Oneida Gorilla Worked too well - almost

[Thomas Pender]

I have had my Oneida Gorilla (2.5hp) going for several months now. One set up I have is a 4" hose attached to a few blast gates that I attach to 2.5" adapters for my sander or router table. Also, at the end of the day I will sweep up stuff and just pick up what is on the floor with the hose (it is 10" long).

The other day I made a mistake and used it to clean up stuff of the top of the bench. I must have taken my eye off of it because I thought I felt a clunk, but it still sucked and made no bad noises and did not see anything missing. Well later, I thought I had some kind of blockage so I shook out the hose from the blast gates and lo and behold out pops my favorite tape ruler - weighing a good 10 oz plus. Well that sure was a surprise - I had not even missed the tape yet. Point is that I could really have messed up this wonderful dust collector, but did not, but the other point is the Oneida pulled this monster tape up through 10" of 4" hose that is 6' high at the blast gate and still managed to suck up the dust from my router until I shook out the tape.

Now I have to figure out some kind of screen when I do this - I mean I know I have sucked up a plastic bag and it came out of the bin on the bottom underneath the filter, but heck I need to protect this tool. Like I have said before, everything is cleaner with it and there is just so little residual dust. Any suggestions on how to screen things from the end of the hose yet still suck up chips and hand planer shavings?

[Jamie Buxton]

I haven't actually tried the experiment, but I think it is likely that the tape measure would not have damaged the Oneida. One of the great things about a cyclone is that the air stream first passes through the cyclone, then goes through the impeller. This is different from the single-stage DC, where the air stream first goes through the impeller, and then into the filters. In the cyclone, your tape probably would just drop in the chip collector bin, without damaging anything.

[Chris Padilla]

I sucked up a large towel once and I feared it would wrap around the impeller, burn up the motor, etc., before I could shut everything down.

I simply pulled it out of the bottom of the cone of the cyclone and it was no worse for wear and the DC continues to suck just fine....

[Tom Veatch]

I haven't actually tried the experiment, but I think it is likely that the tape measure would not have damaged the Oneida. ...

You're right.

DAMHIK, but there would be an ungodly racket as the tape measure rattled around the inside of the cyclone before it dropped into the bin. But in a normal configuration where the cyclone outlet feeds the blower inlet, the tape measure wouldn't pass through the impeller. The only thing that passes through the impeller is extremely fine dust that doesn't get separated out in the cyclone.

Edit: Oh yes, one other thing I've found that will pass through the impeller, and make a loud noise doing so, is zip-lock sandwich bags. They tend to not get separated out in the cyclone.

[Steve Rozmiarek]

You're right.

DAMHIK, but there would be an ungodly racket as the tape measure rattled around the inside of the cyclone before it dropped into the bin. But in a normal configuration where the cyclone outlet feeds the blower inlet, the tape measure wouldn't pass through the impeller. The only thing that passes through the impeller is extremely fine dust that doesn't get separated out in the cyclone.

Edit: Oh yes, one other thing I've found that will pass through the impeller, and make a loud noise doing so, is zip-lock sandwich bags. They tend to not get separated out in the cyclone.

So does that ribbon shredded paper that's used for packing. It all sticks together, and really gets your attention when it goes through the impeller. Easy to get out of the filter though.

[Sonny Edmonds]

It's hard to hurt a cyclone unit, Thomas.
Reason is the debris spins out in the chamber. Can't reach the actual blower wheel.
Your beloved tape (I understand, having one myself) is so heavy compared to the dust handled normally by the unit, it would drop like a rock through a fart IF it ever made it to the chamber at all. (Not likely)
A Cyclone has clean (relatively) air passing through its blower. Just very fine dust.

If you put any sort of a screen in the hose, you will impede its suction ability, and likely cause it to plug where the screen is. (Chips and stringy stuff will hang up on it.)

The only thing I would worry about is combustible metals going through my cyclone system.

TIP:
If at anytime you think you may have sucked up anything into your hose (or system), you can stop it from traveling immediately by pressing the open end against the floor or any flat surface. (Shutting the blast gate does this as well.)
That stops the airflow instantly. No air, no movement in the system.
Everything stops and drops.
Then shut off the system, what until it comes to a complete stop, and go retrieve the errant item.