air straightener below baffle

[alan m]

i got think after seeing the cool sand doons in my drum that there is still air spinning below the baffle

would adding any vertical pieces sticking down help or hinder 

[dabullseye]

i dont know

but with my clear trash can i can see the dust is spiraling all the way to the bottom along the sides of the can.

if you were to place some type of baffle below the gap it might disrupt the smooth flow and cause fines to become airborne and work their way to the outlet pipe.

to me mine works great the way it is and i am not going to reinvent the wheel since i don't have the tools to measure the amount of bypass since it would be on the micron level.

in all the yrs since i've built mine i've only got less than a half gallon of bypass in my bag below the filter and that's after i've blown air on the outside to clean the filter.

[retired2]

I'm with "dabullseye".  I think disrupting the spinning air in the waste drum is going to do much more harm than good. 

[alan m]

its a tricky one.
it would be interesting to find out.

[retired2]

its a tricky one.
it would be interesting to find out.

Cut two pieces of plywood that slip into your drum.  Slot them half way so they interlock creating four vanes at 90 degrees apart.  That will test your theory, and if it is a bust it can be undone in minutes.

[alan m]

no harm in trying

[retired2]

no harm in trying

Give it a try and report back.  I think this may have come up in the past, but I don't recall anyone pursuing it.

[WayTooLate]

Alan -
Were you ever able to test your theory? 
Did placing any 'vanes' below the separator have any effect? (Good or bad)
Quite curious in the results...
- Jim

[alan m]

no never got around to it

[tommitytomtom]

I think it will be counterproductive. The idea of a cyclonic baffle is that the spiraling effect is what slows down the heavier material. Adding vertical vanes will slow down the air and particles. The cones or dunes created are natural and disturbing them will have adverse effects. Your mileage may vary.

[alan m]

the idea is to have the chamber  moving as fast as posible to seperate the dust but have below the baffle moving very slowly. the slower the air below the baffle the better . air moving below the baffle will reagitate the seperated dust.

i dont know if something like this would be a good thing or not . my gut instinct tells me that stopping the air spinning  below the baffle can only help. the problem is how to do that without creating other problems. you could create a blockage very fast or stop the drum filling evenly and building up in one side more that others

[retired2]

the idea is to have the chamber  moving as fast as posible to seperate the dust but have below the baffle moving very slowly. the slower the air below the baffle the better . air moving below the baffle will reagitate the seperated dust.

i dont know if something like this would be a good thing or not . my gut instinct tells me that stopping the air spinning  below the baffle can only help. the problem is how to do that without creating other problems. you could create a blockage very fast or stop the drum filling evenly and building up in one side more that others

Come on Alan, you?ve been talking about this for 18 months and haven?t made any effort to test it.  I gave you a crude way to test the idea in a matter of minutes, and it was a non-destructive test.  If the results look promising, then you can build a gold plated one.

[alan m]

i know . just cannot get the time to do it