Dust Collector Modifications

[GeorgeL]

In preparation for 6" ductwork I wanted to make a few modifications to my dust collector in an attempt to increase efficiency.

I started with a PSI DC2000



This dust collector has a 6" inlet and I am currently using 4" flex hose and moving the hose from machine to machine.

My first step in increasing efficiency was to get the blower up off the floor and place the blower inlet at the height of the ductwork. This saves me 6 feet of pipe and 2 90° fittings not to mention the loss in airflow caused by the extra plumbing.

Here is a shot of the DC blower mounted on a pedestal. (in the background)



What I didn't know when I bought this unit is the outlet of the blower and the inlet to the filter is only 5". This bottleneck is not good for DC efficiency. So, the next mod was to cut out the 5" inlet and replace it with a 6" inlet.





Here is the original 5" inlet inside the new 6" pipe.



Next, I remembered reading about a simple modification for single stage dust collectors that involved adding a baffle below the inlet to keep dust in the bag and not in the filter.



The baffle is basically a circle cut out of partial board the diameter of the DC body. A 1 1/4" slot is cut 240° around the circle with the 120° remaining positioned beneath the DC inlet.

I know this seems wrong having the baffle between the inlet and the bag. It seemed to me like this would force the dust into the filter instead of the bag.



Other people swear by this mod and I figured I give it a try.

Here is the unit assembled with the complete 6" inlet.


I still don't have 6" ductwork but I did try it out with my old 4" flex. Now the dust collector is MUCH quieter than before and seems to pull a bit stronger. I noticed there is less dust left in the bottom of the table saw now than with the original setup.

Before the baffle mod, every time I used the collector I needed to give the filter cleaner few spins to pop the dust loose from the filter pleats. I experimented by sucking about a 1/4 of a bag of sawdust into the collector and took the filter off to check it. There was NO significant dust in the filter! Only a slight colored residue of mahogany. Seems to work quite well. I'll keep you all updated as I use it more.

George

[JackLeg]

George, that's great info. Congrats on the modifications. Got me to thinking about my own setup. Keep us posted.

[JimmyC]

Nice job George and I love the hard piping between the blower and the filter.

Jimmy

[woodworker2000]

George, nice modifications. Is your shop in your basement under your garage (like mine)? Your ceiling structure looks similar to mine. If so, what did you use to paint the metal ceiling and beams? I'm about to paint mine white (along with my walls) and am going back and forth between using a high gloss latex on everything (after a latex primer on the metal ceiling...the walls are already primed with latex Dry-Lok) and Rust-Oleum enamel on the metal ceiling and a high-gloss latex on the walls. I'm concerned about how well a latex (whether paint or primer) will adhere to the metal ceiling and beams, especially since the beams have already been painted once with a rust-oleum enamel and the ceiling has some sort of paint on it (not sure if latex or enamel but I'm assuming enamel). The painted beams have a durable finish on them but I'm wondering if a latex would scratch off easily (I hang things from the ceiling using magnets).

[GeorgeL]

Originally Posted by woodworker2000

George, nice modifications. Is your shop in your basement under your garage (like mine)? Your ceiling structure looks similar to mine. If so, what did you use to paint the metal ceiling and beams? I'm about to paint mine white (along with my walls) and am going back and forth between using a high gloss latex on everything (after a latex primer on the metal ceiling...the walls are already primed with latex Dry-Lok) and Rust-Oleum enamel on the metal ceiling and a high-gloss latex on the walls. I'm concerned about how well a latex (whether paint or primer) will adhere to the metal ceiling and beams, especially since the beams have already been painted once with a rust-oleum enamel and the ceiling has some sort of paint on it (not sure if latex or enamel but I'm assuming enamel). The painted beams have a durable finish on them but I'm wondering if a latex would scratch off easily (I hang things from the ceiling using magnets).

Christopher,

Yes, my shop is in the basement below the garage.

I used Rustoleum Industrial oil based primer and then their industrial oil based gloss white paint. I has significant rust on all the beams and the ceiling. I spent more than a month sanding the beams before spraying the primer. So far the paint is very durable.

I did the walls with oil based Dry Lok because it was on clearance at Lowes for 1/2 the price of the latex.

George

[skysharks]

Originally Posted by woodworker2000

George, nice modifications. Is your shop in your basement under your garage (like mine)? Your ceiling structure looks similar to mine. If so, what did you use to paint the metal ceiling and beams? I'm about to paint mine white (along with my walls) and am going back and forth between using a high gloss latex on everything (after a latex primer on the metal ceiling...the walls are already primed with latex Dry-Lok) and Rust-Oleum enamel on the metal ceiling and a high-gloss latex on the walls. I'm concerned about how well a latex (whether paint or primer) will adhere to the metal ceiling and beams, especially since the beams have already been painted once with a rust-oleum enamel and the ceiling has some sort of paint on it (not sure if latex or enamel but I'm assuming enamel). The painted beams have a durable finish on them but I'm wondering if a latex would scratch off easily (I hang things from the ceiling using magnets).

HF has latex enamel. Once dry and cured it is pretty durable. Not sure how it stands up against industrial oil based paints though.

[Alan in Little Washington]

Nice work George!

Those are all excellent mods, especially if/when you go to 6" duct!! You do such nice work, why don't you build a Pentz cyclone? If you don't have the headroom or don't want to mount the blower on top of the cyclone, you can just hook it up in a push-through mode.

[Glennbear]

Originally Posted by woodworker2000

George, nice modifications. Is your shop in your basement under your garage (like mine)? Your ceiling structure looks similar to mine. If so, what did you use to paint the metal ceiling and beams? I'm about to paint mine white (along with my walls) and am going back and forth between using a high gloss latex on everything (after a latex primer on the metal ceiling...the walls are already primed with latex Dry-Lok) and Rust-Oleum enamel on the metal ceiling and a high-gloss latex on the walls. I'm concerned about how well a latex (whether paint or primer) will adhere to the metal ceiling and beams, especially since the beams have already been painted once with a rust-oleum enamel and the ceiling has some sort of paint on it (not sure if latex or enamel but I'm assuming enamel). The painted beams have a durable finish on them but I'm wondering if a latex would scratch off easily (I hang things from the ceiling using magnets).

I would be hesitant to use a high gloss on the walls, in my research on shop lighting a lighting engineer warned of a high gloss finish causing too much glare. I used an eggshell finish in my shop and it reflects light well but I have no glare issues. My shop is lit almost to operating room brightness and this level of sheen seems to work