Help with malfunctioning dust collector
michael_sheehan
| Posted in General Discussion on
I have a 2 hp Jet cyclone dust collector which will not turn off. The remote and emergency stop button fail to turn off the machine. It starts fine with both the remote and onboard button. Any thoughts on a fix? A entire new switch assembly is very expensive.
Appreciate any thoughts!
Replies
Open up the switch assembly and blast it with the air compressor. Over time dust can pack in and stop parts from moving... happened to me in the off position.
I taped up the switch box completely sealing it with tape in the on position and added a remote. It worked well, but the remote often traveled to remote corners of the shop. I got rid of it and put a switch on the outlet that I can easily each from the Tsaw. Happy ever since.
Great idea. Thanks!
Just got home and opened the switch box. Seems to be working now after blowing the dust out!!! Thanks again for the help!
If you can find one, an auto-switch to turn the dust sucker on & off in synch with whatever machine is attached to it might be another solution. I have such a switch that comes as a completely sealed unit with socket/plugs to attach it between the machine being sucked, the dust sucker and the electricity supply point.
I use a a single 16 amp supply socket and switch, via this single auto-switch and single dust extractor, for all the machines in the workshop. I just plug the supply coming from the auto on/off switch into the machine being used and open/close blast gates to direct the suck to the right machine.
Turn on, say, the tablesaw and the auto-switch waits a second or two then turns on the dust sucker. As the TS is rated at 2500 watts and the dust sucker at 3000 watts, the slight delay avoids the initial higher starting currents from actuating together, which would trip the RCD (Residual Current Device) protecting the circuit.
When I switch the TS off, the auto-switch keeps the dust sucker going for another 4 - 5 seconds, to clear whatever might still be in the pipe from TS to sucker, then switches it off.
All the switches and plugs are sealed so dust can't get into to jam anything. The auto on/off switch seems to be solid state anyway, operating electronically rather than mechanically. The machine switches are in sealed boxes with the on & off buttons protected by a flexible plastic cover.
Thanks for the help!
Remove the contactor from the switch box and take the lower half (the electro-magnet) apart. Simply unlatch the clip on the top end to disassemble.
On mine, the laminated cores had a sticky film on them. I removed the spring and both cores, cleaned everything with contact cleaner and a rag, reassembled and everything works as it should.
If you know anything about electricity, you could do what I did.
I've installed multiple SPST switches around where I'll be when I need the collector on. They just break and make the positive, all in parallel.
If you don't know, a few YT videos will teach you what you need.
Its not auto but eliminates the possibility of this.
It is a dirt cheap, convenient, simple, and quick solution.