6" Inlet/Outlet Separator How to with Video, Pics and Text

[pitbull]

Steve-

The Grizzly unit I have came with some old school bags for top and bottom....I highly doubt they were 1 micron as the original date of this D/C is 2004. I bought it used a few years ago then added the Wynn filter immediately before usage and threw the old bags away.

When changing the bag on the bottom (no need to do it anymore) I used three pieces of tape about 2" long spaced about 120 degrees to hold the bag in place until I put the band around it. Then I take the blue tape and completely seal the bag to the frame all the way around to stop any possible blow-by. This has always seemed to work because all the time for the past couple years when I pull the tape off it was always still sticking to the frame...so nothing was getting by that I could see.

I think SLoMo will get a noisier top hat with all that metal. As for the muffler...if  you go that route let me know if it was worth it. I certainly would not mind queting the system down a bit. Do some before/after video to test sound levels. THe reason it is noisier is because it is moving that much more air than the bags were.

JAson

[shepditch]

What's the best method you've found to get the separator off so you can empty the bin when it's full?  Do you french cleat the top hat and hang it on the wall while you empty the collection bin?  I was trying to manage to work a rigid pipe between the blower unit and the top hat but, short of an engineering degree, I can't see how to lift the resulting monstrosity off the bin to get it out and empty it.

I've seen another member's chain-lift system but that relies on a slip-fit with the rigid pipe from blower to separator which I'd like to avoid (leak potential).  Is there an obvious way to get the top hat off the can that I'm missing?

Thanks,
Steve

[pitbull]

Steve-

I slip the outlet flex pipe up and off and pull the inlet pipe off (notice the flex line in the picture on the ducting after the last wye), then I lift the top hat of and lay it on the floor while changing cans. Takes less than a minute.

[pitbull]

Bulldog-

Its been a while and just wondering if you ever put on that muffler and if so did it work out for you?

-Jason

[Bulldog8]

I haven't added a muffler. After making the bottom plastic bag shorter and closing in the bottom DC ring, the DC was quieter than the original bag configuration before the Wynn filter. It's been such a miserable summer here that I haven't been in the shop much. I may build a muffler this winter, just to see how it works.

Steve

[pitbull]

What/where did you get the plastic lid and retaining clip from? Looks like there is a little bit of a dip in the middle...perfect to plastic weld a 2" PVC pipe to it with a screw cap as a clean out.

[Bulldog8]

It is the lid and clamp from the barrel I purchased from US Plastics for my separator collection bin. I still use a shortened plastic bag inside of the DC. When I am ready to blow the filter down, I remove the lid, pull the bag down and then blow the filter out. When the dust settles, I remove the bag and empty the collected fines.

Steve.

[pitbull]

That is a good idea about just cutting the bag smaller because there is no reason to have a full sized bag hanging around. Does that lid fit tight or did you modify it. Also what size container is it from. I am going to try and get it by itself if possible.

[Bulldog8]

Here is a link to the barrel I purchased.

http://www.usplastic.com/catalog/search.aspx?search=74158&page=1

I taped the bag to the DC ring because I was getting some leakage. The lid is not modified at all. I did have to drill a hole in the clamp to move the pivot point of the handle by about a 1/2" to allow the band that came on the barrel to fit my DC. The Lid does not seal tightly to the bottom of the DC ring. I count on the plastic bag to prevent leakage.

I think that you could accomplish the same thing with a plywood or MDF disc. It could be clamped to the DC ring with spring clamps similar to what Chuck Lentz used on the lid of his separator.

http://i826.photobucket.com/albums/zz188/SawSucker/5GalSideInMobile.jpg

Steve

[pitbull]

That is a good point. Cheaper as well and probably will provide sound deadening. I believe the bag is the loudest part on the system right now. If I can make the seal air tight around the opening I will forgot the bag entirely and put a clean out into the center of the disc. That way I can periodically knock the fines out of filter while having a shop vac hooked up to the clean out line and have an almost maintenance free system.

I will do some before an after pics/videos to document it. Hopefully this will quiet it down without impacting performance. We will see.

[pitbull]

I ended up rolling the bag into a ball and then put a thick zip tie on it....it hangs slightly under the metal and off the floor..out of the way. It has considerably reduced the noise because it does not allow air to swirl around and create turbulence.

[Dougp28704]

Wow. What a great write up. Thank you for sharing. Your setup looks fantastic. ;D

[pitbull]

UPDATE:

Just wanted to give an update sine this has been in usage fore quite some time now.

First off, I have changed my mind about rolling the bag (rolling it up with a zip tie or capping the bottom) because after using it like that I found that while it decreased sound output...it also was hard to tell when my can was full and push bypass chips into the filter rather than drop them in the bag.

So the bag now freely hangs, and in hindsight has become very useful. When I am in production mode...if I fill up the can, I do not like to stop until I am done with that run. So the excess chips just go into the bag. The con to it is I eventually have to change the bag, but it is usually a 20:1 ration of cans to bag changes. I have at least 100+ can changes at this point and it has held up fine.

Thanks to all of you out there that have given feedback. If you like this series I have been working on some other cool builds as well.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCtkFlqdY9x6pq8EDk1RGIhQ


Jason
Wetland Wood Works