips and about 80% of the dust. These are my estimates based on my use. The other factor was I could only utilize about 70% of the can volume before it needed to be emptied due to space baffle took and chips starting to bypass when filling up. The Thien may have worked with the bypass being blown away, but I felt the better solution was a cyclone. Since I was venting outside I bought the inexpensive Escarda cyclone around $250 shipped. I am very happy with the performance of this cyclone.

A cyclone certainly separates better, but the need for it is negated by venting outside. There will be no appreciable evidence of dust/chips outside if using a baffle.

[William C Rogers]

A cyclone certainly separates better, but the need for it is negated by venting outside. There will be no appreciable evidence of dust/chips outside if using a baffle.

I didn't try it so don't know. I couldn't find any information on using a Thien baffle with a 3-5hp system. I had other concerns in addition to any debris outside. I wasn't sure how effective a 6" Thien system would be. Also with 6" connections I felt I would be giving up to much storage volume in the bin. Then would a 3-5hp system collapse a brute can. I briefly thought about a top hat design, but the cyclone just seemed much more practical and not much more cost. To me there were just too many other unknowns to invest the time and money into it. None of these things may be issues, but too many unknowns to me to go that way. I have 12' ceilings, so I could stack my system and save floor space.
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