Thread: Alternative to Clearvue

Welcome. ABeanie

Have a look at this:
Building a Cyclone

What's your budget?

Has anyone used a metal fabrication place for a cyclone and impeller build before? If the individual isn’t setup with metal work. There are a fair few up northern NSW where I am. Makes me curious as to how much this would cost to then find an appropriate 5hp motor to fit the impeller.

Surely having one locally fabricated is cheaper than importing one from America

Originally Posted by delbs

Has anyone used a metal fabrication place for a cyclone and impeller build before? ...

Surely having one locally fabricated is cheaper than importing one from America

Hopefully, our OP will answer that question shortly, Delbs.

I'm keeping my eye on local salvage / scrap yards who deal in mine site waste. Cyclones are used extensively in the mining / processing industry both as sample collectors (dust & rock chip) on drill rigs, and in wet processing as particle sizing devices in slurry circuits. At the last gold mine I was working at, there were at least a dozen old cyclone bodies out in the scrapyard of various different sizes. I'm going to see if I can get hold of one or two different size cyclones and try them in a dust collection application.

Slurry sizing cyclones are normally lined with rubber or ceramic, but even if the lining is worn out I doubt if sawdust would wear through the body (usually fibreglass or plastic) of the cyclone. These cyclones can easily be pulled apart to replace / patch any lining material, and the cyclone performance can be changed by installing different diameter spigots / vortex finders in them. I think I could get at least the same performance from one as I am currently getting from my cheap Chinese copy of a Clearview.

Photograph below is of a group of Cavex cyclones mounted in a cluster - commonly used for particle sizing and dewatering in a milling / grinding circuit in mineral processing operations. These are available in a range of sizes.

cavex-2-hydrocyclone-cluster-full-02-150321.JPG

Now, that is what I call a dust collector, BM.

looks like the wifes dyson

Originally Posted by havabeer69

looks like the wifes dyson

Just a wee bit bigger?

Thanks for the feedback everyone.
In answer to some of the questions:
- I don’t have any metal work tools (or experience), so unfortunately building myself is not really an option
- Regarding budget, I would like to do this right and do it once. I have a family member that worked in his garage for decades with zero dust collection and now has chronic lung inflammation. I hope to avoid that if I can! So trying to work out what budget that will require?
- I like the idea of seeing if a local fabrication shop could build one for me
- the second hand re-purposed units are also a good idea I hadn’t considered

Does anyone know if any of the commercially available cyclones in Australia are suitable for direct venting outside?

Originally Posted by ABeanie

Does anyone know if any of the commercially available cyclones in Australia are suitable for direct venting outside?

they all are... its more about if your neighbours want to be sprayed with wood chips or dust.

There's a Felder RL 160 on gumtree or a clearvue max on this forum's marketplace.

I wish I had been able to order a Clearvue cyclone before they shut down. Is a group buy direct from USA out of the question?

Originally Posted by Cin

I wish I had been able to order a Clearvue cyclone before they shut down. Is a group buy direct from USA out of the question?

A significant component of the cost is the transportation costs. They are bulky and the cubic dimensions ramp up the cost of getting them here. It's also a cost factor in moving them around here in Australia.

If you could locate enough members local to you that would be interested in building some you could use the plans Bill Pentz has on his site to make a batch of your own ClearVues. Have the sheet metal cut and either put the together or you guys assemble them yourselves. You could possibly get better pricing by buying all the motors and VFDs at once. The tough part is making/finding an impeller. While not cheap making your own cyclones or having them made will cost less than importing.

Pete