Hey friends,
I’ve got a question about dust collector hose diameters and efficiency. I’ve been successfully using a Oneida Mini Dust Gorilla DC (older metal style) using the stock 5″ hose that came with the unit. The intake opening on the DC is 5″. At the machine end of the 10′ hose I’ve been using a 5″ to 4″ reducer to connect to various machines. This system works well and I don’t think it’s stressed the machine so far; maybe less efficient.
The 5″ tubing is showing some wear and I’m thinking of switching to 4″ hose (less weight to shift around when switching machine to machine). So the 5″ to 4″ reducer would be placed right at the machine inlet vs. at the end of the hose.
In my mind, where the reducer is placed shouldn’t make much difference; but I thought maybe you engineering type folks might have an opinion. Trying to keep things simple. I’m also interested in using magnetic connectors (MagFitt or MagPort) to connect to the machines. My thought is that the 5″ tubing may be too heavy for the magnetic connectors to hold as they seem to be designed for 4″ and smaller tubing.
(I know, I know, I could also pose this Q. directly to Oneida.)
Opinions? Thanks.
Dave
Replies
Smaller hose means you can move less air through it. Volume of air (CFM) is what does the work. it take volume and speed to pick up dust. So you are (probably) going to loose some dust collecting ability.
Second, it will not strain the motor, it will actually lower the load on it since you are not moving as much air, it is not working as hard. The motor will turn faster but that is because it is doing less work. Just like a car engine, more load slows it down. People always think of this backwards.
Smaller hose for the same fan means you move the same volume at higher speeds at the fan inlet, you however encounter more losses along the way.
Possibly, but there is more resistance/friction to over come and that will probably lower the volume of air. Air flow is complicated.
Not complicated, just a speciality like just about any process. You will loose efficiency along the smaller diameter hose so for the case in point, carry the 5 inch as long as you can and drop to 4 inches with a long taper at the machine.
You need both volume and also velocity to carry the saw dust. What I recommend is to split your 10 foot hose into two sections. The first 5 feet from the collector can be 5 inch hose and then reduce at that point to 4 inches and go onto the machines. It sounds like you are moving the hose to each machine as you use it. If that is the case you should have plenty of air volume for one machine at a time. The velocity of the air is important to get the saw dust moving out of the machine and on to the collector. If you don't keep the air velocity up the line can clog and you can get residue left at the machines. Another way to put it: Volume will determine the number of open dust ports you can have at a time; velocity is needed at each machine to get the debris moving. Since you seem to have a smaller unit it should handle one machine at a time either by moving the hose around or using blast gates.
Need info on the DC... make & model number if bought whole, motor size, impeller size, and exhaust/filter setup if parts-built. The gorilla is not doing the work here.
Thanks for the comments so far. Yes, I’m moving the hose to one machine at a time. _mj|_ , I don’t have specs in front of me but can post tomorrow.
I don't think it will make enough difference to notice. I use 4" pvc and that worked fine with a single stage. Still works with a massive 2 stage too...
@_mj_,
The DC specs are: 1.5hp Industrial Mini-Dust Gorilla (Oneida Air Systems).
It has 960CFM free fan rating, up to 600CFM w/filter. 220v 1.5hp Baldor motor. Cyclone body with 5” neutral vane inlet. HEPA side filter; dumps to a 17gal sealed barrel.
Oneida makes an updated version of this DC: https://www.oneida-air.com/dust-collectors/personal-shops/mini-gorilla
I don’t know the answer to this. I’d check both ClearVue and Oneida’s websites to see if they have info that can help. ClearVue’s is really loaded with info such as this.
That's close to what I'm running. I would not use blast gates with only 600CFM, the losses will be too much. I ran a 5" trunk along the ceiling from the 5" intake and mounted a Rikon impeller unit on the 6" top port. The 1.5hp motor/fan unit came with a 9" fan (I think) that I upgraded to the 11 1/2" (bought as a repair part). The canister filter is on a 7" pipe from the blower, pretty sure I got the adapter from Oneida. I have the 12x40 filter. I have three 4" drops from the 5" ceiling pipe using 5x4 wyes. The drops are PVC sewer pipe with magvent ends.
If you call magvent they will sell you a mix/match collection of the parts, I have males on the walls and machines and females on the hoses. I use the lightweight 4" flexible mylar/aluminum "fartfan" bathroom ceiling duct for hoses.
Capping the unused openings is easy with a scrap of steel flashing with thin foam glued on. The setup works well with a 12" planer, my maximum need for suck. The only time hoses come off is when I forget to remove one before rolling away a machine. I'm not sure how much of the heavy plastic hose they would hold on to.
**Thanks to all who have offered your ideas.** Very much appreciated. Sounds like I can get by with the simple 10’ run of 4” hose with the 4” to 5” adapter at the DC without much difference in efficiency. Since I’m usually moving between 4 different machines the 4” hose should be a little easier to move about. Looking forward to trying the magnetic connectors.