Analogy

[RCOX]

Phil, you were the first to mention the hard 90 degree ells that I had in my system. Several more commented later. I admit I am hardheaded and just couldn't completely wrap my head around the whole concept. My thoughts were something like, it stays the same diameter so what is the big deal.

I just got the Oct. issue of Wood magazine and it has an analogy for ductwork that I can fully understand. First, let me qualify this by saying I was raised in the country in southern Okla and learned to drive on narrow gravel roads.

This article compares a gravel road with rough/rubboard surface and sharp corners to a freeway with a relatively smooth surface and long sweeping curves so you can maintain a high rate of speed. On the gravel road, you have to go slower because it is rough and you have to slow way down to make a turn so you don't roll your vehicle. This visual really opened my eyes to the problems I was facing.

With all that said, I have almost completed my first major overhaul. I have reduced all but 1 of the sharp 90's, have built a tophat separator and am starting to replace my ductwork with 6". I have enough material to re-do about 1/2 of my setup and will have to run with that a little while until I can get more duct.

I tested the original setup vs the tophat after I changed the 90's and in my opinion the tophat has noticeably more suction than the original separator, all other things being the same.

Will post some pictures of the changes next week when I have completed what I can at this time.

Thank you,

Raymond