Quick and cheap separator

[pike]

I've been thinking about buying a dust commander cyclone and some sort of bucket or barrel. I have a SIP 01929 extractor (the 50ltr metal drum type) which I don't use. So before I spend money I thought I'd have a go using it as a separator and see how it does.

After removing the motor I managed to find enough adaptors and pipes to make things fit. I bolted a bit of ply on the top with some underlay as a gasket and the suction was still very strong. With the inlet and outlet connections just straight, it took about 75-80% of the sawdust/chips.

I added a bend to both, the inlet pointing to the side wall and the outlet just directed away to the other side of the drum. That made a big difference, reducing what got to the actual vac to about 3% at most.

I'm thinking it might be worth doing some sort of thien baffle separator design inside it. I don't really know how that would improve things but I hear it will. Any suggestions welcome.

Anyway, 15minutes and zero cost so I'm pretty happy with it so far. The aim is to make my filter cartridge last longer and maybe start using bags again.


Here's the vac (Trend T30) and the converted SIP.

This is a comparison of a test clean up. Vac first.

and the separator showing it got most of it..

and a pic of my rough and ready plumbing.. The directions of these seemed to really help.

Cheers,
Carl.

 

[sunnybob]

Take off the centre elbow. replace it with a 4" straight tube.
replace the side 45 degree and tube with the 90 degree or a much better solution is to block off the 4" side hole and put another hole nearer the top but angled like a motorway slip road into the outside drum, of the same diameter as the incoming tube, and you will achieve 99% seperation.

 

[pike]

Take off the centre elbow. replace it with a 4" straight tube.
replace the side 45 degree and tube with the 90 degree or a much better solution is to block off the 4" side hole and put another hole nearer the top but angled like a motorway slip road into the outside drum, of the same diameter as the incoming tube, and you will achieve 99% seperation.

Cheers, I'll try taking the middle elbow off. I assume the straight central pipe should just stop almost flush with the lid ands not protrude down into the drum much.

I wanted to just try these simplest things first i.e. using the existing side inlet.

I might end up getting a cyclone anyway and using this drum for the HVLP chip extractor.

 

[sunnybob]

If you do what I said, you will have a cyclone. Thats all they are.

The middle tube needs to be below the side entry, other wise the dust just goes straight from one to the other.
The problem with the side tube as you have it is that its interupting the circular flow of air. You need the air inside to be travelling very fast, trapping the dust and chips to the outside of the container. What you have is the road equivalent of a busy T junction, slowing everything up. What you need is a super fast motorway slip road to allow everything to blend without slowing.

 

[dzj]

... That made a big difference, reducing what got to the actual vac to about 3% at most.

Actually, for such a setup, 3% is pretty good. A question that comes to mind is whether such a rate
of separation will continue as your bin fills up with dust and the particles have nowhere to decelerate.
I would suggest a separate cyclone separator mounted above the bin.
Store-bought ones go for ~ £50, or make one yourself (there are plenty of instructions on the internet).


edited: I see ebay offers small units for as little as £10

 

[pike]

Thanks. I've had a look at cyclone airflow diagrams this morning and I get it now. I might end up buying one for the top of this but it'll all be getting a bit big so I'm also tempted to see if I could get a thien inside it instead of making it taller.

It's working surprisingly well already considering I didn't streamline the pipe layout. I think the first big improvement was when i directed the inlet to the side instead of it shooting directly in to the middle.

I'll build a trolley for the whole lot to save some space.

 

[pike]

Slight changes have resulted in nearly nothing in the vac. I can see why a cyclone stuck on top would be best though, especially for when the barrel is nearly full.

Thanks for the suggestions.

 

[Monkey Mark]

Last time i looked a cyclone from China can be had for £13 if you're willing to wait on delivery.

 

[pike]

I think I will thanks. Although I'll need a drum too and possibly connectors. As Id use this one for the HVLP instead.

 

[sunnybob]

When you order a cyclone, pay particular attention to the hose sizes. Some are as small as 1 1/2". You want one that is going to handle your hoses without restricting flow.