using 2 dust colecters on 1 machine

[alan m]

i had my seperater powered by a small dc unit . 1.5 hp i think. it wasnt up to the job so i replaced it with a 3hp  one.
the new one is great  but im left with the old one that works great but is financially worth very little
my dewalt 718 chop saw is almost imposable to colect from.
i put a 6"hose right beside the blade behind the fence. it works great for that side but the other side has nothing. iv tried blocking it but the dust just bounces back out

im thining about using my spare extracter to suck from the other side
my plan is to put the second dc up on the wall out of the way . i havnt room for a second barrel under it to colect the dust ,
given that there will be very little dust being sucked up at any one time im thinking of using the main dc to empty a small container under the 2nd one.

im thinking that if i put an 8 " pipe under the dc where the bag was(it willl require a funnel) and put a blast gate on the end. then run the main dc ducting under the blast gate. put a T fitting in the main line  so that the straight through part goes to the saw and the 90  degree part attachs to the blast gate.

when im using the saw i would run both extracters and have the blast gate closed . an internal baffle will seperate out the dust . when im finished with the saw i will open the blast gate and the suction from the main dc will suck up the dust when it drops down into the T. the blow from the second dc will help too.

if i do this every time i use the set up i dont think there would be more than a cup or two in the pipe. .

[alan m]

i take it no one thinks this is worth doing

[BernardNaish]

I think there mus be something strange happening with your 1 1/2 HP DC. It should be perfectly capable of collecting from any of your machines! What size pipe or ducting are you using? Are there any leaks in your system? Have you got your blast gates the right way round- that is with the locking screw on the side away from the blower so that it helps to seal the flow? Is the filter on the DC clean?

Definitely not worth doing what you propose but very worth while to correct any problems above.

Good luck with the checks and let us all know how you get on.

[alan m]

it might only be 1 horse power. not sure from my head. it works great on the machines seperatly but not throught the duct ing
i was using the 6 " port on it  conected to my 6" top hat seperater  and then onto my 6" spiral ducting,
there was no filter  so that cant be it
there was suckion but not enough  at the end of the duct run
everything seems well sealed.
i now have the 3 hp dc on the same (or even more) duct run. its a lot better.



i cant think of any reason not to do what im thinking. it will only be for the chop saw . that beast is a nightmare to extract from.

i will probably try it eventually when everything else on the list is done.