Well, fired up the Pentz blower I built, complete with home fabricated 16" impeller last night (3/16" steel, balanced and straight). Installed 30 amp breaker, plugged in 5 hp motor, wnet to far side of basement shop and hit the switch at the panel....
train of thought follows:
1) Wow. This thing is LOUD. However, it was tucked in it's corner where it will go, blasting air right against the drywall, so I figure that's as bad as it will get. Filter box ought to muffle that.
2) this thing is boarder line scary powerful...running the blower on it's own though, hopefully the pressure loss from the duct and the out filters will calm it down a bit...still, think< i'm going to build an insulated wall around it afterall....
3) SCREEEEECH....BANG! TURN IT OFF!!!!!
4) I need new shorts.
5) So what happened? I am running my blower at the side of the cyclone, so that the motor is under the blower housing rather than on top, with the housing sitting on basically a box that supports the whole housing. Very solid. MDF circle that the motor is attached to is held in place by small metal clips that spin...since the housing is sitting on the motor, my assumption was that the strain on these would be relatively small...
Power off, unplugged, heart slowing...inspection time. Impeller blades, folded almost completely flat against baseplate....nice to see my welds held up no problem. Blower housing chewed around edge where rabbeted for faceplate...
Minimal scratches to inside top of housing, presumably after housing shifted...faceplate under impeller totally untouched, so not a balance issue. Small metal clips and 3/4" screws pulled right out of MDF...
Diagnosis: fan was sufficiently strong enough to rattle smal clips loose, then blow housing loose...contact with impeller lead to Smash/Bang/Crash.
So, have to pull blower apart, re-cut another piece for motor faceplate, and also rebuild impeller. But other than than, I think it's gonna work great!
train of thought follows:
1) Wow. This thing is LOUD. However, it was tucked in it's corner where it will go, blasting air right against the drywall, so I figure that's as bad as it will get. Filter box ought to muffle that.
2) this thing is boarder line scary powerful...running the blower on it's own though, hopefully the pressure loss from the duct and the out filters will calm it down a bit...still, think< i'm going to build an insulated wall around it afterall....
3) SCREEEEECH....BANG! TURN IT OFF!!!!!
4) I need new shorts.
5) So what happened? I am running my blower at the side of the cyclone, so that the motor is under the blower housing rather than on top, with the housing sitting on basically a box that supports the whole housing. Very solid. MDF circle that the motor is attached to is held in place by small metal clips that spin...since the housing is sitting on the motor, my assumption was that the strain on these would be relatively small...
Power off, unplugged, heart slowing...inspection time. Impeller blades, folded almost completely flat against baseplate....nice to see my welds held up no problem. Blower housing chewed around edge where rabbeted for faceplate...
Minimal scratches to inside top of housing, presumably after housing shifted...faceplate under impeller totally untouched, so not a balance issue. Small metal clips and 3/4" screws pulled right out of MDF...
Diagnosis: fan was sufficiently strong enough to rattle smal clips loose, then blow housing loose...contact with impeller lead to Smash/Bang/Crash.
So, have to pull blower apart, re-cut another piece for motor faceplate, and also rebuild impeller. But other than than, I think it's gonna work great!