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Mounting a dust collector horizontally

9K views 31 replies 11 participants last post by  PresidentsDad 
#1 · (Edited by Moderator)
Hey all,
I've purchased a used grizzly g0562zp 3hp twin canister filter dust collector and I intend to mate it with a super dust deputy xl. Since it'll be a two stage unit, do you think there is any issue with mounting it horizontally so I can mate the input of the dust collector directly to the SDD? I have an awkward space situation in my shop and mounting this on the ceiling with the filters going out horizontally and the suction side of the collector pointed down into the SDD would really help my space issue. Thanks for the advice.
 
#3 ·
We do what we have to do, so go ahead. The only caution I can think of is that the motor bearings are sometimes specific to which way they are oriented (load-wise). But I also think that's important in a commercial setting; less so in a hobbyist shop.
 
#4 ·
Wow - that thing takes up a lot of space. Mounting the fan and motor horizontally or vertically shouldn't affect the motor or fan performance. Mounting the filter elements horizontally will make cleaning the filters a lot more difficult.

The clear bags at the bottom of the pleated filters aren't nearly so important with a 2 stage system since very little material will make it to the filters and the dust that does make it into the 2nd stage will mostly remain on the filters until it is dislodged by the cleaning paddles. Running the paddle around to knock off the dust without removing it will just result in most of it being re-deposited on the filters when the unit is turned back on. I have an access port on mine and take off the door to get the shop vac wand inside the filter to vacuum off the inside face of the pleats.
 
#5 ·
What if I removed the connector between the impeller and filter housing, replaced it with a single unit and only used one filter? Since it'll be a 2 stage unit at that point, I would imagine I don't need as much filtration. So I could go with one filter and one bag or I could mount both filters on the one side. Either way it keeps it vertical and smaller for the place I'd prefer to put it in my shop. Thoughts on that?
 
#6 ·
The amount of filtration is needed for the volume of air or at least to prevent the filter from restricting the volume anyway. If you reduce to just one filter, you will give up some of the CFM. If you could for example modify it so you can stack the filters on top of each other you could reduce the footprint but not reduced your airflow

If I understand your original question, instead of pivoting the entire unit sideways so that the intake can be mated to the top of the SDD, can you simply pivot the Y manifold 90° so that the intake points down? It looks like the connections between the manifold and the filter units are square so it appears you could rotate it. In fact if you do that, you could mount the motor/impeller's base to the wall.
 
#7 ·
The amount of filtration is needed for the volume of air or at least to prevent the filter from restricting the volume anyway. If you reduce to just one filter, you will give up some of the CFM. If you could for example modify it so you can stack the filters on top of each other you could reduce the footprint but not reduced your airflow

If I understand your original question, instead of pivoting the entire unit sideways so that the intake can be mated to the top of the SDD, can you simply pivot the Y manifold 90° so that the intake points down? It looks like the connections between the manifold and the filter units are square so it appears you could rotate it. In fact if you do that, you could mount the motor/impeller s base to the wall.

- Lazyman
Unfortunately, they are NOT square. Not sure which genius thought that up. I'm wondering if I bought this (https://www.grizzly.com/parts/Grizzly-OUTLET-CONNECTOR/P0548ZP019), if I could simply mount both filters to the one filter housing so I have the through put and would just have to clean out the lower filter every once in a while.
 
#8 ·
That is assuming that the connector would fit. Is it square? There aren't any specs. You may have to call them to get the dimensions and orientation of the ends. You may have to make your own connector somehow. Perhaps reshaping a round duct to fit the square holes?
 
#9 ·
Gravity is a weird thing. I think you will find out about it. High on a wall, and Vertical works better for gravity.

- therealSteveN
I agree. A cyclone carrying dust and chips uses gravity to help in the separation process so sideways may cause a build up of waste in the cyclone and then it's no longer a cyclone.
It is intriguing though. It would be fun to see exactly what happens.
 
#10 ·
Gravity is a weird thing. I think you will find out about it. High on a wall, and Vertical works better for gravity.

- therealSteveN

I agree. A cyclone carrying dust and chips uses gravity to help in the separation process so sideways may cause a build up of waste in the cyclone and then it s no longer a cyclone.
It is intriguing though. It would be fun to see exactly what happens.

- fivecodys
The cyclone separator would still be in it's normal configuration, just the motor and filter housing would be horizontal.
 
#11 ·
Perhaps if you use that connector, but skip that filter housing. I think you could stack the filters, and blow into them with that connector and a shop built baffle on the top of the filters to accept it. If you want a clean out box on the bottom, build that as well. Honestly, IME with a good cyclone, very little gets to the clean out box…the fines all wind up in the folds of the filters. So cleaning the filters means blowing the dust out from the outside and cleaning out through the box. Just a thought.
 
#13 · (Edited by Moderator)
Tried to post this yesterday, but LJ's didn't like it…

My vote is for " it makes no difference"

Just look at the mounting configurations of the various Grizzly dust collectors.

Key is smooth air flow, transitions and bends. I do agree that the separator should be placed level so when the airflow velocity is lowered, gravity allows the chips and dust to fall out of the air stream.

I currently have my dust collector mounted with the base horizontal, fan vertical. Sucks just fine… I plan to reconfigure the DC and mount it with the base vertical and the fan horizontal. I see no difference for the DC, separators yes…
 
#14 ·
Gravity is a weird thing. I think you will find out about it. High on a wall, and Vertical works better for gravity.

- therealSteveN

I agree. A cyclone carrying dust and chips uses gravity to help in the separation process so sideways may cause a build up of waste in the cyclone and then it s no longer a cyclone.
It is intriguing though. It would be fun to see exactly what happens.

- fivecodys

The cyclone separator would still be in it s normal configuration, just the motor and filter housing would be horizontal.

- PresidentsDad
You mean like this:
Kitchen appliance Gas Machine Mixer Cylinder


I have not had issues with mine.
 

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#15 ·
The ONLY thing that ever concerned me about doing this with my three horse is, the impeller is heavy and the bearings may not be, long term, tolerant of being flipped ninety degrees. Otherwise, there is no good reason not to go ahead with your plans.

It would be interesting to compare the bearings on a Dust Gorilla cyclone, for example, and one of my old Jet three horse critters.
 
#16 ·
Gravity is a weird thing. I think you will find out about it. High on a wall, and Vertical works better for gravity.

- therealSteveN

I agree. A cyclone carrying dust and chips uses gravity to help in the separation process so sideways may cause a build up of waste in the cyclone and then it s no longer a cyclone.
It is intriguing though. It would be fun to see exactly what happens.

- fivecodys

The cyclone separator would still be in it s normal configuration, just the motor and filter housing would be horizontal.

- PresidentsDad

You mean like this:
Kitchen appliance Gas Machine Mixer Cylinder


I have not had issues with mine.

- fivecodys
Where'd you mount the filters?
 

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#17 ·
The ONLY thing that ever concerned me about doing this with my three horse is, the impeller is heavy and the bearings may not be, long term, tolerant of being flipped ninety degrees. Otherwise, there is no good reason not to go ahead with your plans.

It would be interesting to compare the bearings on a Dust Gorilla cyclone, for example, and one of my old Jet three horse critters.

- Kelly
For the weekend woodworker, do I really need to be that concerned about the bearings? Also, this is the Grizzly 3HP, but has the same 12-3/4" aluminum impeller from the 2HP one.
 
#18 ·
I, often, run one or the other of my units for hours at a time using them on the sanding table (with two sides, a back and a top) while sanding small projects and, especially, when using the rotary caving heads.

The there is the fact, for me, every day is a weekend. Of course, I am not unique with regard to that.
 
#19 ·
When it's running 4-5 hours a day, the bearing life consideration may be important….but how many of us run our DCs that much. Quite a few hobbyists have rotated their blowers and I haven't seen a single post about bearing failure. While it's certainly in the realm of possibilities…it's not something to cause you to lose sleep.
 
#20 ·
Laying a cyclone on it's side would be an interesting experiment but I suspect the outcome would be fairly predictable. Poor performance or severe clogging would be my bet.

Single row deep groove ball bearings will have a great radial than axial load capacity. Orienting the motor shaft horizontally verses the standard vertical position if anything would allow a heavier impeller to be supported and should change the life of the bearings in no way. Good bearings that have been properly sized should last ~10,000 hours if contaminates are sealed out. Many chinese and taiwainese motors use ok bearings, usually not bottom feeder junk (all bets are off when harbor freight comes into play) so you should reasonable still get several thousand hours of run time before things start to get excessively noisy.
 
#21 ·
Gravity is a weird thing. I think you will find out about it. High on a wall, and Vertical works better for gravity.

- therealSteveN

I agree. A cyclone carrying dust and chips uses gravity to help in the separation process so sideways may cause a build up of waste in the cyclone and then it s no longer a cyclone.
It is intriguing though. It would be fun to see exactly what happens.

- fivecodys

The cyclone separator would still be in it s normal configuration, just the motor and filter housing would be horizontal.

- PresidentsDad
I did not take this from reading the initial post. Yes the motor unit is frequently not mounted in the absolute direction. I thought you meant the cyclone, and everything else sideways too. Likely you won't have a problem, or if you do a lot of You tubers are going to as well.
 
#22 · (Edited by Moderator)
Good information to know. Thanks.

I had an eye to a different configuration that would allow me to hide my four bag units overhead and pipe them back down to the cyclone and collector. That would mean 1/3 the room in the shop (twice - two units).

At the time I did this, I'd just swap the impeller and motor bearings, since after market bearings are a fraction of the price companies charge. For example, Powermatic wants about twenty a bearing. That means about two hundred for a blade guide swap. Instead, I pay about five bucks for eight, plus a bit of shipping.

Single row deep groove ball bearings will have a great radial than axial load capacity. Orienting the motor shaft horizontally verses the standard vertical position if anything would allow a heavier impeller to be supported and should change the life of the bearings in no way. Good bearings that have been properly sized should last ~10,000 hours if contaminates are sealed out.
- bigblockyeti
 
#23 ·
Gravity is a weird thing. I think you will find out about it. High on a wall, and Vertical works better for gravity.

- therealSteveN

I agree. A cyclone carrying dust and chips uses gravity to help in the separation process so sideways may cause a build up of waste in the cyclone and then it s no longer a cyclone.
It is intriguing though. It would be fun to see exactly what happens.

- fivecodys

The cyclone separator would still be in it s normal configuration, just the motor and filter housing would be horizontal.

- PresidentsDad

You mean like this:
Kitchen appliance Gas Machine Mixer Cylinder


I have not had issues with mine.

- fivecodys

Where d you mount the filters?

- PresidentsDad
air.
 

Attachments

#24 ·
Did you eventually mount the filter and filter bag horizontally with a second stage separator?
I am thinking of doing the same thing. I have limited space and would like to mount my unit in the rafters.
I have a grizzly 5hp unit and would need to invest in some expensive 8" square to 6" round adapters to make this work.
Appreciate your insight.
 
#25 ·
Did you eventually mount the filter and filter bag horizontally with a second stage separator?
I am thinking of doing the same thing. I have limited space and would like to mount my unit in the rafters.
I have a grizzly 5hp unit and would need to invest in some expensive 8" square to 6" round adapters to make this work.
Appreciate your insight.

- Iscribe
I did not. After calling Grizzly, they said the motor bearings could not take being mounted in a horizontal position. Plus, I could not figure out how to mount the canister filters, so I put it as far back into the corner as I could, then mounted the SDD XL as high as I could and ran the 6 inch PVC along the ceiling. It took up only marginally more space than mounting everything to the ceiling.
 
#26 ·
I am still thinking of moving my two three horse units up into the attic. That would be eight bags/canisters.

With a bit of thinking, I could run a pipe down to a Super Dust Deputy, so emptying would not become problematic, and the output could be piped back down by way of building a box for the filter air output and which directed their air back into the shop, so cooling and heating (both extreme) would not be lost.

The filter could be right next to the down pipe, to minimize floor space consumption.

Engage imagination…..........
 
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