Using vertical space to the best of my ability. Design help wanted.

[dbhost]

Okay, I know I am probably in overkill territory here, but here goes nothing.

My shop is a 2 car garage with a funny 2' x 5.5' with a 7' 10" ceiling height, niche in the rear corner that is just perfect for placing dust collection equipment, except I now have a lot of equipment to jam into a little space.

The situation is I know have a Harbor Freight 2HP DC, which I am building a 30 gallon 4" Thien trash can cyclone separator for, along with my existing Ridgid Wet / dry vac / 20 gallon Thien trash can cyclone.

Now the question du jour is how do I get all this stuff into this space?

I have a "cyclone stacker" built that houses my 20 gallon / wet dry vac setup. I am wondering if I can get both the 20 AND 30 gallon units in stacked under the vac. Since I use a remote for switching power anyway, I am not worried about reaching the vac every time...

Help with some design ideas please. I am coming up a bit dry...

[phil (admin)]

Maybe a pic or two of what you have now to get our creative juices flowing?

[dabullseye]

cant u use a y and some gates and only one can

[bennybmn]

Pics would be great since I don't really know what everything looks like off hand, but just a thought....

Is the HF DC the kind with a section of hose between the blower and the bags? If so, you could wall mount the blower directly next to the bag holder, which will make it more efficient, and then put the separator barrel right below that, also more efficient, and everything's in a nice little package. 

Also if I were to make one, I'd make the enlet into the side of  the barrel, not on the top. Less elbows, better flow.

[dbhost]

Sorry about the not so great photo there... The DC is immediately to the right of the vac / can... And the Bicycles not only CAN be moved, but WILL, as soon as I figure out where to move them to...

And while not mine, my DC looks, or will soon look (as soon as the Wynn filter comes in and gets installed) like the photo below...

[dp]

With that setup you don't need a lid - use the tank in place of the lid, sealed, of course, to the can below, totem style. Put a hole in the bottom of the vac, insert a short pipe in the vac tank to keep the chips from falling back in the lower can, and use a side attached inlet hose on the can with the separator as usual. And if you need to use the vac stand-alone you can cap the hole in the bottom.

[dbhost]

I got to checking out the specs on the 35A filter today. The overall height of the HF-DC with the Wynn filter compared to stock appears to be a little over a foot. I am fuzzy on stock measurements of the upright bar / bag setup, but if I recall it was something like 38" from the top of the separator ring. The Wynn filter is 24" tall, meaning I gain 14" of overall height. This means that I can set up a sort of shelving system where the vac sits on a shelf over the DC, and then the shelves next to that would hold the vac can on top, the DC can on bottom.

Anyone with the HF DC and Wynn 35A filter setup, would you be so kind as to post the overall height of your setup? Thanks...

I can then run the plumbing for both parallel up the wall, and across the ceiling...

The vac directly on can idea is interesting, but not exactly what I was digging for...

[shrxfn]

Why don't you unmount the blower on the DC and raise it higher more on the level with the inlet for the filter and then you could shorten the flex house and place the separation under the motor like you did on the shop vac. Another thought would be to test and see if the DC motor has to be in that position. Can the motor be unmounted form the base and then rotated in any way and avoid a performance hit? If so it would then allow you even more flexibility to raise the motor of the base an even reorient it so that you gain more space on the mobile base to put the separator. Just some thoughts from what I can see in the pics.

PS if you can move the blower to test it try unmounting the blower and laying the blower on its side with the inlets pointed down and if it works fine then you could place a straight pipe to the separator right below it.

[dbhost]

I thought about just that. I like the idea. IF I do that, it will be with a steel mounting plate, and tubular steel framework. I am not skilled enough in metal fabrication to accomplish this myself, BUT... I do have connections. I might just have to look into this. Eliminating the flex hose, and the bend from the blower to the inlet ring would go a long way to improving air flow in the DC itself anyway...

[shrxfn]

DB, I think that you would be able to test at least using good old 2x4 and 3/4 inch plywood if you have the scraps. Then if it works you could get fancy and have a metal frame fabricated. If you are worried about strength I would think that the only thing you would have to worry about would be torque when starting the motor but looking at the pictures I don't think that would be much of an issue as the base does not look very thick in the pictures. Actually looking at the pics again you could do it exactly like the shop vac. Make a 2x4 frame and a L shaped 3/4" plywood top and you could cut a hole through the bottom and lay the vac on its side and then bolt the base to the upright part of the L and you could even use metal plumbers tape to secure it down. I know it may not look pretty but it would be cheap and you could do it yourself in a day. Just a thought. You know what would also be cool would be to do the external separator and then to also do the one that others have done inside the metal ring that holds the bag and filter. You would have two chances to separate out all of the fines and would keep the coarse chips from hitting the impellers which is by itself a huge plus. Anyways just rattling off some more ideas tonight. Have a good weekend. I get to cut down 15+ trees too bad they aren't suitable for woodworking.  :(

[dbhost]

I have been mulling the idea of moving the motor all weekend, unfortunately my lovely bride has had other plans for my time... Yeah, I have plenty of construction grade lumber laying around... I need to get out to the shop with a tape to measure the DC up... I am not sure the 30 gallon can would fit the way you suggest. But I MIGHT be able to put a 20 gallon can there...

[bennybmn]

If you could raise the motor up so it's inline with the unlet of the DC, and spin it so it's a straight shot from the barrel lid up to the blower, I bet you would raise the efficiency to more than make up for any losses the cyclone would add.

[dbhost]

That's my thought too...

I am pretty sure I will need a small section of 5" stovepipe to make the connection though.

I have come up with a few designs in Sketchup, nothing super solid yet.

[JakesDad1]

I am contemplating much of the same problem with space with the same unit. How about:
1) Dismount the DC setup
2) Cut the 4" intake from the "donut" leaving a "flange"
3) Rivet the intake flange to the side of a trash can
4) Build the Thien Separator lid for the can
5) Bolt the 2 HP HF motor to the wall above it
6) Build a box to contain the filter and attach it horizontaly above the motor
7) Route the discharge air through insulated flexible ducting (muffler) from the motor to the end of the filter box
8) Connect it all up

What do you think. Would it work?

[dbhost]

Can you post at least a pencil sketch? I'm having trouble picturing it...