Thread: Blocked...

I don’t use mesh anywhere in my system. I even removed the grill from the impellor entrance. Never had a problem. I mainly use my extraction system on my machines and leave sweeping, clean up, vacuuming up etc. to a separate 50mm vacuum system but I have picked up planing swarf with the big system without a problem.

how about one of those cable pusher/puller things? anything to force a bit of a hole thru and let more air pass should work, and turning corners would be no problem for that?

I did think about removing the grill, but was concerned about big bits, or stuff that shouldn't be there. Didn't think about how to clear it...
The run is pretty straight, a 90 straight into a Y then straight to the inlet. Pretty sure the vac hose got to the end ok.
Just surprised that it couldn't clear it.

Originally Posted by russ57

I did think about removing the grill, but was concerned about big bits, or stuff that shouldn't be there. Didn't think about how to clear it...

I felt the same and left mine on for a few years. When the bearing in the motor went and I had to pull it apart, I tooK the grill off (I hadn’t got into town to buy the new bearing yet and was fiddling with stuff). I used to sweep everything up the pipe too, but even without the grill, the long stringy shavings get caught on the vanes of the impeller, so I’d end up clearing it out from time to time. Now I usually shovel up the bulk of the sweepings and put them on the flower beds, and just sweep the actual dust up my floor-sweep.

I’m a turner, so most of my shavings end up flying around the workshop and not down the pipe. I’d always want to keep a way to access the inlet on the dust extractor to clear it if needed.

I have grilles on inlets to my lathe and belt sander BMHs but otherwise all grilles are removed. Not because I'm worried about the impeller but because I don't like losing my work pieces to the DC system. Most larger impellers should easily shred wood <25 cm^3 but above that could start to be problematic. Real problems start with things like metal and objects that contain metal like measuring tapes.

To make it easier to see if I have stuff caught on the impeller I installed this this clearance/inspection point.
Its made out of 1mm thick polycarbonate sheet.
Loosening the two hose clamps enables it to be slid upwards.
Of course since installing it in 2018 I have never needed t open it up.

joiner4.jpg

This is one of the advantages of having a cyclone (or pseudo-cyclone, anyway) in-line before the dusty.

All the larger pieces are deposited in the bin before they ever get to the grille... the only bits that get that far are the fine particulates that the dusty is designed to handle.

Mine is just a home-made job, a 44-gallon feed-bin (a 44 with a "clip-on" lid) with PVC fittings mounted into the lid to force the cyclone action. It probably reduces overall DC efficiency but, to my mind, makes up for those losses in doubling it's usability in my shed.

FWIW, I removed the grille... but mainly 'cos it wouldn't fit back when I up-sized the main duct line from the silly plastic 2x 4" Y branch on the dusty to a single 6". (I had to do some creative metal work... and I'm a woody, not a metalworker. )

Even if I use a cyclone I would still use a grille over the lathe and Beltsander hoods as rooting around in a cyclone bin for a lost piece of work is not really one of my fave pastimes.
A 1" square x 3mm grille over a BMH like this loses less than 1% of the air flow.
IMG_2093.jpg

Originally Posted by russ57

I'm pretty sure the shavings, being long and stringy, have blocked the mesh at the impeller entrance.

If you're referring to shavings from a hand plane, then yes, they do that for me too. I found that even with the grill in front of the impeller removed, they then tangle all over the impeller itself. I have now taken to sweeping up long shavings and vacuuming with the DE afterwards. The chickens love the shavings.

Originally Posted by BobL

Even if I use a cyclone I would still use a grille over the lathe and Beltsander hoods as rooting around in a cyclone bin for a lost piece of work is not really one of my fave pastimes

I do similar... as should anyone who has a DC port up close 'n personal to the piece(s) they're working on. Especially if that piece is of a size to levitate up the pipe!

I hadn't intended to infer otherwise.

It's even worse when it sucks in a jaw- or torx screw when you're trying to mount a piece... but at least with a cyclone the worst is generally a clatter through the duct work and a period of cursing while trawling through the drum with a magnet.

Much better than trying to do the same thing in a DC collection bag and then discovering the screw threads were sacrificed to the impeller gods.

Thanks, that's good to know. Looks like a long crawl under a short shed...
Hmm, just realised there may be a shortcut.
Unless I can think of an easy way to make it accessible, I think remove the grill and add something in each inlet. (only 2 at the moment)
Live and learn...

Originally Posted by Skew ChiDAMN!!

It's even worse when it sucks in a jaw- or torx screw when you're trying to mount a piece... but at least with a cyclone the worst is generally a clatter through the duct work and a period of cursing while trawling through the drum with a magnet.

Much better than trying to do the same thing in a DC collection bag and then discovering the screw threads were sacrificed to the impeller gods.

None of my jaws would come close to passing thru the hood mesh and even at 60Hz my DC is not powerful enough to suck in a Torx screw falling from a chuck unless the most of the duct is closed off, eg like in a vacuum cleaner nozzle. Anyway I don't change my jaws with the chuck still on the lathe let alone with the DC running. I always take the chucks off the lathe as it's much easier to swap jaws with the chuck laying flat on a bench. Better still is to have multiple chucks so's there's minimal jaw changing.

Success.
I first tried a vacuum cleaner with long hose, with no success. I couldn't understand quite why though. So I located my tiny inspection camera on a long lead, and taped it to the hose. I discovered that I probably stopped a foot or so short last time but I eventually got to the grill and turned on the suck.
I was rewarded with little flashes as dust was removed. I did have to remove the hose a couple of times as it got blocked, revealing the main culprit to be a piece of sandpaper.
I've now put a secondary mesh at the outlet, at least until I am feeling limber enough to crawl under and remove the main mesh.
A screen shot of a video off screen of the clearing process attached. Screenshot_20200628-210606_Gallery.jpg

So, the secondary mesh (which was way too fine) blocked instantly using the thicknesser

So I removed it, and promptly blocked the main grill again.

Finally bit the bullet, removed the motor /impeller, removed the grill and reassembled.
So far so good...

Russ