Dust collector upgrade worth it ?

[Martin_H]

Guys & galls,

Currently I have the following setup:
- 5 inch overal ducting with blastgates
- thien baffle with 5 inch in & outlet.
- 2HP dustcollector with 5 inch in - outlets.
- 5 inch metal dust seperator with a cartridge filter and a plastic bag to get the rest of the dust

I have the opportunity to by a 10 HP dustcollector with an in and outlet of 8 inch.
I was wondering if replacing my current 2HP unit with the 10 HP, then make a transition of the 8 inch in & outlets to the THienbaffle & the metal dust seperator's 5 inch intakes, would improve my overall dust collection.

Is the 10 HP unit strong enough to overcome the smaller duct size ? Or is the added HP not going to matter if I do not upgrade all of the ducting to 8 inch ?

thanks!
Martin

 

[Fitzroy]

The 10hp will move much more volume due to the extra power, however it may achieve this by just dropping the pressure in your collection vessel and but not moving much more volume at the point of collection.

A quick look on Google shows 10hp machines moving 4000cfm in a 5” duct that’s a velocity of over 100m/s, which will not happen. I think you’d be heading towards a collapsed collection vessel or wasting a lot of power.
Fitz.

 

[Sideways]

10hp, 7.5kW is a massive extractor.
8" inlet and outlet on that sounds waay too small.
I'd associate 8" with a machine of 1.5 to 2kW.

This 10hp p&j has a 14" duct !
https://www.scosarg.com/p-j-4-bag-dust-extraction-unit-7-5kw
Plumb that into a 5" duct and you'll choke and probably just stall the fan.

On the basis that my own extractor has 5" ports and only a 1hp motor, I suspect you may have an extractor that already moves enough air but needs 8" duct to let it breathe properly and is suffering from the pressure losses across the thien baffle (30%) and in the metal+cartridge filter (% lots).

I remember an axminster like this. 2kW fan, built in cyclone, big cartridge filter and 8" inlet stepped down into two 5"s.
Aiflow in the 5" ducts was pathetic but strip the machine back to the raw 8" inlet and take off the outlet cartridge filter and the fan created a howling gale ! These fans don't make pressure, they move air. You have to keep the ducts big and smooth and avoid all the extras that eat up what little suction the fans do make.

 

[Martin_H]

Hi guys, Thanks for the info. I just guessed the intake at 8 inch from a photo. A quick Google search for a 7.5 kwh extractor would have proved my feeble attempt at guessing, mea culpa! So I guess I will be sticking with the 2 hp motor and the 5 inch ducting, hopefully not giving me a false sense of security regarding the air quality in my shop. Thanks

 

[k995]

You can always buy one of these :

 

[Against_The_Grain]

Complete waste of power on a smaller scale and will cost you a fortune to run, you would need to install 16” main pipes and have saddles off that to your machines for an extractor of that power.

 

[Martin_H]

T

 

[Martin_H]

You can always buy one of these :
View attachment 168772

I got one of these, but quiet skeptical about these readings, rhinking about looking out for a air cleaner

 

[k995]

I got one of these, but quiet skeptical about these readings, rhinking about looking out for a air cleaner

When I start to saw it shoots up so it is detecting something.
When I run the air filter unit it goes down.

NO idea how accurate it is but it sure gives an indication.