Thread: Fielder extractors

If it has got bags and filters attached to it I would stay away simply because of the secondary handling problems attached when cleaning and removing the dust and debris especially in a production environment. Last year I pulled out of Illawarra Woodworking School a four bag unit and replaced it with a cyclone and instead of taking many hours to clean it all out it is simply a matter of changing a drum and no masks, brooms and shovels required. They now pull out a drum, put a lid on it and put a new one in and it takes about one minute flat. We have found that when using the thicknesser which is a huge thing the depth of cut has to be dialled back as the opening at the base of the cyclone is not big enough and it can clog.

The RL160 typically uses a 4HP 3Phase motor, pleated paper filters and a rectangular bin holder on wheels.

Inside the bin holder are two hard plastic rectangular bins which can be lined with plastic liners.
The pleated paper filters are cleaned with the bins still attached and then the bin is removed and the plastic bags holding the sawdust replaced.
The clamp/seal system used between the bin/bags and the extractor is a good one and very easy easy to use.
This is a relatively clean system similar to most cyclone configurations.

I played around testing a new RL160 for an acquaintance and found the filter rating was about the same as filter bags or PFs rated at 5 microns. The 5 micron rating is somewhat meaningless as like most cloth or paper filters, once the filters are conditioned the dust layer on the filters that provides even finer filtration.

Personally I think they are over priced (here is a 10 year old one with new filters for sale at $6k, Felder Dust Extractors for sale in Australia) but could suit some who had plenty of $$ and wanted good dust extraction and didn't have the shed height to fit a tall cyclone.

Here is a youtube review that I think is reasonably accurate.
YouTube

Thanks Bob, a wealth of knowledge as always, after reading all the posts about people buying cyclones from the USA and then trying to assemble them and sort out all the issues I thought that these looked a lot better and are completely sorted out, kind of plug and play really. I also like the bin arrangement too. I think I’ve worked at a place that had one and from memory it was simple to clean out snd worked well but I cannot remember which model it was. Are there any similar ones available?

Originally Posted by riverbuilder

Thanks Bob, a wealth of knowledge as always, after reading all the posts about people buying cyclones from the USA and then trying to assemble them and sort out all the issues I thought that these looked a lot better and are completely sorted out, kind of plug and play really. I also like the bin arrangement too. I think I’ve worked at a place that had one and from memory it was simple to clean out snd worked well but I cannot remember which model it was. Are there any similar ones available?

Do you mean by other manufactures?

The bin system is nice but its not rocket science. Even if you get someone else to install a DC system for you they're still not really plug and play. For example, most machine ports are too small and some mechanical intervention is required. The Clearvue cyclones are not difficult to put together and given that all the mens sheds I have recommended them to have managed to assemble them, then pretty well anyone can do this. Only one mens shed had a small VFD programming problem and I'm pretty sure they asked me about it because I was easily accessible.

Originally Posted by riverbuilder

Thanks Bob, a wealth of knowledge as always, after reading all the posts about people buying cyclones from the USA and then trying to assemble them and sort out all the issues I thought that these looked a lot better and are completely sorted out, kind of plug and play really. I also like the bin arrangement too. I think I’ve worked at a place that had one and from memory it was simple to clean out snd worked well but I cannot remember which model it was. Are there any similar ones available?

The only self powered cyclone available in Oz is the Clearvue, to my knowledge, no one has imported a self powered cyclone other than a Clearvue but I would be very interested if someone has better knowledge than me. I would be very surprised that anyone who has installed a Clearvue would willingly pull it out for something else. II had better say up front that I was the one who introduced the brand to Oz so I am biased.

heading off to research the Clearvue ones again now..........

If you like Felder RL series/style, you may want to check out Alko. More kw, quieter, and better build. It’s available in Australia, but you do pay a premium for it...

Originally Posted by Chris Parks

The only self powered cyclone available in Oz is the Clearvue, to my knowledge, no one has imported a self powered cyclone other than a Clearvue but I would be very interested if someone has better knowledge than me. I would be very surprised that anyone who has installed a Clearvue would willingly pull it out for something else. II had better say up front that I was the one who introduced the brand to Oz so I am biased.

Forgive me for posting here, but I too am sniffing around with an eye to getting a better system down the track, and I'd run across these: Carbatec Two Stage Dust Cyclone - 3hp | Carbatec

That's the "big" one, you can get (electrically, and I presume capacity will follow) smaller units that that.

Are these not cyclones? I also get that when we're in this sort of price territory, there isn't a lot to go dollars-wise to get to a Clearvue 1800 - but I was looking at this unit also for the noise and size factors... am I missing something obvious to those "in the know"?

These cyclones look new but they are "old" (1960s?) designs and therefore don't utilise recent (1990's) advances in cyclone design. They are relatively easy to spot as they tend to be squat shaped, with an inlet port at right angles to the vertical whereas the newer designs use what is called a ramped entryway to the vertical and even @ 3HP and using a small impeller should actually be much larger/taller. The requirement for a large impeller is to overcome the significant back pressure that all cyclones generate. Thats why I don't recommend powering any sort of cyclone with a small impeller.
The net result is inefficient separation of fines and significantly more back pressure so even lower flow.

A few years ago I visited an acquaintance who had one of these types of cyclones with the view to test the efficiency of capture/separation. When I arrived I was surprised to see it covered in very fine dust. When I asked about it the owner said it simply did not pull enough air to capture all the fine dust at the source from his (largish machinery) machinery and he was very disappointed with it given the $$ paid.

Testing it under those conditions would have been a waste of time without undertaking a major clean up as all I would be measuring would be all the uncaptured fine dust fluffing around the place. I did go back later and measure it when it was supposedly cleaned up to test it but I was not convinced it was cleaned up well enough to provide a meaningful result.

Yes those are cyclones but I most probably was not clear enough in my response to Riverbuilder's questions. i don't know of ant private imports of self powered cyclones but certainly there is some which are imported by retailers.

The generic Asian cyclone suffers on a couple of fronts

The cone is too short for the maximum separation that can be had.

They all spin at 2850 and not 3500. This can be overcome but requires a 3 phase motor to match the voltage supply and then add a VFD.

Most use an impeller less than 15" which while not a show stopper is not the ideal size.

The inlets appear to be 100mm

I am helping install an Asian extractor at the moment for one good reason, it has a 17" impeller and we will run it at 65hz to increase the air flow. This extractor cost about $6000 and we will throw about half of it in the bin because the filters, frame etc won't be used.

Thanks Chris and Bob, and sorry to semi-hijack the thread.

I'll go join Riverbuilder at the Clearvue site now

(Isn't the current importer of these a member here?)

I rang him up, no hard sell or anything, is sending quote via email. Looking at a two to three week lead time, so works well for me.

Originally Posted by Albert

If you like Felder RL series/style, you may want to check out Alko. More kw, quieter, and better build. It’s available in Australia, but you do pay a premium for it...

You're not wrong there my mate. A HEFTY premium too, to the tune of almost $20,000 for the unit alone plus freight. But, it does come with a built-in fire suppression system.

DC-7000 7.5hp DUST EXTRACTOR 6020cfm - Leda Machinery What about these ones BoBL? I know they aren't a cyclone type, but they are powerful and quiet. The link here says 5 hp but the actual one I'm looking at is 7.5hp and something like 6500cfm. It seems there's a premium price difference for a tapered plastic tube to put a drum underneath. (I realise it's not as simple as that)