Dust Collector Questions

[Cody Colston]

How often do you turn your DC on/off? How long do you let it run between cuts? Is it better to turn it on/off only when needed or just let it keep running? Which uses the most energy: frequent on/off cycles or continuous running?

My cyclone is inside the shop and not enclosed so it is pretty loud when running. Even if it was in a separate room, the air suction is loud just by itself. As a result, I usually turn it off if I'm going to be more than a couple of minutes between cuts, especially if I'm having to measure and mark for a cut. I find it hard to concentrate with the thing running, even wearing ear protection.

Lately, however, I have been wondering if I'm shortening the motor life and/or using up more electricity by cycling it so often.

What do the rest of you do?



Cody

[ol]

[/ol]

[Super Ry]

I put in the ear plugs and shop glasses then fire up the DC and go about my business - I shut er down when I'm done with the power tools. Sometimes it'ss run for 10 to 15 minutes between actaully drawing on a working power tool. Typically it'll be on for 3 to 4 hours at the longest.

Its easier for a motor to keep running than start/stop/start/stop. Plus its a air cleaner when I'm not using it as a dust collector.

[mapleman]

i do the same as SuperRy -- i remmeber Sonny saying that continuous running is better than start and stop -- and i know thats the case with other motors, so why not DCs

one question --- when i leave it running sometimes i close the blast gates so it is a "closed" system. is that too hard on the motor???? no load vs. "full" load.
thanks

later, John "mapleman" Fairbairn III

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[fifo28]

I turn it on when I need it and turn it off whem I don't. Never really thought about the start and stop wear, but then again that is how I use my TS. Turn it on, make a cut and turn it off. Both my DC and TS have the same motor - no?

Anyway the start-stop-start process I use is only because I don't always need the DC running, only when I make the cuts. If I will be cutting a number of items consecutively I leave it on. I also have a remote for the dc which makes this easier. If I had to walk over to the dc to turn it on I would be tempted to leave it on longer.

I also have an air cleaner. If I am working with the shop (ok garage door) open I don't use it unless I am sanding. If the door is closed it is on all the time.

[Super Ry]

Too true, cept I don't start and stop the table saw motor each time I need to sand, joint, plane, route, etc. Figure the DC sees 6 to 7 times the on/offs as any other tool in my shop being that its plumbed to all of them.

Maple - I heard somewhere that haveing a closed system does NOT add a load on the motor. Infact it does the oposite. If you think about the motor having to push the air to create that wind we all want around the tools. If you remove the air from the system (by closing all the gates) you'll hear the motor ramp up a bit - not cuz its straining, more cuz its not haven to work to move all that air through the ducts.

I'm not sure I buy this as I can't member where or WHO told it. But its a good idear. :)

[Sonny Edmonds]

I usually will start up the DC and may not turn it off all day. Especially with lathe work. But some days it just isn't worth running all the time.
It is a lot easier on a motor to let it run or rest for lengths of time. Too much on/off/on/off/on/off builds heat in the motor. Heat is the number 1 enama of electric devices.
Your DC motor is also a TEFC type motor. That's Totally Enclosed Fan Cooled. An industrial type of motor, so running it actually helps cool it after a start up.
Running it with the gates closed does in fact reduce the amperage drawn by it somewhat. Not a vast amount, but it cetianly isn't going to hurt it to run especially when compared to beating it up with start stops.
I wouldn't be to worrysom about it either way. I like to let mine run on and if it isn't working on a machine, it's drawing air from somewhere or through the leaks and filtering it anyway.
I put a "closet" around mine and directed the discharged air down through the closet that the air compressor lives in.
Knocks the poop out of the noise factor. Quiet it down and you won't mind letting it run. The more it runs the cleaner the shop gets and stays.
Beans, beans, the musical fruit!
The more you eat, the more you toot!
The more you toot, the better you feel!
So lets have beans for every meal!

(Oh yeah, the DC helps disperse odors, too. :7 )

:D

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[Steve Wilson]

Since the air comming out of the filters of my dust collector is cleaner than the air in my shop (or in the house or outside) I just let the DC run for as long as I'm using my machines. With good ear plugs the noise isn't bothersome

[Cody Colston]

Thanks for the replies, guys. It confirmed what I thought, but I wanted to hear it from this bunch.

I believe I'm gonna build a shed-type addition onto the back of my shop so that I can put the DC out there; air compressor, too. I'll let that puppy run all the time, then. :)

Cody

What has been will be again,
what has been done will be done again;
there is nothing new under the sun.

[brent]

My compressor and DC live in a closet that I made for them. It really cuts down the noise and it does not bother me to let it run. As mentioned it does clean the air as it runs and another thing to consider is the fine dust that is made by tools that you don't really see. As I mentioned in another recent post I took a spotlight out to the shop and learned a lot. I ran the miter saw through a 2x4 and turned off the lights. But by the time I tunrned off the lights and put on the spotlight, the visible dust had been sucked away bt the dc. But as I looked through the area I was amazed at how much fine dust is thrown out by the saw and was suspended in the air.
For that reason I like to leave the DC on quite a bit. I don't run it all day, but if I am going to be working on the miter or table saw for a few cuts I leave it on. If I just make one cut, i tend to let it run for a little while. If there is dust in the air from a hand tool I open a blast gate at the opposite end of the shop then the return from the closet.

[Billy B]

Cody,

this was a great question. I wondered about that myself.

I move my collector hose from machine to machine as needed, and I have an air cleaner, and the DC is to loud to keep running (can't hear the TV :D). I hate hitting that pedal time after time to turn the DC on and off. I think the closet is the way to go until I am sure I am done cutting and sanding.




"Better to ask than remain stupid."
-Sonny Edmonds-