Clearvue 1800

[Rush Paul]

Considering my inability to get adequate air flow, i am considering caulking the joint between the top of the cyclone/bottom of blower and taping the top of the housing/motor plate with hvac tape. Any reason not to try that at this point?

Woody, there is no reason to do this. These joints are tight and taping the joint at the motor plate will make it a real pain to disassemble the unit should you ever want to do that. But not a problem, other than this.

If the impeller is spinning in the correct direction as shown by the arrow decal on the housing (watch it when it spins down), the only other potential culprit I can think of is a leak somewhere at your dust collection barrel (lid, joint, barrel walls). For many people, this has been the source of their problems. But, you say you don't see any air movement at the joint of your barrel and it's lid and presumably your barrel is itself air tight.

[Brian Behrens]

If you're ever in the mountains of North Georgia you're welcome to take a look at my Clearvue setup. Sorry I couldn't be more helpful. I found Clearvue to be very helpful on the phone when I had questions in the past.

[John K Jordan]

…. I found Clearvue to be very helpful on the phone when I had questions in the past.

I discovered that too. They were pleasant and looked up the answer to my question although they didn’t seem too knowledgeable at the time - I think this was soon after the new owners took over so they should be on top of things now.

I wonder if they would be willing to contact some customers in Woody’s area and pass along his email address in case one wanted to help. I find “wood people” are generally kind and helpful!

[woody dixon]

I have been in contact with support at Clearvue and Paul Bushey himself, and everyone has been pleasant and tried to help, but so far no success. I am asking Paul to pass my email on to people in my area to see if I can see their setups. Thanks to everyone . Hopefully this will get resolved soon.

[woody dixon]

One more difference in my setup. I built a filter plenum and used gamma seal filters to hand my filters side by side under the box. I did this because my filters did not come with a ring on top or gasket so I figured this was the easiest solution and would allow me to unscrew them for cleaning. Not so sure now. There is alot of turbulence around the gamma seals when I run a smoke test. I dont know how much is supposed to be there since I assume air is coming out through the filters. Anybody familiar with this and knows how a correctly sealed top is supposed to react in a smoke test?

[Rush Paul]

Your plenum setup should not be a problem. I used a plenum set up with my CV1800 in my basement shop because I didn't have enough ceiling height. Worked just fine. And, as you've no doubt seen, many other Clear Vue owners have run their exhaust into a plenum to connect the filters. If you're at all concerned about your plenum being a choke point, just run test by disconnecting whatever duct you have running from the outtake of the blower assembly (the exhaust) over to your plenum. The cyclone does not need the filters in place to operate, but if the exhaust is blocked to some degree that would certainly impact your system's air flow.

[John Lanciani]

This thread is mostly throwing darts blindfolded without some pics but you need to stop with the smoke tests and start looking for the elephant in the room if the performance is as bad as you say. Any 5 hp collector running through 6" duct that is set up and running even remotely properly will move enough air to get your attention. There is something fundamentally wrong with your setup and a smoke test isnt the right tool to find it.

[Leigh Betsch]

My clearveiw will suck up my 30ft tape measure if I don’t hold onto it.

[woody dixon]

This thread is mostly throwing darts blindfolded without some pics but you need to stop with the smoke tests and start looking for the elephant in the room if the performance is as bad as you say. Any 5 hp collector running through 6" duct that is set up and running even remotely properly will move enough air to get your attention. There is something fundamentally wrong with your setup and a smoke test isnt the right tool to find it.

I was just doing what i have been advised to by Clearvue and others. My problem was either incorrect impeller rotation or leaks in the system. Impeller is correct. What do you think the right tool is? I'm open to suggestions. I agree there is something fundamentally wrong.

[woody dixon]

Your plenum setup should not be a problem. I used a plenum set up with my CV1800 in my basement shop because I didn't have enough ceiling height. Worked just fine. And, as you've no doubt seen, many other Clear Vue owners have run their exhaust into a plenum to connect the filters. If you're at all concerned about your plenum being a choke point, just run test by disconnecting whatever duct you have running from the outtake of the blower assembly (the exhaust) over to your plenum. The cyclone does not need the filters in place to operate, but if the exhaust is blocked to some degree that would certainly impact your system's air flow.

Already done this. Felt alot more air at the exhaust but not that much more air flow or suction at equipment drops. My concern with the plenum is with the gamma seal connections. It seems the weight of the filters pulls the filter away from the seal when hung. I talked to Dick Wynn about this and he sent me new clips. I pulled the filters today, installed new clips, used weatherstripping underneath instead of caulk, caulked and recaulked every joint I could see. Will rehang tomorrow

[John K Jordan]

My clearveiw will suck up my 30ft tape measure if I don’t hold onto it.

I saw the video ClearVue used to have on their website. The measuring tape was pulled up a vertical duct, across the room, and dumped into the bin!
Oh, I checked and found it on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WFPtC3kfmeg





I've lost things at the lathe by not holding onto them well. I've dug through the sawdust in the bin more than once. I joke that you shouldn't let your cat get too close to the pickup nozzle.

JKJ

[Leigh Betsch]

That video is why I tried the tape measure test.

[Jim Becker]

Um...maybe asked already...but is there a blockage? Something is clearly amiss here. The little Delta 1.5hp blower I'm using behind an SDD in my temporary shop will suck my hand right up the hose if I put it in the wrong place!

[woody dixon]

Um...maybe asked already...but is there a blockage? Something is clearly amiss here. The little Delta 1.5hp blower I'm using behind an SDD in my temporary shop will suck my hand right up the hose if I put it in the wrong place!

I ont think so but how do I check without disassembly? Ive had the exhaust outlet disconnected several times and air flow out was strong but weak suction at drops. Dont know how I could get blockage anyway because Ive only been doing testing at various machines. Is there an easy way to eliminate this possibility? The hvac tape is a bear to get off.

Woody

[woody dixon]

Getting there. Just rehung the filters after redoing gamma seals and extensive caulking and flow much improved. Concentrating now on 6 inch blast gate that still has whistling air when closed. Others do not. Anyone run across this? Cant see smoke diverting. I can just replace but hassle to cut and scrape hvac tape off and redo for new if not necessary.