Thread: Clearvue Cyclones in Oz

Chris

Are you going to carry any stock and/or parts here or is it order only from the States.

Ross

Initially in the very early stages and until we can gauge the market demand we are going to keep limited stock here but ask and you shall receive. It is my intention to keep spare parts as well but this is really very early days. The problem in Oz has been the availability of fans and motors to suit the build it yourself guy as you may be alluding too, the motor has not changed just the manner in which it is used.

The other issue which has gone basically unnoticed except by a few is the actual fan speed, it is far too low at the 2800 rpm dictated by our mains frequency. Let me re-phrase that it is far too low due to us using the left overs from the American market, the retailers go to the suppliers and specify a 240V 50hz motor on equipment meant to run at 60hz.

The end result is not a good performing dust collection system due to two factors, firstly it was never designed by someone who knew what they were doing thus it is starting with a handicap anyway and the second is that the design flaws are further exacerbated by the lower RPM caused by our mains supply. We on the other hand are starting with a known well performing design by Bill Pentz with all the information out there in the public domain and have also recognised the RPM issue and done something about it and this can only be good.

Dust collection should be just that, collection at the point of creation of the dust, once it is in the air and free is where the issues start. It is now generally agreed that air scrubbers/filters only band aid a problem which ideally should not exist but of course that is an ideal situation which cannot be achieved but we can minimise it to a point where it is so low as to be not a health threat but that takes a serious and deliberate decision by the woodworker.

There is nothing pleasant about working in a dust laden atmosphere and having a workshop with dust sitting on every surface, it is plainly an unpleasant and unhealthy place to work in, been there and done that. Everyone who builds a workshop should factor in dust collection when doing the budget whether they build it or buy it and not to do so will lead to disappointment. You have seen those pictures of clean sparkling shops on the net? just about all have a major investment in dust collection and they stay clean without a huge effort by the owner because of it.

Sorry for getting carried away but this dust collection thing has turned into a bit of a crusade for me.

Can you give a wed site address please. Might be interested. I only have standard 240v to my shed.

ClearVue Cyclones, Dust Collection Cyclone

Originally Posted by cookie48

Can you give a wed site address please. Might be interested. I only have standard 240v to my shed.

You will want a dedicated circuit with nothing else running on that circuit at the same time. The Australian page will come up at the site Groggy linked some time this week hopefully.

Any update on this?
I've done my research to find all the components I need to build my own, and a bit of experimenting with materials. I'm ready to start building but time is the big challenge as a hobbyist and I'd rather be doing woodworking. If the price is right I would be interested.

A couple of questions:

* Interested in when units would be available in Australia - i.e. are any units in transit yet, arrived, or is it a matter of wait till enough orders come in to fill a container then ship?

* Will you have a site where the units may be picked up or are you planning courier only delivery straight from the freight forwarder?

* What warranty will be offered in Australia

* What vfd brand are you planning on using?

* Are you using the Leeson motors from the US or attaching locally sourced ones?

Thanks

Originally Posted by Oddy

Any update on this?
I've done my research to find all the components I need to build my own, and a bit of experimenting with materials. I'm ready to start building but time is the big challenge as a hobbyist and I'd rather be doing woodworking. If the price is right I would be interested.

A couple of questions:

* Interested in when units would be available in Australia - i.e. are any units in transit yet, arrived, or is it a matter of wait till enough orders come in to fill a container then ship?

We are only supplying the three phase units in Oz. The reason for that is it can be driven straight from the 415v three phase @ 50hz or 240v single phase @ 60 hz through the VFD depending on your choice. The problem is the cycle frequency difference between the US and here. We can run their motors on our three phase but at a lower speed, 2800 RPM down from the US speed of 3450 rpm and this of course means a drop on air flow. In a small workshop the flow may well be ok but in a bigger place it won't work, that much is clear. To overcome this some time ago a new fan housing was designed to increase the flow at 2800 rpm and this is the CV Max. The Americans also use it at 60hz and it has enormous flow at that speed. We also can use it at that speed if it is driven by a VFD. The Max driven at 60hz would be able to support many gates open at the same time. You could have for instance open ducts just to clear the dust from the air.

The pricing will work out as follows, the CV1800 + VFD will be nearly the same as a Max without VFD and they will perform similarly but the Max will always be that bit better. The reason for supplying the CV 1800 is that it can be supplied in either left or right entry but the Max can only be supplied with right entry, this is a Bill Pentz stipulation due to the fan capacity. For simplicity sake the Max @ 50hz is a good thing. Apricot Tripper one of our fellow forum members has had a Max for some time and is very impressed with it.

* Will you have a site where the units may be picked up or are you planning courier only delivery straight from the freight forwarder?

We are looking at freight options at the moment. As are orders are being placed the units are forwarded out of the US as one off shipments. I receive and check them and forward on via courier. My preference would be to forward straight to the customer out of the US and it is something we are looking at. Because of the parcel size we are having difficulty with Australian couriers who don't like the size of the box that the cyclone body comes in. It is our intention to have stock in Australia but it is early days yet and we have to gauge the volumes we will be selling. Certainly if you want they can be picked up personally or I can deliver at no cost within the Sydney / near Sydney area and provide help/advice at the same time.

* What warranty will be offered in Australia

The same as the US in all respects.

* What vfd brand are you planning on using?

A no name VFD from China. To be honest I was sceptical until I had one in my hands. It is a top quality unit in all respects, obviously a knock off from a name brand that the Chinese make and sell out the back door. I had a technician look at it and he could not believe the manufacturing quality. Here is a link.....

VARIABLE FREQUENCY DRIVE INVERTER VFD NEW 5HP 4KW (eBay item 230510720479 end time 10-Mar-11 16:32:36 AEDST) : Industrial

I am selling them for what they cost me to land here and have no issue if anyone wants to source their own. The programming is a bit daunting as the user manual is about 80 pages but we are only interested in about four programs for our purpose after the initial set up.

* Are you using the Leeson motors from the US or attaching locally sourced ones?

Yes, they are a top quality multi voltage motor.

I was told the Australian page has not been put up yet as the website is going to be given an overhaul shortly so we have to be patient. That does not stop anyone ordering, just send them an email and you will be quoted a price and told how to order.

Have no illusions about this product, it absolutely does what it says. At the same time to do it properly the duct system has to be of a good quality and design but this is not difficult and mostly common sense. I am currently working on a source of metal ducting with polyurethane flexible pipe and might have more news on that next week.

Thanks Chris, I will keep an eye on this thread and the Clearvue web site. I'm still interested to find out more about the warranty support we will get here in Australia i.e. would a problem involve shipping back to US etc. Any motor warranty issues in using the VF drive etc (some vfd's can be hard on the motor, especially if incorrectly programmed.....).
If demand looks good enough and you have the storage you could probably slash shipping costs by filling a 20' or 40' container rather than individual shipping, though I am sure that's something you are considering as this gets off the ground.

Nothing will have to be returned to the US as it would clearly be far more expensive to do that than supply a new part. As far as the VFD goes it hasn't blown up yet. You can come up and have a look at my incomplete installation if you want, I have been too busy organising all this to finish it but it is hooked up to the VFD and running. I think all VFD's would be hard on a motor if programmed wrong, come and have a look it is only 30 minutes up the F6, you would be more than welcome.

Thanks Groggy, I wondered how the post got put right. I must learn to do multi quotes properly.