Why Mount Dust Collector Blower Over Cyclone?

Why I mounted my SDD on top is as you said to reduce the foot print and reduce the drag on air flow by an added several feet of hose.

My first cyclone was a shop built (from the Wood magazine plan) and I powered mine with a 2.5 HP Penn State DC I had. I did just as you suggested, except I plumbed mine to the top of the cyclone with 6” snaplock. This worked very well, especially since the blower was way overrated for the cyclone. But that footprint thing did eventually become a problem and i replaced it with a commercial cyclone. One of the problem is mounting the larger blowers like the one I had (and yours) above it is the weight. I wouldn’t use flex, the drag is 3X what a smooth wall pipe would have, go with PVC or snaplock, or something else.

-- Our village hasn't lost it's idiot, he was elected to congress.

@WhyMe – What size blower did you mount on top of your SDD?

@Fred – I will check out the Wood magazine plan. You are right, I am concerned about the weight of the unit for two reasons. First, the blower/motor assembly probably weighs 80 lbs or more. Putting that much weight 6 ft in the air on a shelf (essentially) is going to be difficult to get into place. Second, by changing the orientation of the unit from the impeller sitting in front of the motor to the impeller below the motor, I am worried that the weight of the motor would compress the impeller. I know i would need to mount the motor above the shelf, but bracing that much weight seems like that would be a risk.

I had thought about using a smooth wall pipe, but with the DC sitting on the floor that would mean that I would need to basically put close to a 180 degree U right above the SDD. I guess the flex pipe would be doing the same thing. Maybe I will just go with a PVC connection at first to see how well it works, and if I am not happy with the suction after the SDD then i will thing about rebuilding that connection to move the blower above the SDD.

Thanks!

-- Tim, New York

My original statement was a little backwards. I mounted the blower on top of the SDD, not the SSD on top. I converted a Harbor Freight dust collector so I didn’t have a lot of power to be adding several feet of hose. With your dust collector being a dual bag it seems to me the simple solution is to add duct going to the SSD.

The weight of the blower won’t compress the impeller, the housing will be stiff enough to hold it. Another concern that some may have if that the bearings in the motor are designed for side loads instead of the vertical loads (if that makes sense). My take on the bearings is that while that’s an important consideration in a commercial/ industrial setting, it doesn’t make much difference in a hobbyist shop. You are correct about the 180° elbow, I used 2 HVAC el’s to do that. Doing that with flex is a lot worse than using smooth pipe.

-- Our village hasn't lost it's idiot, he was elected to congress.

I have two of those in my shop. One with bags and one with cartridges.

First, the cartridges are a good investment. You will see an improvement in air movement.

Second, I haven’t altered my system so the impeller and motor sit above the SDD because I only have on SDD and it’s portable so I can take it an my little 2hp HF unit out into the yard and vacuum pine cones and leaves. HOWEVER, adding a second SDD is on the agenda, so I can mount the impeller and motor above it.

For me, going to the configuration you are considering will remove about fifteen or so feet of six inch hose and three bends, greatly improving the draw even more.

As it is, I never use a vacuum for floor clean up anymore, since the big collectors do it in a fraction of the time. Too, while other folks fight truck loads of shavings from lathe work, the draw on these knock that problem down to manageable proportions.