A while back, I bought a new cyclone dust collector. Due to circumstances beyond my control (stupidity), I bought a machine that was too tall to fit in the shop! Oops.
So I cut a hole in the ceiling. As always, things are never easy. The joists were positioned in such a way that there was only one spot where I could make the opening, or it would have been too close to the wall (the DC has a large footprint). And lengthwise, I only had a couple of feet between the HVAC duct and electrical.
The opening is framed and sheetrocked. I actually added an extra layer of 5/8" sheetrock (and Green Glue) to all the walls and ceiling to do a little soundproofing. My shop is in the basement, and keeping the noise down is not a bad idea.
I installed several air return paths. The corresponding opening on the other side of the wall is at the top, so the sound will be somewhat reduced on its way out.
Another set of air vents, and the electrical. This outlet is actually for the compressor. Let's put all the noisemakers in one room!
I started by assembling the upper frame and cyclone body. This is about 4' tall. About 36 bolts & nuts, plus 72 washers so far used in the construction.
The motor and impeller section is heavy! Howard was gracious enough to lend me his shop crane. This was extremely handy in putting it on top of the cyclone.
The air intake section was a little tricky to add given the tight space. I put two strips of wood across the cyclone body and used that to hold the piece in place. Then, I swung the impeller housing over the body, and fiddled with it until the bolts took hold.
We're up to 60 bolts by now.
The next part was tricky. The whole assembly had to be lifted up in order to attach the lower legs. I put 4 large hooks (each rated for 300lb) into the floor joists, and picked up some ratcheting straps from Harbor Freight. With a coupon I was out the door for less than $30. These things are FANTASTIC! The strap rolls up as you ratchet, unlike the cheaper versions which only have limited travel.
So I slowly walked the machine up until I could attach the lower legs.
Doug stopped by to help with the tedious fastening process. Here I am making the electrical connection.
And finally, the entire machine is assembled. 2,286 bolts, nuts and washers. Or close to it.
Along the way, I did a couple of stupid things. As you can see in the picture, the legs have a notch in them. The natural thing to do is to align the notches of the upper and lower legs and put the horizontal braces in them. That stand gets the machine to 103" high, and you're limited to a 35 gallon drum. I believe this configuration is used for the W1808 model. If you ignore the notches and raise it to its full height, you get to 109" and the 55 gallon drum fits. Discovering all this meant I had to unfasten 40 bolts/ washers/ nuts and then refasten them. Boy am I happy I was able to advance the public's knowledge in this area!
I fired the machine up using a temporary set of connectors to hook up a piece of 4" hose. Some impressive suction!
The good
This is an extremely well built machine. Everything is heavy-duty, this thing will outlast me. Best of all, the kit came with everything: Stand, drum, bag holder, remote and muffler. Many systems require that you buy these as extras. Easily the best value for money. And although I haven't done a lot of testing, I can tell this machine has some SERIOUS suction power.
The bad
This machine is BIG. I seriously underestimated how big and heavy it was. The 109" height has got to be a problem for most shops. The manual isn't terribly clear either, a couple of extra pictures would have helped. Also, for some odd reason, one of the latches at the bottom of the filter catcher was misaligned by 3/4". This was an easy fix, I just drilled two small new holes to fit the bolts through.
The ugly
The manual says the footprint is 62" x 39". It is actually 6" longer. The 62" is from the outside leg to the brackets that hold the filter, but the filter sticks out another 6". The design is really inefficient, if they had rotated it 90 degrees it would have fit much better. I am going to drill an extra hole in each bracket and move the filter ~8" closer to the body. Then all I need is a slightly longer piece of hose to connect the outlet to the filter/ muffler. With a bit of luck, this means I can close the door without having to change it to an outward swinging door!
Conclusion
So, if I had to do it all over again, would I buy it? I'm afraid the answer is "no". Would I buy it if it was 93" tall instead of 109", or if I had 10' ceilings? In a heartbeat! But ask me in a year or so when the aggravation and hassle has faded from memory.
My main concern now is heat. The opening for the motor is quite small, and heat can really build up in such a confined space. The good news is that the motor is joined to the impeller housing, which is a big chunk of metal. It should serve as a heat sink. Plus, I can always run the house fan to keep the air circulating in the closet. Worst case, I can lower the machine back to the smaller configuration and use the 35 gallon drum (in case you're confused, the collection drum comes in two pieces, to convert it from 55 to 35 you just take off the top ring)
So now I have to redo the filter. Reattach the door. Move the remote relay/ receiver to the outside of the shop (it's infrared, not radio controlled). Run 80' of duct work. Finish mudding the vents on the outside of the closet and install the grilles. Remove the thick layer of drywall dust that is everywhere.
Gotta love this "woodworking" hobby. :gar-La;
So I cut a hole in the ceiling. As always, things are never easy. The joists were positioned in such a way that there was only one spot where I could make the opening, or it would have been too close to the wall (the DC has a large footprint). And lengthwise, I only had a couple of feet between the HVAC duct and electrical.
The opening is framed and sheetrocked. I actually added an extra layer of 5/8" sheetrock (and Green Glue) to all the walls and ceiling to do a little soundproofing. My shop is in the basement, and keeping the noise down is not a bad idea.
I installed several air return paths. The corresponding opening on the other side of the wall is at the top, so the sound will be somewhat reduced on its way out.
Another set of air vents, and the electrical. This outlet is actually for the compressor. Let's put all the noisemakers in one room!
I started by assembling the upper frame and cyclone body. This is about 4' tall. About 36 bolts & nuts, plus 72 washers so far used in the construction.
The motor and impeller section is heavy! Howard was gracious enough to lend me his shop crane. This was extremely handy in putting it on top of the cyclone.
The air intake section was a little tricky to add given the tight space. I put two strips of wood across the cyclone body and used that to hold the piece in place. Then, I swung the impeller housing over the body, and fiddled with it until the bolts took hold.
We're up to 60 bolts by now.
The next part was tricky. The whole assembly had to be lifted up in order to attach the lower legs. I put 4 large hooks (each rated for 300lb) into the floor joists, and picked up some ratcheting straps from Harbor Freight. With a coupon I was out the door for less than $30. These things are FANTASTIC! The strap rolls up as you ratchet, unlike the cheaper versions which only have limited travel.
So I slowly walked the machine up until I could attach the lower legs.
Doug stopped by to help with the tedious fastening process. Here I am making the electrical connection.
And finally, the entire machine is assembled. 2,286 bolts, nuts and washers. Or close to it.
Along the way, I did a couple of stupid things. As you can see in the picture, the legs have a notch in them. The natural thing to do is to align the notches of the upper and lower legs and put the horizontal braces in them. That stand gets the machine to 103" high, and you're limited to a 35 gallon drum. I believe this configuration is used for the W1808 model. If you ignore the notches and raise it to its full height, you get to 109" and the 55 gallon drum fits. Discovering all this meant I had to unfasten 40 bolts/ washers/ nuts and then refasten them. Boy am I happy I was able to advance the public's knowledge in this area!
I fired the machine up using a temporary set of connectors to hook up a piece of 4" hose. Some impressive suction!
The good
This is an extremely well built machine. Everything is heavy-duty, this thing will outlast me. Best of all, the kit came with everything: Stand, drum, bag holder, remote and muffler. Many systems require that you buy these as extras. Easily the best value for money. And although I haven't done a lot of testing, I can tell this machine has some SERIOUS suction power.
The bad
This machine is BIG. I seriously underestimated how big and heavy it was. The 109" height has got to be a problem for most shops. The manual isn't terribly clear either, a couple of extra pictures would have helped. Also, for some odd reason, one of the latches at the bottom of the filter catcher was misaligned by 3/4". This was an easy fix, I just drilled two small new holes to fit the bolts through.
The ugly
The manual says the footprint is 62" x 39". It is actually 6" longer. The 62" is from the outside leg to the brackets that hold the filter, but the filter sticks out another 6". The design is really inefficient, if they had rotated it 90 degrees it would have fit much better. I am going to drill an extra hole in each bracket and move the filter ~8" closer to the body. Then all I need is a slightly longer piece of hose to connect the outlet to the filter/ muffler. With a bit of luck, this means I can close the door without having to change it to an outward swinging door!
Conclusion
So, if I had to do it all over again, would I buy it? I'm afraid the answer is "no". Would I buy it if it was 93" tall instead of 109", or if I had 10' ceilings? In a heartbeat! But ask me in a year or so when the aggravation and hassle has faded from memory.
My main concern now is heat. The opening for the motor is quite small, and heat can really build up in such a confined space. The good news is that the motor is joined to the impeller housing, which is a big chunk of metal. It should serve as a heat sink. Plus, I can always run the house fan to keep the air circulating in the closet. Worst case, I can lower the machine back to the smaller configuration and use the 35 gallon drum (in case you're confused, the collection drum comes in two pieces, to convert it from 55 to 35 you just take off the top ring)
So now I have to redo the filter. Reattach the door. Move the remote relay/ receiver to the outside of the shop (it's infrared, not radio controlled). Run 80' of duct work. Finish mudding the vents on the outside of the closet and install the grilles. Remove the thick layer of drywall dust that is everywhere.
Gotta love this "woodworking" hobby. :gar-La;
