DC Separator Not Working

[1871 Federal Farmhouse]

A question for all you DC gurus out there.

I have a premade separator lid (purchased on Amazon). I RTV'ed the 4" pipes into the lid and made sure that they are sealed real good.

I have a metal garbage can that I also RTV'ed all joints, around the handles, etc.

I connected it to my DC (Delta 1.5hp) and ran the planer to try and fill the separator can.

To my suprise when I was finished, all that remained in the separator can was a little "pyramid" (~ 2" to 3" high) of dust/chips at the very bottom of the can. All other chips were sent to the DC.

The outlet on the separator does not stick down very far into the can (~ 3"), so what gives?

Am I missing something very basic on this one?

Thanks,

[Keystone]

The larger the container, the better. I use a real tall drum for mine. Catches allot more of the chips that way. A short stout can may not be deep enough. The chips have to be able to "fall" into the container with out being sucked back into the return pipe to the DC itself. Hope that makes sense..

[beamerweb]

My first though was maybe the ports are swapped. You sure you got yer insies with your insies and your outsies with your outsies?

My second thought was design. The one I have has the inlet port that's kinda spiraled, sideways, ramped, curved or whatever from the side. The outlet (to DC) is right smack in the center. I have seen some that have both the inlet and the outlet ports as spiraled, sideways, ramped, curved or whatever from the sides - they ramp towards each other. This doesn't seem like it'd work and so I've avoided that design. Any chance you could describe to us what design you have (pics would be ideal!)

My third thought was can size. How tall is that thing? It sounds like you're using an adequately sized can but I can't tell for sure.

My fourth thought is that I've given enough thoughts for the day :P

Truly, pics of your setup would speak volumes, but I suspect the ports may be reversed.

[Sonny Edmonds]

You need to understand what cyclonic separation does.
The DC blower draws from the center of the chamber. As it creates a void within the can, the incoming air in induced along the side. Because of it's flow the air spins within the chamber. Anything in that air has a certain amount of mass and is centrifugally thrown along the sides and gravity pulls it downward as the air is cleaned of particles and is drawn off from the vortex of this artificial cyclone.
It your inlet does not direct the incoming air along the side, or your outlet is not centered on the lid and chamber, you will upset the cyclone generated inside your chamber. That will cause the particals to stay suspended and fly out with the air being drawn off.
Since you got it off of Amazon, can you show us a link to it?
Is it [link:http://www.amazon.com/Jet-JW1049-Dus...2?ie=UTF8&s=hi | THIS?]
Because that is a fundamentally bad design. The draw should be from the center of the lid to the blowers inlet.

You can look [link:home.att.net/~paul.edmonds/home.htm | HERE] to see how my homemade separator lid was configured. The only thing that got to the bags from this was flour dust. Everything else wound up in the drums. ;)

:D

[link:home.att.net/~paul.edmonds/|Sonny Edmonds ]
Saugus, CA
"Precision Firewood Specialist"
God Bless America !
One Nation Under God!
"Lurkimus turdius orifus"

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[woodmannie]

Hey, that one from amazon looks like the one I have. I got it on a 30 gal can and it works fine. I didn't seal anything. I just put the hoses through and put on hose clamps on the inside. I haven't had to dump my dc bags in months, other than for the fine dust. I also used a clear hose on the port from can to the dc so I can see if it is sucking chips. Easier than lifting the lid all the time. And the chips go in bags and given to a friend that has chickens. Just no walnut!!

wm

[Sonny Edmonds]

Hey Tom, I'd like to see a picture of the underside of one of these lids. Can you do that?

Other than that, it's safe to say your dust collection is for the birds. }> http://smileys.smileycentral.com/cat/29/29_3_10.gif
(Hey, you said it first!) LMAO! :7

:D

[link:home.att.net/~paul.edmonds/|Sonny Edmonds ]
Saugus, CA
"Precision Firewood Specialist"
God Bless America !
One Nation Under God!
"Lurkimus turdius orifus"

[h1]Welcome to the Forum![/h1]
http://smileys.smileycentral.com/cat/15/15_4_125.gif

[1871 Federal Farmhouse]

Sonny, Jason, and Ken,

Thanks for the replies and lessons.

I believe I have my innies to my innies and my outies to my outies.

The lid I have has one port at the outside edge at about a 30 degree down angle. I have my planer connected to this one (my innie (sp?)).

Then the second port is in the middle vertically. I have this one connected to my DC (outie). I believe this is the correct configuration.

I'll try to get some pictures for you guys. I just don't know if I'll have them before Christmas.

Given my above configuration, would you guys think it should work?

My can is approximately 30" tall, so I don't think it would be because there's not enough clearance from the bottom of the can to the outie port.

Thanks again and can't wait to see if I did ok.

[beamerweb]

yep, yer innies and yer outies are right. The design is right. The can sounds right. ... Maybe yer DC just sucks too much? That's unfortunate! :P

I know that when I was trying to come up with a version of this for 6" pipe, I discovered that the volume of air that 6" moves would require a pretty big can to work otherwise it'd just be empty like you're experiencing.

I don't have much more of a clue than that - it really should be working fine according to your setup. From what I understand, 4" pipe maxes out at around 600 or 700cfm. Most DC's can't pull that much (despite manufacturer's claims) through very much pipe. I'm kinda out of ideas at this point ... maybe sonny can help?

[beamerweb]

Oh, another idea ... perhaps the particles aren't slowing down enough at the outer edges of that slick metal can (mine's plastic). I wonder what the easiest way to test this would be .... First thought was some adhesive backed 220 grit sandpaper ... but that'd take a lot ... hmm ... something that wouldn't be permanent (in case i'm way off) .... hmm ... paint comes to mind, but it's not exactly temporary. *shrug*

I'm out of ideas ... lol

[1871 Federal Farmhouse]

Jason,

I appreciate the reply.

I must admit the the DC does work extremely well.

Without the separator, I can run 20' of flexible hose and still have significant "suck" at the end of the hose. It will pull every last chip from my planer without complaining one bit.

For once in my life I get something that works better than advertised!

I guess I can't complain about that one!

Thanks again!