DC sound question

[Aaron Liebling]

I've got my new Oneida V3000 installed and it's providing all the suction I need. It's currently hooked up primarily to my 3HP sawstop + floating blade collector (7" main to 6" split to 4" for the saw and floating collectors). My only real issue with it is that it's loud.

The sound from the unit itself will be mitigated by building an enclosure, but the sound at the saw - specifically from the floating over blade collector - is *really* loud. I'm assuming there's nothing I can do to mitigate the volume at the tool while in use (is there?), but I think I want to find a way to stop suction (and thus noise) at the saw without having to turn the DC on and off (since I don't want to cycle it that often in an hour).

I'm assuming I can add a gate upstream of the split to the saw/floating collector and simply close that gate, but this leads to my next question:

If this is the only thing attached and I close the gate to it, will there be a problem? I.e. if the dust collector has no inputs open but is on, will it be doing any harm? If so, I guess I can simply have another gate someone inconspicuous that stays open to provide some flow to the DC.

Any thoughts welcome!

[Larry Frank]

It is not a problem to have all gates closed.

[Jim Becker]

Closed gates provide the least load to the system so if you want to keep the cyclone spinning but reduce noise when you are not cutting, simply close the gates.

[Aaron Liebling]

That's perfect. Thanks!

[Andy D Jones]

Closed gates provide the least load to the system so if you want to keep the cyclone spinning but reduce noise when you are not cutting, simply close the gates.

Closing all gates not only reduces noise, it also reduces the electrical power draw.

Note, don't try this with vacuums that use the suction (or exhaust) airflow to cool the motor.

-- Andy - Arlington TX