Thread: Cyclone dust extractor for just over 20 bucks and free shipping

Everything I have read on this topic suggests don't go from small to larger because you will lose airspeed/velocity and volume capability. However there are people who also say if you are running anything less than 100mm - or 120mm piping through at least a 2hp dust extractor you are wasting your time.

I can't fit a dust extractor and large piping in my garage and so have my cyclone hooked up through the ducted vacuum system we have in the house. While it won't be as good as a 120mm/3hp system it is better than nothing.

I have the cyclone sitting underneath the ducted unit (height not an issue) and plug it in when I need it. I then run five metres of vacuum hose (another no-no!) to the dust-making machine. This works for me because when using the shop vac I have knocked the cyclone and bucket over a couple of times, so all the dust and debris in the bucket ends up in the shop-vac, defeating the purpose. The ducted machine is also quieter than the shop-vac and is vented outside.

I should have explained that I am going from nothing to a little shop vac. Later I will save up for a dusty and ducts and have a real system.
For now I just need incremental improvements from nothing to something.
So I have bought a shop vac and a cyclone to start somewhere.
However even with just this I may as well get the most out of it.
As I understand it, a vacuum is high pressure low volume whereas a DE is low pressure high volume. I have been reading about DE and 150mm ducts etc. However it occurs to me that all that information maybe not relevant for a vac because the vac is different kind of system.

If I go from the 40mm vac to 50mm duct that is a massive difference in volume. Plus I suspect the vac is 40mm OD but the pipe is 50mm ID. I'll check later.
What I don't understand is if and how this matters in the case of a vacuum cleaner. Should the majority be 50mm or 40mm? I need both for final connections to machines but mostly 40mm and even smaller.

Also I don't know what is a realistic length if I use pvc pipe to reach the dust making machines.

I have 3m of 50mm flex which fits the cyclone. So I can start with this as an experiment. Once I get the cyclone going which is a little project in itself.


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Hi DaveVman

I have to go through the exact same exercise at Bunnings - can you let me know what fittings you found as I may not have a spare 2 hours

IMHO, if you go for a larger diameter main run and then come back down to the size needed for the machine connection, then you should not loose velocity. Given a 40mm intake on the VAC and a long 50mm trunk, if you go back to 40mm at the end or outlets on the 50mm trunk you shouldn't loose velocity - except for trunk and length loss resistance. A trunk of hardline 50mm pipe with a few outlets should be less lossy than a long 40mm run in flex only, and even less than a long 50mm run in flex. It's possible that in a high pressure VAC system that the losses are not as noticeable as with a HVLP system?

Had a lightning strike and lost cable modem, router and phones so I can't post pictures until Friday.

I have a setup using an Aldav cyclone. It's inlet and outlet are 50mm ID. For solid pipe in the system, I use DN40 PVC PRESSURE PIPE - OD is 48mm so a few turns of blue masking tape and it's a tight fit in all 50mm IDs. Flex pipe is 50mm ID from Eziduct in Sydney. Vacuum cleaner is a Super Vac that came with 35mm pipe but the inlet Is actually 58mm when the pipe and adaptor are removed. Fittings from Bunnings allow me to connect the a short piece of DN40 pipe with 48mm OD to the 58mm inlet then to the flex. Outlet of the vacuum is also 58mm and it connects to a pipe that goes outside the shed.