after reading several threads her and on other forums about improving the performance of single stage dust collectors, and reviewing the jet vortex and it's apparent impact on performance, i wanted to try something to help my 50-850 breathe better. fashioning a thien baffle was my first thought as i'd used them in two 5 gallon preseparators and they worked very well. i also saw several posts where WWs used plastic flower pot trays, alad bowls, wok cover,etc. to achieve what they reported to be dramatic improvements in the performance of their DCs. and some were as s imple as a bowl, a metal strap and 2 screws. when i happened upon a large (16"diameter) discared frying pan, i decided to attempt a similar modification.
as a point of reference, here are pics of the DC and the canister filter after it was removed at the start of the modification:
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here's the pan and the same pan after the handles were removed and a bolt with a 1" spacer was placed in the center of the pan.
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mounting the "baffle" (pan) in the DC was facilitated with a 1" wide piece of 1/8" thick steel stock bent in a vice so the ends matched the incline angles of the DC housing ring. the first pic is looking into the opening that receives the dust from the blower. the next 2 pics are of the DC after all the sawdust that was in the collector bag was collected again by the DC:
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i was stunned by the performance of the DC after the "baffle" was installed. there was no dust on the top of the DC ring that holds the canister filter, and even the filter was cleaner than when it was initially removed for the modification. this video demonstrates the current airflow within the collector bag:
believe this is the kind of thing that's supposed to happen when a baffle/cone/whatever is performing the way it's supposed to. but i was really surprised by what i felt when i had completed the installation of the baffle and tested the DC's operation without the canister just drawing in air. i could feel air almost being pulled down into the collector bag from above the collector ring. it's probably what accounts for the significant reduction in the dust escaping up above the collector ring.
total cost of the enhancement was $6 for the metal mounting strap.
as a point of reference, here are pics of the DC and the canister filter after it was removed at the start of the modification:
here's the pan and the same pan after the handles were removed and a bolt with a 1" spacer was placed in the center of the pan.
mounting the "baffle" (pan) in the DC was facilitated with a 1" wide piece of 1/8" thick steel stock bent in a vice so the ends matched the incline angles of the DC housing ring. the first pic is looking into the opening that receives the dust from the blower. the next 2 pics are of the DC after all the sawdust that was in the collector bag was collected again by the DC:
i was stunned by the performance of the DC after the "baffle" was installed. there was no dust on the top of the DC ring that holds the canister filter, and even the filter was cleaner than when it was initially removed for the modification. this video demonstrates the current airflow within the collector bag:
believe this is the kind of thing that's supposed to happen when a baffle/cone/whatever is performing the way it's supposed to. but i was really surprised by what i felt when i had completed the installation of the baffle and tested the DC's operation without the canister just drawing in air. i could feel air almost being pulled down into the collector bag from above the collector ring. it's probably what accounts for the significant reduction in the dust escaping up above the collector ring.
total cost of the enhancement was $6 for the metal mounting strap.
