Do you loose a lot of functionality if you plumb the motor away from the top of the cyclone? Can I put the motor on the inlet side and blow the dust into the cyclone? I have a height issue in the basement. Thanks for any input.
Someone, (can't remember who) posted pics of their system that showed the filer being what looked like 15' or so from the blower. This looked like it was done due to space issues at the separator/blower location.
The blower can be remote, but you have to remember that, the extra ducting works against you (the friction will reduce CFM). Doesn't matter if the ducting comes before or after the cyclone, you should try to keep it as short as possible.
And yes, you can arrange the unit as a push instead of pull, so the blower comes before the separator. But in that case, you lose one advantage of a separator, which is to protect the blower's impeller. Probably not that big a deal, as the impellers are typically designed to be struck by knots and small chunks of wood. I just thought I'd mention it.
Thanks for the great info.
I have 10' between my DC and my TopHat. If you look back at my posting, ( http://www.jpthien.com/smf/index.php?topic=557.0) I have both pictures and a link to a YouTube Video of my setup. I did use 7" piping from the 3HP DC to the TopHat, and then transtioned thru that into 6". I assumed that any loss might be made up with the different size piping. In the end I would think it would depend on the HP of the DC and the total amount of piping.