Penn State Tempest S Cyclone

[MarkE]

I am starting my search for a cyclone DC to replace my 3hp Reliant bag type collector. Looked at Oneida, Clearvue, Grizzly, Shop Fox, and Penn State.

The 3.5 hp Tempest S from Penn State has some pretty good specs for a reasonable price ($1125.00). Most of the other brands are a bit more expensive for a comparable machine. Trying to search for more information on the Tempest S and I find very few comments on these newer DCs.

Has anyone here got any experience with the Tempest S series DCs?

 

[kooshball]

No first hand experience but the Dec/Jan American Woodworker magazine did a review of the 2HP DC machines and when compared to Oneida, JDS, Laguna, Grizzly and General the Penn State outperformed everything except the Oneida. It seems to be cheaper b/c it lacks some features (no remote, no overfill sensor, no filter agitator) but it moves the air and in my book that is what counts.

I will say that I have played with the Oneida machine at a trade show and the variable speed fan is nice since you can use it on smaller ports and still move some air, but $900 vs. $1900 is a stretch.

I would assume that you would find a similar trend in the higher HP rated machines but hopefully someone can chime in with first hand knowledge.

 

[Bill Clemmons]

Mark, I don't have any experience w/ the Penn State DC. Mine is Oneida. I'm trying to remember back about six years when I was researching them. I remember there was something about the material the impellers are made of. You want one that is pretty resistant to abrasions, but at the same time is not metal which will cause a spark if you suck up a piece of steel (e.g. nail, screw, etc.).

I don't remember if this applies to the Penn State model or not. Just something I remember that seemed pretty important to me at the time.

HTH

Bill

 

[Douglas Robinson]

Pretty sure that is my unit. Got it used a few years ago on CL. Works like a champ. I have it in a single garage shope 22 x 11. What do you want to know?

 

[Douglas Robinson]

MarkE

If you want to come check it out send me a PM.

 

[WoodWrangler]

Did you Rick's price on this ShopFox unit ... awesome deal!

http://www.thewoodworkingsource.com/products/W1809-%2d-3-HP-Cyclone-Dust-Collector.html

 

[tryingtokeepmyfingers]

have you read up on this site
http://billpentz.com/woodworking/cyclone/index.cfm

also you might just want to get a canister filter to replace your bag and not have to totally upgrade everything right know

I have the harbor freight collector and put a filter on it from here
http://www.wynnenv.com/cartridge_filters.htm
these people really know there stuff

 

[MarkE]

Thanks for all the comments and suggestions, but it looks like this is moot at this point.

Since I don't have pictures yet I can't say more, except NCWW comes through again! :gar-Bi

 

[MarkE]

Did you Rick's price on this ShopFox unit ... awesome deal!

http://www.thewoodworkingsource.com/products/W1809-%2d-3-HP-Cyclone-Dust-Collector.html

After reading the post(s) about the problems getting spare parts for the Shop Fox DC, I decided to take them off of my short list.

 

[MarkE]

No first hand experience but the Dec/Jan American Woodworker magazine did a review of the 2HP DC machines and when compared to Oneida, JDS, Laguna, Grizzly and General the Penn State outperformed everything except the Oneida. It seems to be cheaper b/c it lacks some features (no remote, no overfill sensor, no filter agitator) but it moves the air and in my book that is what counts.

I will say that I have played with the Oneida machine at a trade show and the variable speed fan is nice since you can use it on smaller ports and still move some air, but $900 vs. $1900 is a stretch.

I would assume that you would find a similar trend in the higher HP rated machines but hopefully someone can chime in with first hand knowledge.

I looked hard at those Oneida 'Smart' machines. It's really hard to justify that extra cost.

 

[MarkE]

Mark, I don't have any experience w/ the Penn State DC. Mine is Oneida. I'm trying to remember back about six years when I was researching them. I remember there was something about the material the impellers are made of. You want one that is pretty resistant to abrasions, but at the same time is not metal which will cause a spark if you suck up a piece of steel (e.g. nail, screw, etc.).

I don't remember if this applies to the Penn State model or not. Just something I remember that seemed pretty important to me at the time.

HTH

Bill

The Penn State units use a steel impeller, the Oneida's use aluminum.

My current DC has a steel impeller and I have never been too concerned about sparking. Everything I have read about this indicates to me that it really is not an issue as far as explosion danger is concerned. About the only thing that might be of some concern would be if a hot ember somehow got sucked into the dust pile.

 

[MarkE]

have you read up on this site
http://billpentz.com/woodworking/cyclone/index.cfm

also you might just want to get a canister filter to replace your bag and not have to totally upgrade everything right know

I have the harbor freight collector and put a filter on it from here
http://www.wynnenv.com/cartridge_filters.htm
these people really know there stuff

I have read Bill Pentz' site. Not sure I agree with everything he has to say. When someone tells me that their design is the only one that really works, I tend to wonder if that is really the case.

The bags on my current DC are over sized .5 micron rated needle felt and I do use a pre-separator (Thein). Not sure a cartridge filter would make that much of a difference, except for increasing the filter surface area.

One of my main reasons for the upgrade is to free up a little more floor space.

 

[tryingtokeepmyfingers]

The bags on my current DC are over sized .5 micron rated needle felt and I do use a pre-separator (Thein). Not sure a cartridge filter would make that much of a difference, except for increasing the filter surface area.

One of my main reasons for the upgrade is to free up a little more floor space.

well the way I understand it is since the is more surface area at lets say the same .5 micron rating your CFM will be greatly increased with the cartridge filter cause the greater surface area will allow the dust collecter to move more air...

yea a Cyclone is the ultimate hands down and a great thing if you have the money

also I built at a 2' x 4' closest on the back on my shop to put the dust collector in.... this solved my floor space problem

 

[jtdums]

We installed the 5hp penn state model at the school shop this year and I have been very pleased. Take advantage of their free planning service with purchase and you will end up with a fine setup. I can't say enough about proper ducting and layout to maximize its effectiveness. Their cyclone must be very efficient because virtually no dust appears to be making it through to the filters.
If you are in the Davidson area, you would be welcome to come by and see our set up and test the unit as much as you like.
-Jim

 

[Alan in Little Washington]

Unless you need a bigger unit because it is not adequate for your shop or you are enlarging your shop; there is a problem with the reliant; or it has a 3 hp motor but a blower with only a 12" impeller, why not keep the reliant and add the cyclone. Both ClearVue and Oneida, sell the cyclone only (sans motor/blower). My system uses a VERY OLD 3 hp Grizzly motor blower unit (w/14" impeller) to which I added a DIY Pentz cyclone.

As to impeller material- the thousands of single single stage DCs sold over the years have had to endure stuff hitting their primarily steel impellers. There have been no fires or explosions reported from that cause in home systems. My cyclone is connected downstream from the blower in a "push-through" configuration so everything from chips, nuts, bolts, pieces of metal, chuck key, tape measure has hit the steel impeller and I've never had a fire or a hint of one in almost 10 years of use. Is there a remote possibility under the right circumstances that a fire could start? Maybe, but the velocity of the air in home systems immediately extinguishes and cools any sparks and the low concentration of dust just won't allow or support combustion.

 

[DWSmith]

I am very interested in a new dust collection system and have looked at those listed as well. I am leaning towards the Penn State over the others and the "free" system design will be a great help.

Please keep us posted on your investigation.

 

[MarkE]

Too dark to get pictures tonight. I'll have to update this tomorrow.

 

[MarkE]

Unless you need a bigger unit because it is not adequate for your shop or you are enlarging your shop; there is a problem with the reliant; or it has a 3 hp motor but a blower with only a 12" impeller, why not keep the reliant and add the cyclone. Both ClearVue and Oneida, sell the cyclone only (sans motor/blower). My system uses a VERY OLD 3 hp Grizzly motor blower unit (w/14" impeller) to which I added a DIY Pentz cyclone.

As to impeller material- the thousands of single single stage DCs sold over the years have had to endure stuff hitting their primarily steel impellers. There have been no fires or explosions reported from that cause in home systems. My cyclone is connected downstream from the blower in a "push-through" configuration so everything from chips, nuts, bolts, pieces of metal, chuck key, tape measure has hit the steel impeller and I've never had a fire or a hint of one in almost 10 years of use. Is there a remote possibility under the right circumstances that a fire could start? Maybe, but the velocity of the air in home systems immediately extinguishes and cools any sparks and the low concentration of dust just won't allow or support combustion.

My first thought was to go this route. Add a cyclone body to the Reliant and pipe everything in with 6". The reliant is just such a big machine plus the pre-separator, whether it be the Thein system or a cyclone, it just takes up more floor space than I am willing to provide.

I thought about putting it outside the shop. Just don't think that would fly in my neighborhood.

Anyway, it really doesn't matter anymore, because the situation has been resolved, and I will prove it with pictures tomorrow. If Mr. Smith doesn't beat me to the punch (or post, as it were). (That was a small hint :wink_smil)

And also, I agree with everything you said about the impeller/fire/explosion. Simply not going to happen.

 

[scsmith42]

Anyway, it really doesn't matter anymore, because the situation has been resolved, and I will prove it with pictures tomorrow. If Mr. Smith doesn't beat me to the punch (or post, as it were). (That was a small hint :wink_smil)
QUOTE]


Mark, I'll just give them a little teaser....

View image in gallery​

 

[MichaelCurtis]

I have the Tempest 1535 in my shop. It SUCKS! That's a good thing. It will need AT LEAST an 8 foot ceiling. Also plan on having help to set it up. The 3.5 HP motor on top of the unit is VERY heavy. But the filtration is great.