Oneida Supercell

[Ben Schmidt]

I'm strongly considering getting the new Oneida Supercell as the sole dust collection setup for my shop, but there's really no reviews out there on this unit other than on Oneida's website. It seems like a good compromise between high flow and high pressure, and a small footprint. I'm planning to use flex hose to connect to the tool I'm using, no fancy overhead piping etc. And I desperately want to get rid of my shop vac/dust deputy setup.

However, I have some reservations - one is sound; with three smaller motors and impellers will it sound like a screaming shop vac? Is it a jack of all trades, master of none, to the point that a hobbyist such as myself will notice or will it only be an issue with a high volume shop? And of course there's the price - we're talking upwards of $2500!, when I could go with a tried and true (and still HEPA) setup with the HF 2HP blower/SDD/Wynn filter that so many have used for less than $700.

So does anyone here have experience with this unit? If so I'd love to hear your impressions! Thanks!

[Larry Frank]

You seem to be comparing a HF collector to the Supercell. The HF gives you about 8" WC while the Supercell is about 98" WC. This is 10 times the suction. There is a huge difference in performance and cost.

I find the Supercell interesting but not enough real world experience yet.

[Ben Schmidt]

True, not a fair comparison. I should clarify I was just considering that option for an ultra budget DC setup compared to the spare-no-expense approach. The other strong contender is a mini-gorilla, more people have posted about that and seem very pleased.

[David Bassett]

When the SuperCell was announced, the FWW Podcast guys saw it at the industry show and were impressed. From the banter, I inferred none of them would be paying the price, but all of them would have switched / added one but for that. You can find old podcasts on their website and should be able to pull it up. (I think it was last spring, but...?) I haven't seen any real reviews yet though.

If you can swing SuperCell money, you might want to check out the Harvey Gyros. I'd never heard of them until a Instagram post last week and then another dust collection thread just this morning. Supposed to work as well, (or better,) on dust while being quieter, much more compact, and easier to empty. I see Woodcraft, (so I assume everyone,) has the smallest on sale for $3500 right now.

[Jamie Buxton]

I can't figure out the benefit of the Supercell. Oneida says it sucks better than a normal cyclone when they're both equipped with small-diameter duct -- like 1" or 2" duct. But larger duct is readily available. So hang 6" duct on an Oneida V-3000 (which is the same cost as the Supercell) and the conventional cyclone way outperforms the Supercell.

The other apparent downside to the Supercell is that the largest cfm Oneida says you can get with it is only 465 cfm. Most small shop stationary machines want more than that. For instance, the manufacturer of my 12" planer suggests 800 cfm. So like I said at the beginning, I can't see what benefit the Supercell offers.

[David Bassett]

... So like I said at the beginning, I can't see what benefit the Supercell offers.

Try hooking that 6" hose to your random orbit sander. It was described as versatile, i.e. a Jack-of-all-Trades, you just pointed out a case where it isn't a master. (I should note I haven't looked at it's marketing info and I'm going on the 2nd hand description from the FWW Podcast guys. I'm not in the market.)

[Bill Dufour]

Sounds like a regenerative blower with low air flow but high pressure.
Bill D

[Jamie Buxton]

Try hooking that 6" hose to your random orbit sander. It was described as versatile, i.e. a Jack-of-all-Trades, you just pointed out a case where it isn't a master. (I should note I haven't looked at it's marketing info and I'm going on the 2nd hand description from the FWW Podcast guys. I'm not in the market.)

But I already have a good small dust extractor which hooks to my handheld power tools -- sanders, track saw, and all. An essential thing about it is that it can and does leave the shop, to go work elsewhere. The supercell can't.

[Ben Schmidt]

Something interesting I just noticed is that the Supercell looks (and has specs) almost exactly like that of the "CC500", Oneida's portable extractor for use in concrete drilling and grinding. Supercell has the same exact motor units, CFM, etc. just different inlet size and non-portable.

https://www.oneida-air.com/cc500-l-c...actor-longopac
https://www.oneida-air.com/dust-coll...dust-collector

cc500-industrial-dust-extractor-front-left.jpgsupercell-55-gal-on-wall-front-right.jpg

[Ben Schmidt]

Well here's a video just posted a few days ago, an actual end-user with some great footage of the device. I'm not entirely sure whether he is sponsored by Oneida or not, but I don't think so. He seems to be pretty happy with the device, but all we see is basically the installation and a couple of informal tests. Still, hopefully he will have some followup after having a chance to use it for a while.

https://youtu.be/sx8gxqb-Hqg

[Jamie Buxton]

So here's two dust collection setups:
a) this Supercell
b) a 2 hp canister-based dust collector like the Grizzly G0548ZP, plus some small shop vac equipped with a small diameter flexible hose. I'd also add an aftermarket tool trigger.

The supercell probably does a fair job of extracting dust from handheld power tools. However, it is fastened to the shop wall, and can't leave. The small shop vac also does dust extraction from handheld tools. It can leave the shop, and it also has that aftermarket tool trigger, which is very helpful when you're sanding. I don't see an easy way of adding tool triggering to the supercell.

The supercell doesn't move enough air to do a good job of dealing with bigger fixed machines. It peaks at 465 cfm. That Griz claims to suck 1700 cfm. Even if that claim is optimistic, it is way better than the supercell.

Setup a) costs $2500. Setup b) costs $800-$900, depending on which shop vac you buy.

[Jim Dwight]

I do not see the Supercell as a ideal one size does everything dust collector. While is can deal with the loss of using a small hose, it would move way too much air to work well with a track saw or sander. So maybe you hook it up where it leaks so your tool is not sucked hard to the work? Maybe this wouldn't be too much of a problem but I've had this sort of issue with a shop vac so I don't think it is out of line to think the super cell could be worse. Really fancy shop vacs have speed control for this reason. Does the supercell have speed control? If so, that could solve this.

At the other end, is the relatively low ~450 CFM. I measured the CFM, crudely with a air speed meter, at not much more than this using my 2hp HF, no filtration (cyclone then outside exhaust) and 5 inch snap lock piping until the saw. So it may move as much air in real world situation as a 2hp DC. But it costs a lot more. And my setup at the CMS will not have to neck down to 4 inch to hook up so I will have more air there to try and reduce airborne.

If you can solve the over suction issue I speculate may affect smaller tools, then it should work pretty well as a chip collector. But with that sort of airflow, I doubt it will prevent clouds of fine dust. My HF may not either, I haven't finished my setup and need to then use a particle meter to know what it will actually do.

My personal opinion is that it is at the minimum cheaper and easier to just use both a DC and a shop vac. Shop vac works well for little tools. DC for larger ones. My shop is only 14x24 but I've found the space for both.

[David L Morse]

Here's a chart I posted on another forum. The OP was asking about a comparison between the Supercell and the V3000. He was constrained to 4" pipe and had a very small shop. Most of his tools were 1" or 2.5" ports with one or two at 4".

I just now added the Harbor Freight plot for Jim.





Note that the performance with 1" and 2.5" ports is about three times that of a high power shop vac. No surprise there.

The 4" system curve labeled "Jointer" is my JJP12 connected via a 4" hose. The one labeled "Table Saw ?" was my guess at what the OP had described.

At 4" the Supercell and HFDC are comparable. The V3000 is better, but not by much.

Again, this is for a particular situation. The OP wanted permanent ducting in only one size and no shop vac underfoot. Different shops and different people have different constraints.

[Steven Woodward]

Found this statement on Oneida SuperCell website:

Only use vacuum pressure rated flex-hose and duct with the Supercell dust collector. Under the system's high suction, standard hose/pipe may collapse causing affixed tools to be pulled towards the system, potentially causing damage and/or injury.