5", Rectangular Inlet, Bellmouth Outlet with Air Straightener, Top Hat Separator

[dabullseye]

very nice . i cant wait till mine is finished

[RonS]

Retired2... I also have a 50-760 collector that I am designing a TopHat for and I really like your design which I will use as much of as possible. One of the biggest issues with the seperator is knowing when the can is full and then emptying it (I've had a DC seperator since 2008 and I always have to disconnect the hoses and remove the can). I installed a CanFull window after over filling it a few times

With the TopHat configuration I was planning to attach the TopHat directly to the under side of the 760 with the 760 inlet going directly into the top of the TopHat (making it part of the 760). I will set my can on a platform that can be reaised and locked to mount the can to the TopHat. To empty the can I just lower it and slide it out. This will allow me to use a larger can and not have to connect/disconnect any hoses.

The only design required to impliment this approch would be the platform raising/lowering and locking mechanism. It could be very simple, a couple blocks of wood and a wedge under the can or more complex platform design with a mechanical lift assembly.

Have you had any thoughts along this line.?

Ron

 

[retired2]

Retired2... I also have a 50-760 collector that I am designing a TopHat for and I really like your design which I will use as much of as possible. One of the biggest issues with the seperator is knowing when the can is full and then emptying it (I've had a DC seperator since 2008 and I always have to disconnect the hoses and remove the can). I installed a CanFull window after over filling it a few times

With the TopHat configuration I was planning to attach the TopHat directly to the under side of the 760 with the 760 inlet going directly into the top of the TopHat (making it part of the 760). I will set my can on a platform that can be reaised and locked to mount the can to the TopHat. To empty the can I just lower it and slide it out. This will allow me to use a larger can and not have to connect/disconnect any hoses.

The only design required to impliment this approch would be the platform raising/lowering and locking mechanism. It could be very simple, a couple blocks of wood and a wedge under the can or more complex platform design with a mechanical lift assembly.

Have you had any thoughts along this line.?

Ron

Ron, the short answer is I have been thinking about this a lot, and I plan to do pretty much exactly what you described.  However, the devil is in the details, or in this case the jacking mechanism.  I started cutting wood today for the fixed support that will replace the wheeled cart on my 50-760.  I would like to raise the DC about a foot.  I have plenty of headroom in my shop, but I need more headroom under the DC for the Bute container and top hat separator. 

I was going to put the separator up against the bottom of the DC, but the diameter of my separator is too big to do that, so it will have to be suspended several inches.  It will probably be suspended on threaded rods.  That will allow me to remove it or adjust it, but it is not intended to be removed to empty the drum.

So, I'm proceeding without a design in mind for the jacking device, but my initial thoughts were some kind of large wedge that is pushed in from one side causing a table to move up.  That will probably require some waxed guides and slots to work properly, so I'm trying to come up with something simpler.  The jacking device can't be too sloppy or it may compromise the seal at the top of the drum.

I'll be posting some photos here as I make some progress, but for the moment my objective is to just get the DC raised so I can do futher testing of the bellmouth outlet.  That means it will be a while before I solve the lifting device problem.

[Rick T]

Don't waste your time on jacking mechanisms etc. if you are planing to use a short piece of flex hose to join the top hat to the DC. You just need an inch or so of stretch/compression in the flex hose to slip the pail in and out, and the flex hose is plenty strong enough to support the top hat suspended by the flex hose. No need to undo any clamps.

[retired2]

Don't waste your time on jacking mechanisms etc. if you are planing to use a short piece of flex hose to join the top hat to the DC. You just need an inch or so of stretch/compression in the flex hose to slip the pail in and out, and the flex hose is plenty strong enough to support the top hat suspended by the flex hose. No need to undo any clamps.

You may be right Rick, but I will have a very short (an inch or two) flex hose connection on the inlet pipe also.  That will keep me restrained in the vertical plane, so I'm not sure I will be able to lift the separator with nearly a hard connection there.  I could remove the long radius elbow that meets up with the inlet nozzle and replace it with flex hose, but I'm not crazy about that idea.

 

[JeffQ]

Guys, take every thought that follows to be purely speculation, and not in any way tried and true. I have gathered all of the necessary materials to make my own top hat style separator from a Grizzly 2 hp 1029, but have yet to begin the build. So far I have the Wynn nano cartridge filter, a strip of .093 PETG plastic for the top hat (same mat'l ClearVue uses for their cyclones) and the scrap sheet goods to build a new platform and frame for all of the components.

I too have been wrestling with how to best keep the top hat stationary to minimize any turbulence issues associated with using ribbed flex, but wanting the bottom Brute container to be easy remove and empty. Two untried approaches I am considering so far, both would rest the chip container on a "loose" platform of plywood resting on top of the wheeled cart. One thought was to make a lever operated "cam" rod out of something like 3/4" conduit and shaped wooden blocks to raise the loose plywood platform against the fixed top hat. If it worked it would be really slick, but it seemed I might be experimenting with the shape of the cam blocks for awhile before I got them right.

The second thought was to just sink a couple screw eyes up high on the outside of the plywood uprights and run a simple ratchet strap under the loose plywood platform. All I would need to do is crank the ratchet strap lever a couple of times to snug the loose plywood platform and chip barrel up against the fixed top hat separator. This method would require essentially no fabrication or trial and error. I think I will end up trying this out first, as it appeals to my lazy side...

Given, that finding the time to make the parts for the separator is proving challenging to me, I have no doubt that one of you will find a way to do this long before I am able to experiment with the best method myself... but I thought I'd throw the ideas out there in the meantime. If I get a chance tomorrow, I'll see if I can sketch my ideas up and post them here.

[retired2]

Guys, take every thought that follows to be purely speculation, and not in any way tried and true. I have gathered all of the necessary materials to make my own top hat style separator from a Grizzly 2 hp 1029, but have yet to begin the build. So far I have the Wynn nano cartridge filter, a strip of .093 PETG plastic for the top hat (same mat'l ClearVue uses for their cyclones) and the scrap sheet goods to build a new platform and frame for all of the components.

I too have been wrestling with how to best keep the top hat stationary to minimize any turbulence issues associated with using ribbed flex, but wanting the bottom Brute container to be easy remove and empty. Two untried approaches I am considering so far, both would rest the chip container on a "loose" platform of plywood resting on top of the wheeled cart. One thought was to make a lever operated "cam" rod out of something like 3/4" conduit and shaped wooden blocks to raise the loose plywood platform against the fixed top hat. If it worked it would be really slick, but it seemed I might be experimenting with the shape of the cam blocks for awhile before I got them right.

The second thought was to just sink a couple screw eyes up high on the outside of the plywood uprights and run a simple ratchet strap under the loose plywood platform. All I would need to do is crank the ratchet strap lever a couple of times to snug the loose plywood platform and chip barrel up against the fixed top hat separator. This method would require essentially no fabrication or trial and error. I think I will end up trying this out first, as it appeals to my lazy side...

Given, that finding the time to make the parts for the separator is proving challenging to me, I have no doubt that one of you will find a way to do this long before I am able to experiment with the best method myself... but I thought I'd throw the ideas out there in the meantime. If I get a chance tomorrow, I'll see if I can sketch my ideas up and post them here.

Those are some good ideas, but I can't use a cart.  Another idea I had was a platform supported by springs that could carry the load of a full can of waste, but could be depressed with a cam lever or Destaco clamp in order to free the drum. 

[Rick T]

whichever method you use, when the DC runs, it needs to be able to form an air-tight seal between the collection pail and bottom plate of the top hat.

[dabullseye]

well i added a 1/2 x 3/8 to bottom plate to get a better seal on trash can

[dabullseye]

this is upside down and the standoff need a little trimming

[dabullseye]

the one stick is just a kicker to hold it up

[dabullseye]

this is my plastic. so far things are going good just need to do some sanding to smooth out some router marks and make the wood blocks that trap the plastic.
i cant wait till its finished. i tried to do all the pic in one post but it telling me it was to large each pic is just over a MB

[dabullseye]

now that i got these pic up i see where it says each pic is over a KB im confused

[retired2]

I usually use a photo editor to downsize my files to approx 1000 x 700 pixels - that's still a pretty nice size for web viewing.  And, you can usually keep the file size smaller by choosing a stronger jpeg compression.  For webposting, you can't see the difference in image quality.

I think the way photo images work on this forum is you can upload them as attachments as you did, but then you will be size limited.  If you host your own photos as I do, you are merely uploading the link to the computer where they are stored, so then you are not size limited.  I use Dropbox.  I think the first 20 gb are free.  It's easy to use and it has some other benefits if you choose to take advantage of them.   

By the way, your build looks really good.  If I had it to do over, I would have added an extra ring on the bottom to make the drum seal a little deeper also, so that is a good upgrade.

[dabullseye]

Here is the added ring and it fits great since I glued it in place while it was on the can sometimes I surprise myself.