Wye on bottom to fill two bins

[Mystikbrian]

I make a lot of dust and I really need the capacity of two bins. I spoke with cvc and they advised against it. Without starting a war, I asked Bill Pentz his opinion and he said it would work fine. So my question is about the bin full sensor sold at cvc. How could I use it with both bins? I really hope I can get cvc to make me a clear wye for the bottom of my yet to be ordered cyclone.
Thanks

 

[McRabbet]

Mystikbrian,

If you use clear PVC flexible duct like that version that ClearVue supplies with their cyclones, then the bin sensors could be placed so they transmit their beam through both segments above the bins. A true "Y" would be needed (versus a wye as provided by plumbing pipe which is straight with a 45 degree segment). Assuming that the two bins will fill at roughly the same rate, the first one that blocks the sensors would set off the alarm and, (assuming you make the interconnection) if the Normal/Bypass switch is set to Normal, the cyclone would be shut down. I have tested the sensors through two sections of flexible duct and the signal is fine, as shown in the attached photo (this shows the older version of the sensors, but they are equivalent to the newer model I provide).

I will set up a bench test that uses two sets of sensors to see if one bin sensor control box can detect inputs from two sets of sensors. I'll report the results back in this thread.

 

[billpentz]

Wye at bottom of the cyclone for two dust bins

Wye at bottom of the cyclone for two dust bins

Normally I don't like to post on forums. It takes too much time to keep up, I am already giving far more of my time to helping people with email questions than I have to give, and I just don't have the time to do timely follow up.

In this case I am posting to clear some confusion I caused. Initially, when asked if a wye could be used to support two dust bins on a Clear Vue cyclone, I said probably not. I tested a CV-1800 by adding a wye on the bottom of the cyclone cone dust chute and it worked poorly. The wye disrupted the smooth airflow needed to move the fine dust into the dust bin so it instead went into the filter. Moreover, adding a second dust bin doubles the chances of an air leak that we know kills fine dust separation.

Later a friend showed me he added a wye and all worked well. What he did different was use a few feet of flex below the cyclone before branching with a wye then more flex to two separate 55-gallon drums. You need a very tall ceiling. I played with his configuration and found we get good separation with the Clear Vue provided we use a straight of at least 6" and preferably a full one foot attached to the cyclone cone before splitting with a wye. A wye does not work unless you have a shop that is tall enough to use the straight before the wye and two full sized 30-gallon or larger collection bins. Just like with a single bin, short squat bins keep the fine dust from settling.

Hope this clears the confusion.

 

[McRabbet]

Thanks, Bill. I have not seen a dual bin situation, but I suspected that it would require at least a true "pair-of-pants" wye fitting and I assume that is what you are describing. The conventional PVC D-2729 S&D pipe wyes would not allow equal amounts of dust to travel down each leg. I would think a user would be better off trying to make a larger airtight bin than going to a pair side by side.

 

[Mystikbrian]

I hope everyone understands I appreciate the help with my situation. The reason for two smaller bins rather then one big 55 is for one, I would think the 55 would get very heavy and for two, my dust goes into plastic trash bags and gets recycled on a farm (not mine). My celing is 9' 4" to finished drywall, I was thinking a wye would take up about 12". I think I have enough height for 6-12" of flex before the wye, does it need to be flex, can it be the clear vue material?
I would more then happy to be the guinea pig to do some more testing on this if anyone feels the need. If I do go along with the dual bins I wonder if I should run a single bin till I get an idea of the seperation before I install the dual bins to see if I get a decrees in performance. Then again I don't need to reinvent the wheel as Bill said he had done testing on this.
Thanks to Rabbet for the testing on the bin sensor
Also a thanks to Bill for taking the time to help me/ us.
Brian Michaelis
Beyond the Grain