# Anyone have trouble with clogging Clearvue mini-cyclones?



## Perplexed1ne (Apr 23, 2020)

I am building a cart for my Clearvue mini using the carcass/cart of an old dust collector stand. There is going to be a vacuum unit built over the top of the mini eliminating the hose. The mini will be "permanently" sandwiched between the vacuum motor and the bin lid making the mini-cyclone to be difficult to get to if it were to clog.

I am a little worried that I am setting up some hassle if the intake gets clogged on some regular basis and needs a push stick or something to unclog it. The internal transition from round intake hose to rectangle ahead of the ramp looks a little vulnerable to clogging. That said if I use a shop vac for floor cleaning and use the mini-cyclone for saws and sanders there shouldn't be a problem. Its the thickness planner that concerns me.


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## therealSteveN (Oct 29, 2016)

If you are concerned it may clog, just use it a while, and see how it goes. I can't remember reading about any cyclone clogging, usually more about choke points on duct getting clogged.

Just run it on the thickness planer the next few times you use it, and if it goes well, move ahead. You are not saying anything about the DC unit, the type or diameter of the line used, so all of the combined could be an issue as well.

I look at that like doing test applications of a finishing recipe, do it away from the real piece, and instead do it on scrap. If the scrap goes well, move ahead, this is the same principle I would think.


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## Perplexed1ne (Apr 23, 2020)

Right. Sorry. More information:

I was looking for shop vac filters one day and came across single and dual motor vacuum lids for 55 gal drums. It was a revelation. Harking back to an admiration for Muscle Cars in my misspent youth, and disappointment that my parents would not let me put lifters on the family's 1965 Valiant, I thought it would be gratifying in later life to build a Muscle Cart. I had seen people who had built vertical DC carts that eliminated the hose between cyclone and vacuum but didn't want to take my shop vac apart. I have a pretty underpowered Shopsmith DC that is nonetheless extremely well built and easy to move around the shop. I took the blower out and am retrofitting it with the mini and a DIY vacuum lid.

Commercial vacuum lids are north of $500 but looking at their manuals and schematics one discovers that the motors can be had pretty reasonably. I got a pair of motors with the same specs as a $900 dual motor lid for under $100. On paper I will have 225 cfm and 14" waterlift. I will be using the Rockler 1.5" flexible hose for hand sanders/routers and 2.5" on the miter saw. On paper this should suck the chrome off a trailer hitch.

But as I think about sandwiching/caulking the Clearvue Mini into place, inside what was the blower housing of the DC cart, I realized it would be out of sight and that maybe I was borrowing trouble. I suppose I could mount it above the empty blower housing, but then it is getting a bit tall and unstable. Likewise, mounting below robs me of space for the bin.

There is a 3way manifold splitter that bolts onto the blower carcass and I could always unscrew it and shove a dowel in to dislodge a clog. I was just curios if this was a known and obvious problem waiting to happen. I agree that it is worth the experiment. Just didn't want to repeat an experiment with known results.


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## EarlS (Dec 21, 2011)

You have to worry about sucking up larger pieces of wood scraps that get lodged in the inlet to the cyclone. I have the same problem with my cyclone mounted inside a DC cart. If the suction seems to have dropped off, I empty the dust bin under the cyclone and check the inlet to see if anything is stuck in it. Generally a larger piece of wood gets stuck and shavings get piled up on it, causing a restriction.

I wouldn't use a small cyclone with a planer. It needs a big duct to move all of the chips.

I hope I read your post correctly and provided some useful answers


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## AlanWS (Aug 28, 2008)

I have a small cyclone about the size of a Clearvue Mini that is connected to a shopvac, and plumbed with 2 1/2" PVC around the shop, with shopmade blastgates. It's mounted near the ceiling and connected to a reinforced metal trashcan below so I don't need to move it around (or empty it often). I found that it clogs only if I use it to clean up a lot of the mess from turning green wood, because that's so long and stringy. Everything else has been fine.


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## Perplexed1ne (Apr 23, 2020)

Thanks guys. All good advice. I'm waiting on some parts and will hopefully assemble this puppy in the coming months.


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