I'm committed now... I cut the hole in the side!

[dbhost]

For all that it is worth, I am now committed to completed the side inlet. The 5" output pipe is installed and very solid, and the hole for the side pipe is in the barrel. There is a bit of a gap when my cheap Skil jigsaw blade drifted a hair, but nothing that silicone caulk can't fix. I now need to figure out how to trim and attach the side inlet pipe...I do not want it jutting out too terribly far, I have to make the connections for my 4" after the wye... and there will be a shelving unit there... What a squeeze!

Anyway, pics will be posted when this project is done for sure. There is no way I am putting THIS much work in without bragging on it a bit...

Anyone with suggestions on how best to cut / trim and attach the inlet pipe, PLEASE chime in, I need ideas yesterday!

[dbhost]

Now I'm embarassed... I cut the (expletive deleted) thing too high up on the drum...

[phil (admin)]

Now I'm embarassed... I cut the (expletive deleted) thing too high up on the drum...

What do you mean?  Too high so the lid won't fit?

[dbhost]

The clamping ring crushes the pipe... I still have the plug that I cut out, and I have plenty of epoxy... This isn't an insurmountable problem...

[skutny]

Here at work we get our wire feed welding wire in a heavy paper barrel from Lincoln weld. It's about 20" ID and stands about 34" tall.  I have a 2HP DC with a 6" inlet about 1600 CFM, I'm running 6" duct in the shop.

I was wondering if I should make the Thien Baffle with 6" inlet and outlet reduce the pressure drop?
What should the distance be for the baffle opening,still 1.125", the vertical distance between the top lid and the baffle plate where the inlet elbow is located, and how much penetration for the outlet pipe?

Any thoughts or suggestion would be appreciated.

[dbhost]

Not sure if this answers your question at all, but here goes nothing...

In my experience, pressure drop from the Thien separator is no worse than any other type of in line cyclone separator, what IS problematic is in most builds, you have too many 90 degree bends, which DO have an impact. I am doing the side inlet conversion to eliminate 2 of those bends.

With the side inlet I am trying to penetrate just flush with the inside of the drum wall.  That is the way I have seen most, but not all others set up...

with the top inlet I did have, I had the baffle 2" below the bottom of the elbow. I am planning on having it 1" below the bottom of the side inlet opening when done...

FWIW, unless yours is the rare unit that the manufacturer is being honest in rating, that 1600CFM is VERY generous. Usually most DCs are substantially lower than the manufacturer ratings...

[phil (admin)]

dbhost nailed it.

[skutny]

dbhost,

I agree, the stated CFM is probably calculated or even exaggerated, reason for my statement was for the fact that even at 1400 CFM with a 6" dia. inlet velocity is over 7000 feet per minute and the volume of my 20" drum at 8" depth would exchange the air 962 time a minute.  So my point is, does the air stick around long enough to drop out the chip and some dust.

Or reducing down to 4" outlet which would create a CFM reduction but slow down the air for drop out.

Am I over complicating a simple process??

Thanks for your thoughts.

[dbhost]

While I can not answer your query mathematically, I can say without a doubt from the end result on mine, at least running with a 5" duct, the air sticks around plenty long enough to drop all of the larger debris, and most of the dust. I have not been hooked up to 5" long enough to really push it yet though...

With 4" I ran long enough to have no less than 8 cycles of filling, then emptying the drum, and the total amount of fines that ended up in the bag of the DC is still less than 1 cup. I took the bag off and looked at the filter it still looks brand new except for a light dusting along the bottom lip of the cartridge which is almost to be expected.

I have read over the the past few years of similar results from users that have rigged theirs for 6" as well...

So yeah, I think you may be over thinking it a little bit, and with the mathematics thrown out there, I am figuring you might be coming from an engineering perspective. In that case, I would suggest that since these things are plenty cheap and easy to build, that you build up your own unit, and test it out. Heck some before and after numbers might be of use to others here.

[pitbull]

SKutny...I am in the same position.

I believe to clarify his question is this. If you are running a 6" main to the D/C inlet....would having a 4" Inlet and a 6" Exhaust through the top help or hurt?

[phil (admin)]

SKutny...I am in the same position.

I believe to clarify his question is this. If you are running a 6" main to the D/C inlet....would having a 4" Inlet and a 6" Exhaust through the top help or hurt?

Hurt.  You'd want 6" inlet, 6" outlet on your separator to use in conjunction with a DC with a 6" inlet.

[JakesDad1]

Don't know if this helps, but this is how I did it.