J. Phil Thien's Projects

Quote from: DustySanders on August 05, 2019, 09:36:11 AM
Thanks, Mik - a much better answer than ""Would this work?"  Not likely, stick to proven designs."

Actually, I thought it was the best short answer I could give since the OP was clearly headed down a path that was not going to work, so I was trying to save him time, material and money.  When I had more time I gave him a follow-up response.  I have often encouraged others to try an idea they had, but only when I thought there was a chance that it might work.

When you have answered several hundred questions on this forum, and many of them several times, you get a little burnt out.  That is when brevity begins sounding blunt.  I'll show more restraint in the future.

I've seen the Duststopper design but have not seen or read anything about its performance, however it is hard for me to imagine that you will be able to improve much on its performance.

All the tools you mentioned pose dust collection problems, particularly for a shop vac.  Shop vacs produce a lot of static head, but don't move much air compared to a DC.  So, if you want to pick up marbles or screws the shop vac is the right tool, but if you want to knock down a dust cloud you need to move a lot of air.

Good luck

I don't see your idea producing any centrifugal air flow.  The air enters on one side of the chamber, splits and goes two different directions, and then enters the exit in less than 180 degrees.  Some waste may be separated into the waste container below the baffle, but I suspect you will also have a significant amount of bypass.

You mentioned you are planning to use a small shop vac.  What kind of tools are you planning to capture waste from?

"Would this work?"  Not likely, stick to proven designs.

Quote from: alan m on July 13, 2019, 03:54:59 PM
very nice. looks good. report back how its working

Better yet, post a video!

Quote from: Holsterguy on June 28, 2019, 04:35:33 PM
you guys think this will work ok?
6" pvc. Making a 1 1/2 or 2 height tophat, 5" inlet.

There is some data that I posted several times showing the benefits of all kinds of pipe end treatments.  What that data shows is that a simple flat flange on the end of a pipe achieves much of the benefit of a bellmouth.  So, I would say your end treatment is just fine, and not worth the effort of trying to make it look like a commercial bellmouth. 

I've also commented several times that folks with a small diameter separator would be better off trimming some of the bellmouth flange away so as to make it smaller and avoid bypass.  I don't recall your units dimensions, but even if you have a large enough diameter, you may still have a very good compromise with your pvc pipe. 

Quote from: Holsterguy on June 22, 2019, 06:58:23 PM
Ok. My memory isn't what it used to be. It must have been the bellmouth size I was thinking of. I'm thinking about a 1 1/2 height with 5" inlet and 5" outlet using a subwoofer bellmouth. Near as I can see I'll have to use a 6" and reduce to 5" But even at that I don't think they are real big diameter.
I have the HF dc and would like to increase the impeller size maybe.

Looking down from the top,if an imaginary line from the closest edge of your inlet nozzle gets too close to the OD of the bellmouth flange, you may get some bypass.  That it why a rectangular inlet is better than a round.  It keeps the incoming waste stream near the separator wall and away from the bellmouth flange.

Quote from: Holsterguy on June 22, 2019, 02:47:54 PM
Been planning to build a tophat for a looong time. Have almost everything together finally.
One question-how many of you have built one using a 32 gal. brute and after using it wished you would have went with the 40?
Really having a heck of a time trying to decide. The 32 sounds more attractive as far as cost and weight when full, but.... Then IIRC, didn't Retired2 say the smaller diameter pose problems with scrubbing, or am I wrong.

I don't remember saying scrubbing was a problem with a 32 gal drum, but if I did it was probably in the context of the total design.  Obviously, you can't put a 6" round inlet and 8" bellmouth outlet on a 32 gal drum top hat design and not expect bypass issues.

I have a 32 gal Brute plumbed with 5" pipe and fittings, and the amount of bypass I get wouldn't  fill a coffee can after years of service.

I personally would never go to a 40 gal drum simply because of the handling I must do to dispose of the waste.

I'm not sure how you are measuring suction, but you can't judge the performance of your blower by subjective assessments.  You need to use an instrument to measure either the static pressure or the air flow. 

One thing I would do is quickly test whether or not cake in the filter bags has become so heavy that it is crippling performance.  Simply remove the five filter bags and run the unit without them to see if the suction improves.  If you have never cleaned any of the filter bags remove them, turn them inside out and vacuum them thoroughly with a shop vac, then reinstall them.

If you can adapt a pleated cartridge filter, such as the ones sold by Wynn, to your unit, that is a much better choice than canvas bags.

Quote from: tommitytomtom on May 01, 2019, 03:15:34 PM
As I've just finished most of my collector and in testing stage, I'm very curious about you bell mouth and did you make it or make it from some common object ? I need a 6" bell mouth.

Bought it locally from a spiral wound pipe shop.  You should have no trouble finding one on the internet.

Quote from: Chuckl on April 07, 2019, 05:39:28 PM
I ran across this post and while it is showing its age, it is one of the best I've seen. I have built the remote starter as per your specs but one thing is never explained: the wiring of the micro switches. What gauge wire do you use to connect the micro switches to the remote starter? How are they connected? I believe I saw somewhere that they are connected in parallel, if so, does that mean the pair of wires from each switch are connected to the same terminals at the remote switch with all the other switches?

Thanks for any assistance. Again, great system.

Chuckl

I think I used 24 gauge wire, not sure where I got it.  I suspect you could use any gauge because no voltage is passed through it from the relay. The micro switches are wired in parallel.  I only have two pairs of wire returning to my remote because I have two mains in my dust collection system.  Each main has several drops with micro switches on each blast gate.  The switches on each main are wired in parallel and daisy-chained one after another.  I just tape the wire to my ductwork with duct tape.

Quote from: rondako on March 17, 2019, 11:58:09 AM
Doing lots of make ready for my HF upgrade when it arrives.   I've read and watched so many posts and videos and seen several different designs -- many of which seem to have the baffle positioned in different locations relative to the intake port.  I know there is a prescribed place to position the baffle such that the baffle work correctly, but I'm wondering if anyone has tried just doing a full disc that is 1 1/8 smaller in radius than the bottom piece -- basically a baffle that is a smaller full concentric disc that would be held in place by the threaded rods? Did it work? Any problems?

I suggest you start a new thread with this question.

CFM is only half of what you need, the other half is static pressure, and the blowers in question have very little because the application they were designed for does not need it.  Don't waste your time or money on them.

Phil,

I will send an email to the patent office, but it won't be immediately, my wife has some unresolved medical problems. 

I don't know what improvements this guy has made to his design because he intentionally doesn't reveal those details.  However, for a brief moment when he lifts his unit off the bucket it is clear that at the heart of his device is the Thien baffle, copied shamelessly.  Without that baffle his device doesn't do squat! 

I'd put the outlet pipe at a level that is just below the top of the inlet.  Also, if you are milling green lumber I don't like your thick baffle plate.  You may get away with it because your drop slot is so wide, but the end of the drop slot is where plugs start, and the thicker the baffle, the more likely it will happen.

Round the end of your drop slot. The square corners will make it more likely that snags will occur.  Also, the best way to fix the thick baffle is to take a wood rasp and undercut the edge, especially at the end of the drop slot.  Use wood filler if necessary to smooth the results.  Plywood won't take kindly to filing.