Thread: DC setup plan for comment

Originally Posted by wood hacker

An interesting thought that has occured to me is that if its possible to assemble the motor and impeller houseing inverted from how it is shown in the pics then the height will probably be close to the height of the ducting as it passes through the wall.

I have a similar machine and looked at doing something along the same lines. On mine it would entail removing the castors and bolting to the ceiling, in your case the enclosure, bottoms up, perhaps with rubber mounts between the base and ceiling. The only other thing needed would be to remove both of the bag rings at the 8 bolt flanges and turn them over, maybe putting them on the opposite sides for wall clearances. That way the shallow cones in the ring are the right way around and the filter bags are on top and the plastic bags are on the bottom again.

Pete

Hi WH, from the plan there what you are propsing looks ok, one thing stands out tho, machinery positioning, I would be trying to position all the dust making machines/operations closest to the DC end of the shed, less pipe/fittings, also, you have a large door at that end that could be opened and some forced ventilation (large fan) would be good in the far shed wall bringing in fresh air giving good cross ventilation.



Pete

Originally Posted by wood hacker

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An interesting thought that has occured to me is that if its possible to assemble the motor and impeller houseing inverted from how it is shown in the pics then the height will probably be close to the height of the ducting as it passes through the wall. I realise some sort of support would have to be constructed to hold it but if this is possible and the ducting can run straigth into the impeller then that saves 2 90° bends and this has to be good.

The rest looks OK.

Cheers

WH,

Looks pretty good to me. Apart from the comments already made I would add only a reminder to keep your blast gates close to the mains. That was a novice mistake I made. Fortunately it took only minutes to fix.

Pleased to hear you are going to upgrade the machine ports. I approached that job with some trepidation, but whilst it got a bit fiddly in places, it was never difficult.

Originally Posted by wood hacker

Hi folks

I have finally decided it's time to get serious about dust control in the workshop....

...So if anyone can see major (or even minor) flaws in my thinking, nows the time for me to sort it out.

cheers
WH

Hi Woodhacker,

Items 1, 2 and 3 look pretty good, but then theres the one everyone seems to forget - 4. 240v power supply.

You may have considered it but you did not mention it and it does not appear on your diagram.

How many separate power circuits do you have access to in your work area? You may have many power points, but chances are that they are all on the same circuit.

I notice that the dusty you have chosen is wired up with a 10 amp plug, so it can be plugged in to a regular power point. This is unusual for a 3hp-rated motor. They will normally be fitted with a 15 amp plug. All the same once you have that dusty running on a 10 amp circuit, it will be drawing a lot of current and you would not want to be running ANYTHING else at all on that circuit.

Look at the other machines that you will be running concurrently with the dusty. Chances are that your tablesaw and possibly your bandsaw are at least 2hp. Depending on the size of your lathe it may be say , 1 1/2 hp. Do you turn the lathe off when you start the bench grinder to sharpen a tool mid-task? Do you have a compressor that may kick in at anytime if the pressure gets low?

I think you can see where I am going with this. With just the lathe and grinder going and a compressor kicks in well you have a good chance of throwing a circuit breaker already on a single 10 amp circuit, before you even look at chucking another 3hp motor into the mix for the dusty.

If you have access to two circuits then you are still running close to the limits. Although fixed lighting will be on another circuit and wont contribute to the problem, any light you plug into a power point to provide additional lighting to a work area, such as over the lathe only makes it worse.

Just to make it even more interesting, often the circuit passing through the garage is shared with part of the house. What are mum and the kids going to think if every time you blow the circuit breaker the TV goes off, or you lose internet, or all the power goes off to the kitchen, or, or, or....(several scenarios).

Even modern houses being built today do not have enough power outlets and circuits to allow for the number of electrical appliances everyone uses today. That is why there is a pallet of powerboards next to the register at every bunnings store.

In my garage, I am far better off powerwise than most. I have a single 15 amp powerpoint in the meter box just out the front. The garage has its own sub-board with two circuits; one with one 10 amp power outlet but a 16 amp fuze, and a 10 amp circuit with eight power points spread around the shed. I can also tap into another circuit that has an outdoor power point in the pergola area just outside the side door of the garage.

With all that at my disposal, because I have four 15amp machines and another three that are borderline limit on 10 amp plugs, I have had to compromise on the dusty and run a 2 hp unit.

Woodhacker, you may have sufficient power to run all that you want to run and if so - great! but on percentages, most houses do not. Please consider this if you have not already done so before committing to a course of action. Getting the electrics upgraded to accommodate equipment you have already bought could be more costly than you think.

Doug

WH,

Doug makes a valid and important point. My 4 HP cyclone was fine ... until summer. I needed to have a 15 amp circuit put in for the cyclone.

The first quote I got for this circuit was for $2,000. Sharp intake of breath.

Eventually, I used Prestige Power, who have a fixed price of about $630 for a new 15 amp circuit. The bloke who put it in upgraded the cable to the shed while he was there ... at no extra cost.

Originally Posted by John Samuel

Eventually, I used Prestige Power, who have a fixed price of about $630 for a new 15 amp circuit. The bloke who put it in upgraded the cable to the shed while he was there ... at no extra cost.

That was a very good price John. You did well. I know of people who have worked themselves into $5000 bills just because they did not consider power supply at the planning stage. And it is a good point you raise too John, if you set it all up in winter then the family turns on the Air Conditioning in Summer, instant upgrade needed

Doug

Originally Posted by doug3030

Hi Woodhacker,

Items 1, 2 and 3 look pretty good, but then theres the one everyone seems to forget - 4. 240v power supply.

You may have considered it but you did not mention it and it does not appear on your diagram.

A very valid point Doug and one I had already considered. Where the DC is to be situated is about 10 feet from the main switchboard on the outside of the house. This switchboeard needs to be upgraded / replaced for us to finalise the renovations next to the workshop and when the sparky is doing that I'm going to get him to run some new circuits into the workshop (1 x15amp and 1x 10amp) as I only have the one 10 amp ciruit in the workshop at the moment. I was also going to get him to run a dedicated circuit for the DC which can be turned on and off from inside the workshop.

cheers
WH

Originally Posted by wood hacker

...I'm going to get him to run some new circuits into the workshop (1 x15amp and 1x 10amp) as I only have the one 10 amp ciruit in the workshop at the moment. I was also going to get him to run a dedicated circuit for the DC which can be turned on and off from inside the workshop.

I am pleased that you considered that WH, as i said I have seen lots of grief because people have not.

However, you will probably find that your 3hp dusty will be fitted with a safety/zero-voltage cutout switch. this means that if you turn the power of the the power point from inside the shed you will still need to go out to the dusty and reset the safety switch each time you want the dusty to run. Either that or do a mod and relocate the safety switch from on the machine itself onto the wall of the workshop (or cut it out all together - not recommended). It is not difficult to do if you know how, but possibly something else for the sparky while he is there?

Doug