I’ve got a 1 1/2HP Delta 50-850 DC. I made a fiber drum first stage for it, going with 4″ pipe into an elbow. Outflow was centered in the lid, mounted both just at the lid, or extending down a few to several inches [I tried both ways]. The drum is 17″ in diam, 27″ tall.
My problem is it worked too well. Almost all the dust, chips and other stuff went through the first stage, right into the DC bag.
After lots of use, I’d find about 6″ of dust and chips on the bottom of the drum, the rest all in the DC bag.
My thoughts are:
fiber drum too narrow
fiber drum too short
DC too powerful
Any ideas why this didn’t work, or how to remedy it?
Has anyone had experience with this model DC and one of the ready-made plastic cyclone lids?
Ken Werner
Replies
The intake should terminate with an elbow inside the drum, slightly angled toward the wall. The incoming airstream will then be swirled around the wall and the heavy bits will fall out. If the suction line to the DC is centered and 10-12 inches inside the lid, it should then be sucking cleaner air. Start with a 12" length, shortening it as necessary is much easier than lengthening it.
Practice...'till you can do it right the first time.
I did try the elbow, and the lower outflow tube. But little dropped out. Seems like most of it went directly into the DC. Thanks for your answer though.Ken Werner
Try aiming the inlet elbow directly at the central outlet pipe. Although this violates the "swirling/drop-out" action you want, it should diminish what goes out to the DC. Other than that, you probably need a larger diameter primary drum. As much as I like "knocking together" shop aids, you would probably be done with it by buying a new trash can sized to the black separator lids available.Arlington, Texas (The dash in Dallas-Fort Worth)
Practice...'till you can do it right the first time.
I suspect that the drum is too small, the airflow isn't slowing down nearly enough to allow the chips to drop out.
John W.
If you stack two drums to make it taller, it will probably work better. The idea is to have the air enter going along the edge so it goes in a circle, holding the dust against the outside while air with less dust exits in the middle. The dust can drop along the sides to the bottom. But with a lot of air passing through, the swirling reaches to the bottom and picks up the dust, eventually sweeping it out. It is possible that your drum actually does catch a lot of the stuff at first, but that 6" of stuff at the bottom is all it can handle.
A taller drum will let you accumulate more crud before it builds up to the height that gets swept out. The conical shape of a cyclone helps to prevent picking up stuff that's already settled.
thanks to all for your suggestions.
Ken Werner
That ideal in my opinion. Same as what mine does. I just want the separator to take out the large chunks of stuff that get sucked in to protect the impellors. Also things like screwdrivers. screws, bolts, and the like. All the rest goes through the impellors and into the bottom plastic bag. I carry 3 or 4 plastic bags out to the curb for each 1 cleanout of the separator drum. I used a 44 gallon rubbermaid garbage 'can' and 4" metal vent pipe for the inside plumbing.
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