Dust Collection on planer, not working well

DSWalker

David
Corporate Member
My new to me 20" planer has a 5" port for dust collection. I bought a 5" to 4" reducer to hook my 4" hose. It clears the hood top okay, but drops a large amount of chips on the table and on the board itself.

Is this typical of larger planers? Was thinking with the 20" width and planing smaller 6" boards, that the extra 14" of 'open' space creates a suction loss and may create the issue I'm seeing.

Would a 5" to 6" connection with a 6" hose directly to the DC help? I"m still dragging my 4" hose from machine to machine.

DC = Grizzly 2 HP
 

Willemjm

Willem
Corporate Member
5” would make a difference, but it all depends on the length of the run to the dust collector. If it is a short run there won’t be much difference.

You need around 900cfm for that planer, which a 2hp should provide if it is dedicated to the planer.

My planer has a chip deflector inside the collection hood, which needs to be adjusted correctly. Download the Grizzly manual for your machine, and check if your model has that and if it is adjusted properly.
 

gmakra

New User
George
David check your filter on your dust collector and see if it is a bit loaded up which will decrease air flow significantly.
 

DSWalker

David
Corporate Member
David check your filter on your dust collector and see if it is a bit loaded up which will decrease air flow significantly.
It just has the original bag filter. I took it off the last time I emptied the lower bag and shook ot out good. Will do that again though. Thanks
 

MarkE

Mark
Corporate Member
If your dust collector has a 6" inlet, going from 4" hose to 6" hose should make a big difference.
 

McRabbet

Rob
Corporate Member
A 4" hose (or duct_ can only support about 400 cfm -- as stated, you need at least twice that to be effective. An increased diameter duct from the port to the DC is better, but remember that flexible duct hose is very inefficient when compared to straight duct (as much as a 10:1 difference in static pressure loss).
 

Hmerkle

Board of Directors, Development Director
Hank
Staff member
Corporate Member
... remember that flexible duct hose is very inefficient when compared to straight duct (as much as a 10:1 difference in static pressure loss).
Why is that?
Is it due to the "ribs" in the flex?
 

DSWalker

David
Corporate Member
I've been planning to install more ridgid 6" ductwork for a while and have just not gotten to that point yet.

Sounds like it needs to get moved up on the schedule.
 

JimD

Jim
Senior User
I have been doing a bunch of internet "research" on DCs in preparation of installing my "2hp" HF DC. I plan to start the installation tomorrow but I am confident it will take me awhile. Things I will do differently that will help airflow include:

1) hook up a cyclone to get most of the dust and all the chips and vent to the outside. The part of this that helps is the outside venting. The cyclone cuts airflow when compared to a clean filter or outside venting. But it helps airflow compared to a dirty filter and greatly reduces the need for filter cleaning.

2) Run 5 inch solid pipe (I plan metal) as close to each machine as possible. The estimates I've seen are that flex decreases airflow equivalent to 4 times the length in solid. In other words, a 6 foot flex has the pressure drop of a 24 foot straight pipe. 5 inch pipe has more than 150% of the cross sectional area as does 4 inch pipe (the area is Pi times the radius squared). More cross sectional area means less pressure drop and more airflow. 6 should be even better but I worry a little about the HF DC maintaining adequate flow velocity in 6 inch pipe to keep the chips moving. I've also seen reports that 4 inch works fine.

3) I will ground the metal pipe to try and decrease or eliminate static. I've seen a comment but no data that airflow is higher in metal. I know that when I ran 4 inch PVC in my last shop I had a fair bit of very fine dust clinging to it from static. I would like to reduce or eliminate this in my current shop.

None of this has anything to do with planners. Mine does not even have a dust port - but it will. More airflow would help, I'm sure. I saw a you-tube just yesterday where the guy was using an airflow meter to check out his installation and was getting 400-500 CFM at the end of his setup with a significant length of 4 inch flex before the measurement. I think he had a 1.5 or 2 hp DC. But he had 6 inch pipe closer to the DC. This probably gives you some kind of idea what you have. I've also seen similar measurements as high as 800 CFM at the end of a 6 foot or so length of 6 foot flex much closer to the DC. That was on a modified HF. So you might be able to double your airflow at the planner with a different setup with less and bigger flex. (this sort of airflow measurement is not precisely correct because the meter obstructs the airflow and thus increases it's velocity. But I think they are OK to get an idea of flow and to compare setups)
 

chris_goris

Chris
Senior User
check the clearance of the chip breaker inside the machine.... I simply stick a 4" hose into the 5" outlet on my planer and no issues like that.
 

DSWalker

David
Corporate Member
check the clearance of the chip breaker inside the machine.... I simply stick a 4" hose into the 5" outlet on my planer and no issues like that.
Thanks, I'm still trying to determine the model number so I can download a manual. I found one on the Grizzly site last night that 'looked' similar, but not exact.

Hope to spend a little time this weekend tinkering on it.
 

McRabbet

Rob
Corporate Member
The static pressure loss from flexible duct hose varies depending on the quality of the hose. All flex will have higher SP loss than smooth wall duct, so it is always a good practice to minimize the length of flexible hose used and to use the largest diameter possible. Here is a direct quotation from Bill Pentz' website: "One common mistake is to use standard flex hose as most of this hose is poorly made with ribs sticking into the airflow adding up to nine times the resistance of smooth pipe. Always buy and use a minimum of smooth interior walled flex hose as it that only adds about three times the resistance of smooth pipe." For more details on proper ducting, review Bill's website section on Ducting, found here. The quotation above is from his discussion of Resistance.
 

chris_goris

Chris
Senior User
Thanks, I'm still trying to determine the model number so I can download a manual. I found one on the Grizzly site last night that 'looked' similar, but not exact.

Hope to spend a little time this weekend tinkering on it.
Thats a very generic platform of a planer, Any manual grizzly has for that 20" machine will be fine to setup the chip deflector. I would remove the top cover and see if it even has one istalled.
 

bob vaughan

Bob Vaughan
Senior User
I seem to remember 1300 cfm for a planer of that size. Maybe the planer's manual is more specific on that. Usually industrial grade planers of that size are hooked up to the big outdoor units of 5 HP or above. My own 18" planer would take a duster too big for my liking. I just let it blow out on the floor with a big window fan running for cross ventilation, but my planer is only about 1000 lbs. and not the heavyweight planer in question here.
 

DSWalker

David
Corporate Member
Took the top off. Have not reviewed the manual yet. Here is what I saw.

In the first photo the top orange piece is plastic. Everything else is metal.

Can't get to the motor compartment without taking it out of the mobile base. Not sure that's going to happen anytime soon!

188101


188102
 

DSWalker

David
Corporate Member
So it looks like the chip deflector, (first photo the orange piece at the top and bottom piece in 2nd photo) may not fit exactly right. There is a bow between 2 of the bolts. The Manual I downloaded (G1033) says it should be within 1/4" of the cutter head. It also appears that the edge along the cutters may have been too close and received some damage. I may need to replace that piece at some point.
 

Rwe2156

DrBob
Senior User
I have that planer. It looks like the chip deflector isn't adjusted properly.

Download the manual it has a very detailed section on set up and adjustments.
 

DSWalker

David
Corporate Member
I have that planer. It looks like the chip deflector isn't adjusted properly.

Download the manual it has a very detailed section on set up and adjustments.
Can you post the model number that yours is? My spec plate is missing. I found a couple that are similar, but not exact.
 

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