# Dust collector space saving ideas?



## Micahm (Aug 28, 2013)

I have the Harbor Freight 2hp dust collector and looking for a way to compact it and save some space. I was wondering if I could mount it on the wall and use it as a wall mount dust collector and put a single bag on it like this type:









Would this work?
Any other ideas?


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## Crank50 (Jan 31, 2014)

You could do this, but you might not want to.

It would work, but as the bag fills with dust the air flow will start to be reduced.

Also, that bag is pretty tall and will put the hose connector rather high off the floor.

And, finally, the bag only catches dust down to 5 microns, letting the really bad stuff, the under 1 micron dust, pass right through. Most folks look for ways to replace the cloth bag with a pleated cartridge.

A better solution would be to put a metal trash can, drop out box, as 1st stage, mount the fan on top with its axis vertical. Then run the fan exhaust into a cartridge filter. You could even put the cartridge above the fan and have the whole footprint reduced to that of the trash can but this stacked system will probably be 8 ft tall.

Another LJ, B2rtch, modified his HF collector along these lines to add the 1st stage drop out, but did not put the filter above the motor. But, you can see where this is possible.


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## timbertailor (Jul 2, 2014)

Crank has provided a good design that others have made to improve flow and filtration. But, it is not very efficient use of space.

I see no reason to keep the plastic bag under the filter. I would build a drawer to catch what little would accumulate and use that space for storage and other things. Space above the motor is begging to be better utilized, as well.

To answer your question, yes, I have seen someone that duplicated this exact design above but it was attached to the wall, instead.


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## Picklehead (Feb 12, 2013)

I separated by motor from the two bag assembly, built a shelf for the bags, then mounted the motor/impeller to the wall beside them, in a corner. I'll post pics when I get back home next week. Saved me a fair amount of space, I feel like.


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## Gene01 (Jan 5, 2009)

I saved a ton of space, increased the suction, and saved a lot of time by dispensing with both bags and venting the HF DC through an outside wall. 
I know that many do not have the opportunity to make this mod, but for those who can, it's great.


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## Crank50 (Jan 31, 2014)

> Crank has provided a good design that others have made to improve flow and filtration. But, it is not very efficient use of space.
> 
> I see no reason to keep the plastic bag under the filter. I would build a drawer to catch what little would accumulate and use that space for storage and other things. Space above the motor is begging to be better utilized, as well.
> 
> ...


Apparently you did not read *all *my post.
Placing the filter canister above the motor/fan is precisely what I was suggesting.
The picture and link I provided was for the mod done by B2rtch, and included to illustrait how the motor/fan could be rotated.


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## Sarit (Oct 21, 2009)

Some ppl will pipe the whole thing outside the shop and make a little awning or shed for it so it doesn't get wet.
Or you could use a thien baffle and pipe the exhaust outside. Either way you should be careful not to cause a backdraft in any combustion appliances like water heaters.

Or if you're using a good separator, you can mount long slim farr style filters horizontally so they hug the ceiling. You'll probably have to remove them to clean the filters once in a while, but the separator should give you some time before that happens.


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## SCOTSMAN (Aug 1, 2008)

Isn't there a problem with outside of the wall type of design, whereby it potentially loses valuable shop heat in the winter.Could this be overcome though with a small well designed and insulated box housing over the inlet to keep down the loss of valuyable shop heat???? I would love to know as this idea appeals to me very much and might be a solution to my current problems also . I say Might at the moment only and will wait for good advice from you guys first before setting out down that or any other path. Alistair


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## Gene01 (Jan 5, 2009)

Scotsman,
I've been venting to the outside for 6 years. I've not noticed any appreciable loss of heat. Many folks on this forum as well as others have cautioned about the loss of condition air. I use 20' of 4" hose from the cyclone can to the TS and/or the SCMS. Then another 5' from the cyclone to the DC and wall vent. Surely, any heat sucked in will be dissipated back into the room before it reaches the outside. To test this in a very unscientific manner, I ran the DC while ripping several hundred lf of oak ( about 6 hours continuously) and could not detect any warmth on the sides of the metal cyclone can, nor did the hose seem warmer than normal. The exhausted air does feel a bit warmer, though.
The shop is 28X36X10, extremely well insulated and heated with a propane, wall mounted ventless heater. 
I haven't had to empty a dust bag in 6 years and a scroll saw and band saw occupy the space the DC bags used to.


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## Crank50 (Jan 31, 2014)

Scotsman,
You are correct to say there is a concern about venting conditioned air outside.
Gene may not have a problem loosing heat since he is in Arizona; but it looks like he would notice the loss of cooling.
Also, his shop, at 28×36 x 10ft high is rather large; that's about 10,000 cubic ft of air volume.
I'd bet that is more than twice the size of the average shop in the USA. I know mine is 16×24 x 9ft high; or about 3500 cubic ft of volume. 
The point of discussing the volume is that exhausting 1000 CFM for 3 1/2 minutes would completely displace all the air in my shop. My air conditioner could not cool my shop back down in the same time, so that would be a problem for me.

Now, that being said, there are heat exchangers on the market designed for today's super tight houses that passes the exhaust air and the intake make-up air through adjacent aluminum baffles to balance the temperature. They are not 100% efficient but they do help. I haven't seen them mentioned on LJ yet. 
Here in Tennessee I would also have to deal with very high humidity warm make-up air replacing dry cooled exhaust air. Not normally a problem in Arizona.


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## TheDane (May 15, 2008)

Just to underscore what Crank50 said … my shop is a little under 3000 cubic feet and is well insulated. It would take less than 3 minutes for an 1100cfm blower to suck the conditioned air out of the shop.

My shop isn't air conditioned, but it is heated by a gas overhead heater. We get plenty of cold weather where I live (northeast of Green Bay), and on the coldest winter days, it takes anywhere from 15 to 30 minutes for my heater to move the thermometer from 45 degrees (night-time preset) to the 62 degree working temperature.

Even if the dust collector was only running intermittently, the heater would be running constantly and likely wouldn't be able to maintain the temperature.

My gas bills are high enough already.


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## b2rtch (Jan 20, 2010)

Crank50, thank you for saving me the work of posting my own picture!.
Seriously,thank you for giving me credit.


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## b2rtch (Jan 20, 2010)

I tried to vent outside once, all the smoke from my stove filled the shop in no time at all. 
At least for me, not a good idea.


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## Picklehead (Feb 12, 2013)

b2rtch, just vent it THROUGH the stove! You get the btu from the sawdust and a cleaner shop at the same time.


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