EF5 with limited clearance

J

jens53

New member
I am looking into possibly purchasing an EF5. The unit will be mounted outdoors under a deck but I only have 90" of clearance. I might be able to get 10" extra by mounting the motor in between the joists of the deck above but of course that is still not enough. I would like to explore going down into the ground. One version I am contemplating is to permanently bury the dust collection barrel all the way which would then give me lots of clearance above. The question though is - how to empty the barrel. One option of course is to suck out the chips with a shop vac which seems like it will be a giant mess although do-able. I am curious if anyone has maybe used an auger system to pull the chips out of the barrel.
I am thinking of a 4" tube going into the side of the collection barrel at an angle to about the height of the barrel and buried beside the barrel. When the dust collector is in operation, a cap is covering the tube to make sure the collection barrel is air tight. When I want to empty the barrel I slide a 4" auger down the tube and the dust is transported up the tube and emptied into a collection barrel to be disposed of.
It is very likely that I am over thinking this but I wanted to throw it out there and see what people thought .....
 
Interesting challenge. I take it you wont be having to contend with filters, right? / How about finding or making more of a flat barrel on small casters that you could still roll around? You do need to have a "closed" bottom on the cyclone piece.
 
If the hole were dug out from the cyclone at least 2 diameters you can drag the barrel away from the cyclone, then lift it out of the hole. I would put a steel trap door over the open part of the hole so nobody falls into it. Make the hole as a long ramp and the barrel if sitting on a cart can be rolled up the slope.

If there is enough space the cyclone can be installed on an angle of 45 degrees or more and still function properly. Then you have the height to put the barrel above ground. Remember that A squared + B squared = C squared stuff you learned in school and never thought you'd need. Now you need it. :)

For an auger to work you need an airlock (expensive) between the cyclone and barrel or the entire auger system including the second barrel it empties into must be airtight or the dust won't fill it. It will fill the filters instead.

Pete
 
Hcollado said:
Interesting challenge. I take it you wont be having to contend with filters, right? / How about finding or making more of a flat barrel on small casters that you could still roll around? You do need to have a "closed" bottom on the cyclone piece.
Click to expand...

That was my first thought but that would make the flat barrel less than 9" tall assuming I have no casters. The instructions say that another 6" is needed for installation clearance which would make the 'barrel' 3" tall :) No, there will not be any filters.
 
Curly1 said:
If the hole were dug out from the cyclone at least 2 diameters you can drag the barrel away from the cyclone, then lift it out of the hole. I would put a steel trap door over the open part of the hole so nobody falls into it. Make the hole as a long ramp and the barrel if sitting on a cart can be rolled up the slope.

If there is enough space the cyclone can be installed on an angle of 45 degrees or more and still function properly. Then you have the height to put the barrel above ground. Remember that A squared + B squared = C squared stuff you learned in school and never thought you'd need. Now you need it. :)

For an auger to work you need an airlock (expensive) between the cyclone and barrel or the entire auger system including the second barrel it empties into must be airtight or the dust won't fill it. It will fill the filters instead.

Pete
Click to expand...

Unfortunately making the hole larger is somewhat of an issue. It may be possible but it is not ideal by a long shot.
There would be no 'airlock' as such. In normal operation the auger tube would be capped (sealed) so everything would be air tight.
The biggest worry I have about the auger idea is that the pickup area will 'bridge' and the auger would be unable to pick up the material.
 
I've never looked at augers for wood dust so don't know how well they would work. I have been around the augers used to take the chicken feed from the bin into the barn but they were not airtight by any means. I know you can get puck / briquette machines but they are spendy unless you want to import a small one from China.

Haven't got the wall space to mount it on an angle eh?

Pete
 
Curly1 said:
I've never looked at augers for wood dust so don't know how well they would work. I have been around the augers used to take the chicken feed from the bin into the barn but they were not airtight by any means. I know you can get puck / briquette machines but they are spendy unless you want to import a small one from China.

Haven't got the wall space to mount it on an angle eh?

Pete
Click to expand...

I do not believe that it would be a good idea to mount a cyclone at an angle.
 
Why? Tornadoes don't seem to care if they are perpendicular when they suck up the countryside. The first owners of Clear Vue tested them all the way over to horizontal. They worked just fine except when horizontal heavy pieces like wood chunks wouldn't go up the cone into the barrel, they just spun around inside the main section. So as long as the exit of the cone is the lowest point the cyclone will work. You might have to modify the mounting bracket to hang it but at 45* you gain a couple feet of clearance at the expense of wall space. See if Cathy can get them to try it at and angle to see if still functions. One of the forum members with a small unit attached to a bucket and vacuum cleaner can do a test to prove the same.

Pete
 
I didn't say it wouldn't work, I just said that I didn't think it was a good idea .... plus it would look really weird :)
I don't think that a few degrees would make much of a difference but if you go beyond that I can see all kinds of issues.
Tornadoes don't have to worry about separation efficiency :) If I wanted a tornado I would just mount the blower and forget about the cyclone but somehow I don't think the neighbours (typical subdivision) would appreciate that too much :(
 
As you wish but it will work perfectly fine. After all there are companies that make horizontal cyclones, costly, that are the same except the cone is removed and they make the body longer with an opening on the bottom to drop the dust and a baffle to send the air back to the fan. I don't think they are as efficient but that's likely more to do with the cone being better than what they make.

As for looking weird. Well I've been accused of that but still got the job done.:p Looks don't count, only getting the dust out of the shop.

If you have neighbours you may have to deal with the noise the beast makes. :mad:
Pete
 
I looked up horizontal cyclones on google and sure enough, they do exist .... learn something new every day ....
 
I wouldn't lie. ;)

I actually contacted one company and eventually a Canadian rep called me. When I told him I was comparing to a CV-Max he wouldn't even try to quote a number. He said theirs was more so that's as far as that went. They also wanted to come and design the system and select the machine for me.

Pete
 
After contemplating this thing back, forth and sideways, I think I will drop the grade level 15" right under the cyclone and far enough so that I can slide the full barrel over and lift it out. I will then go with a cut down 55 gallon drum that is 20" tall. With a 29" drum I need 107", with a 20" drum I would only need 98" and I have 90" so if I go down 15" I have another 7 " to play with for installation and possibly casters. Next step will be to see if I can actually go down by that much without exposing the drain tile around the house.
 
Or, if you're going to dig a hole to put the barrel in, save yourself the barrel and basically dig a pit, motar the dirt walls, and put a steel lid on it, then like you said, either dig out the sawdust or suck it out with a shop vac. :)
 
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