Distance from top pipe to Baffle?

[Acadia]

Hi, just finishing up my top hat build but I have a question.  What distance should the top pipe be from the surface of the baffle?

My can is roughly 19 1/2 diameter, 11" tall and the duct size is 6".  Motor is 3hp.

I thought I read someplace that it should be 2x the duct diameter from the surface of the baffle?  Is this right?  So in my case the tube would go down to 3" or the surface of the baffle.

Thanks

[phil (admin)]

It should extend 1/2 the D into the unit.  So for 4" diameter, you'd want it to extend 2" below the bottom of the top.  For 6" diameter, you'd want it to extend 3" below the bottom of the top.

[Acadia]

Thanks Phil, I had it backwards.  Glad I posted the question.

[judgesawdust]

I am completely lost!  What "pipe" are we talking about?  Does it run through the baffle and up into the filter?  down into the plastic bag?  Or, am I completely off.  Sorry for the stupid question, guess I'm a "visual" type  :P

I'm trying to figure out how to build the baffle with a pipe in the middle for my old Penn State DC2v2.

[Bulldog8]

Judgesawdust, they were discussing a pre-separator unit that fits on top of a can or barrel. That is the top hat they were referring to. the entire baffle and pipe assembly sits above the collection container hence its name. The OP's question was how far down into the top hat should the pipe go. Here is a picture of a top hat separator (the center vertical pipe which is the outlet to the DC)



Its sounds as if you are working on placing your baffle inside of your DC to keep the collected debris in the lower bag right?

Steve

[judgesawdust]

Yeah Steve. I've got an older 1.5hp Penn State w/ a Wynn filter. I want to keep as much airflow as possible and thought that the baffle inside the metal ring would be best.

Does the preseparator kill much flow? I also have the opportunity to pick up a brand new Super Dust Deputy w/ the 33 gal can - all metal.  That would save me the time of making the tophat. I'm not very scientific, so I get lost in all the CFM, static, etc language.

I just want to make sure I'm sucking up the fines best as possible.

Really appreciate your quick reply and help!

Jeff

[Bulldog8]

Many people report a loss of suction when they install the baffle. I didn't; I actually saw an increase in air movement, but I changed from a bag filter to a Wynn filter and also went from 4" pvc to 6" metal mains at the time that I installed the top hat. Therefore, I saw an overall increase in performance.

It was the separation of fines that got me interested in the baffle in the first place. I was having problems clogging the bag filter when using the drum sander. The Thien baffle and other upgrades have taken care of my problem.

Steve