We were blessed to move into a new home last year after retiring. The house included a large walkout basement, which allowed me to finally have a dedicated workshop after using the garage for many years.
So I bought new machinery, including a Grizzly G0441 3hp dust collector. Hooked everything up, and WOW does this thing suck sawdust.
I've never had a dust collection system before, so I have nothing to compare this to. This is a cyclone DC, and under the cyclone funnel is a 55 gallon collection drum. Hanging off the side is a canister filter with a plastic bag on the bottom. The larger chips etc are supposed to go into the large collection drum, while the finer dust is supposed to go into the canister on the side. This canister has two cords attached to it, which move a brush handle up and down on the inside to clear the fine dust.
So here is my question. After about 2 or 3 months using the new shop, I opened up the 55 gallon collection drum and was thrilled to find it filled to the top. Better there than in my lungs. But the canister filter with the plastic bag had only about an inch of sawdust on the bottom. Is this a good thing or a bad thing? Somehow i expected there would be more of the fine sawdust.
What is your experience? Thanks in advance for your help.
Depending on how you have it set up, most of them let some fine dust get to the filters. Be thankful you don't have an Oneida, when I'm using my drum sander heavily I have to clean the filter on mine twice per drum of chips; I have a gauge just to track the filter clogging. But you also may have let your drum get to full, which will be a really bad thing if it goes to extremes. When that happens the filter gets clogged, then the impeller and all kinds of other problems crop up (DON"T ever let that happen, and don't ask how I know). But I'd also guess that flapper didn't knock all the dust out of the filter, not a big deal but you may to dismount it and give it a thorough cleaning some day. When it gets trapped between the pleats in the filter, blowing from the outside in with an air gun will dislodge more (careful) and then if you lay it on it's side on the floor and pick one end up about 15" or so and drop, that will dislodge more. Back to your question, I think you're fine and are seeing normal operation. But remember this: ANY leak at the drum will let dust blow into the filter, so be sure your drum connections are absolutely air tight, I checked mine with a smoke test (used a cigar, shop smelled for days).
That's a good thing, in a perfect world the cyclone would be able to handle all of the larger chips and finer dust, but such a system simply doesn't exist. Knowing that some of the finer dust will inevitably make it past the cyclone, the filter is included to clean that out of the exhaust and the small bag on the end of the filter so you can clean the filter and capture the fine dust without having to remove the filter completely.
That's a good thing. The cyclone is doing what it's supposed to.
As Fred said, be careful to not let the drum get too full. The cyclone action stops working at that point and you'll actually start sucking debris out of the drum and send it past the impeller and into the filter. Have fun picking all those chunks from the pleats. Same thing will happen if you don't have a good seal on the cyclone side. I've done it too…
+10 for not overfilling, It is a disaster. In the summer months I blow mine out the front of the shop. I had an overfill. My daughter came running in a told me it was snowing, but just in front of the shop. Sure enough I had a sawdust blizzard in the yard. It took about 5 minutes for it to clear out after I dumped the bins. Planning will fill you up in no time. I was planning 4 2"x18" glue ups about 10' long, I filled it twice.
I have my cyclone in a storage room next to my shop. Got tired of running the drum over, cut a hole and installed a window in front so I can see the clear hose when I'm planing. I put a trouble light on the drum top so it illuminates the hose. It only takes a few seconds for the dust to block the hose, I look at the hose often when planing. Never have run the thing over except when planing. Avoid the sensor from Oneida, I bought one, installed it according to their directions, it worked about 1 in 3 times I depended on it. You should be able to blow out your filter with compressed air, regulate down to about 80 lbs, and don't get your tip real close, and you can see how much fine dust is clogging it. The dust will fall into your bag.
As others have said; this is normal for a good cyclone. I only have a tablespoon or so of fine dust in the bottom of my filter collection every time I empty the bin.
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Related Threads
?
?
?
?
?
LumberJocks Woodworking Forum
2.5M posts
96K members
Since 2006
A forum community dedicated to professional woodworkers and enthusiasts. Come join the discussion about shop safety, wood, carpentry, lumber, finishing, tools, machinery, woodworking related topics, styles, scales, reviews, accessories, classifieds, and more!