Replies

1. 
   ADeVilbiss | Dec 01, 2006 01:52am | #1

   Charles,
   I attached it directly to the ceiling to accommodate my shop built plenum for the big felt filter bags I installed. I wanted it as high as I could get it in my 10' ceiling shop, so I could use two 8' and one 6'long bags, a total of 70 sq ft of filter area, and fit the two long bags with dust buckets into the trough down the center of the island. See photos below. The DC motor is actually in the attic space above the plenum. I installed framing lumber blocking between the trusses and used threaded rod into the DC top plate mounting holes to support the weight. The blocks also form a dam to keep attic insulation away from the motor.

   My Oneida collector came with a tiny internal pleated cartridge filter, which was way too small, plugged up quickly, and was a dirty messy pain to clean. I originally installed it suspended from the ceiling on metal brackets screwed to the roof trusses, with the top of the motor below the shop ceiling. I removed the internal cartridge mounting brackets, and fitted the external plenum and bags after struggling with original configuration for 1.5 years. It works *much* better now. The air flow is more than doubled (over that with a clean internal filter) and doesn't degrade perceptibly with use. With good air flow in the cyclone, dust extraction is much improved, and only a small volume of very fine dust makes it to the felt filter bags. After a couple of years of use (producing ~300 gallons of chips in the chip box) there was only a few *inches* of flour in the bottoms of the dust buckets.

   Many dust collectors ship these days with external pleated filters, with more area than mine came with, and the mfgrs claim they are easy to clean. I don't have any experience with them, so I can't say one way or the other. If I were to install one (with external cartridge filter) in my shop, there would be room to fit it over the island without needing to mount the motor up in the attic, i.e., I'd mount it on brackets below the ceiling. My external plenum, which I built out of 1/2" plywood and 3/4" poplar sides, was some trouble to build, and the bags do take up a lot of room. However, it works very well. Excellent air flow and very low maintenance.
   Alan