Setting up a Clearvue (part 1)

[mreza]

I got this Clearvue almost a year ago but haven't had the chance to set it up.
Finally started the process of putting it together. Since my shop is in the basement, to keep the peace in the family decided to build a closet to enclose this monster and reduce the roaming sound. I used the left-over OSB sheets of the crate of shipping my J/P combo for this project. First, built the frames then the OSB on top (the outside dimensions are 32"x48"). As the height of the cyclone is slightly larger than my ceiling in the basement had to locate the motor between the joists:

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I used 3" Roxul bats for sound proofing, then covered it all with a thick fabric so that the air coming out of the closet doesn't contain little pieces of the insulation.
I also made the exhaust on the top so that the air passes the motor before coming out from the top (to help cool down the motor too).

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Lifting the motor and installing the impeller by myself was the most difficult job (the manual does say that it's a two man job). Finding a good size bin (not too tall and not too small) was difficult. So I built a bin myself. Also built (out of acrylic clear sheet) a dust pan with clean-out port at the bottom of filters):

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To continue...

[mreza]

To get this run had to redo my wiring. The nice switch you see in the picture below as well as a small fuse in the box next to it are courtesy of Rod (Thanks Rod!!).
I've used a big relay which is activated using a simple 110v X10 transiver with pocket remotes:

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The closet works great in reducing the sound. When the door is closed it is not louder than my previous 1.5HP DC; but this is without ducting. I suppose ducting will increase the sound, but will see.

This is not done yet: what are left to do are:

- ducting

- Adding a light sensor which warns me when the bin is full to prevent from over-fill and making a mess at filters. I've got the part for this and shouldn't take long.

Will update this once these two steps are done.

[Brian @ Muir]

Mreza... I just completed my DC system. Without the ducting it sounded like an airplane taking off but much to my surprise with all the ducting connected it is about the same as my 2 hp asian unit and I am now running a 5 hp Kraemer unit.

Brian

[Doug in Woodstock]

Mreza......Just for Your info, I also used the exact x10 remote as You are going to use. I found out that the little hand remotes were not very reliable, I used 2 at different locations. Sometimes they would not shut off at times and so I would end up holding the button down too long ....trying to make it send the code, all this did was cause the code to be reset to the wrong setting.

It became a true PITA. I converted to direct wiring (parallel connections ) from each inlet gate, using a micro switch, to trigger the Solid State Relay, similar to the one You show in Your control box.

Very nice looking install of Your DC however.

[mreza]

Thanks Brian. It roars but I'm quite happy the way the closet has made it quiet.

Doug, actually my experience with these X10 remotes has been quite good. Used one for my previous DC and had the remote in my pocket always.
Worked no problem; even after I forgot to remove it once before putting my pants into washing machine! It still worked after coming out.
I can bypass this if I want, right now the relay coils are connected via a plug to this which I can simply plug it to the outlet in the box and add a switch
to control the plug.

[Doug in Woodstock]

Thanks Brian. It roars but I'm quite happy the way the closet has made it quiet.

Doug, actually my experience with these X10 remotes has been quite good. Used one for my previous DC and had the remote in my pocket always.
Worked no problem; even after I forgot to remove it once before putting my pants into washing machine! It still worked after coming out.
I can bypass this if I want, right now the relay coils are connected via a plug to this which I can simply plug it to the outlet in the box and add a switch
to control the plug.

Very good You must have been blessed with a good one ha ha.
I just noticed You have Your X10 reciever inside the metal control box, this may cause a poor receive condition when You have the cover installed........just a thought

[mreza]

Did all the duct work. Decided to finish the job by adding a bin-full sensor but this last leg got delayed due to being very busy lately.
I just finished adding the sensor with the hope that it will warn on time me before I create a mess at filters when the bin is full.
The system is quite simple:
- a $2 LED flash light
- a $12 light sensor from BORG with a delay of about 30 seconds
- A small AC/DC adapter to power the LED lights.
- A red light that will light up when the light to sensor is blocked for more than 30 seconds.

The whole system is powered up from the 120v leg that also powers (using R/C) the coils of the relay for the cyclone.
There is activated using the main switch that I simply turn off before leaving the shop.
The pictures should explain the rest. I should add that the outlet you see is split, the one that the light is plugged into is activated only if the sensor doesn't get light.
A simple yet valuable upgrade I think.

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[Lost in the Woods]

I was having the same issue that Doug in W described with my X10 remote when turning it off. Ultimately found there was a sweet spot for the button at the 8 O'clock area of the off button.

I haven't done it with my X10 remote itself yet, but probably will if the issue gets worse, but I have opened similar car remotes and cleaned the contact surfaces to restore contact. I assume these remotes are no different.

["C"]

Any pics of all your duct work? I am about to begin my cyclone and and duct work setup.

C

[mreza]

Any pics of all your duct work? I am about to begin my cyclone and and duct work setup.

C

I'm on vacation/traveling until late Jan; will take some photos when I get back.

[Don Burch]

MR,
What did you use to adapt your intake chute to the real world? I see a green coupling .

Don

[pcottingham]

Just out of curiousity, how high is your basement? How high is the final clearvue install, bottom to top of motor? I am considering one for my shop.

[mreza]

Any pics of all your duct work? I am about to begin my cyclone and and duct work setup.

C

Here are few more pics for you. It's not complete yet: two of the drops are not finished as I have to move my bench to place my drum sander there as well as yet to be built router table). Bench is currently busy with restoring a shaper I bought!
Also I've broken one of the blast gate slides as you see in the photos (needs to be replaced)

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MR,
What did you use to adapt your intake chute to the real world? I see a green coupling .

Don

As the first photo above shows I have used a PVC section that fits nicely into the ClearVue intake and a standard 6" pipe fits into it; a few screws secure them and a small amount of clear caulk seals it.

Just out of curiousity, how high is your basement? How high is the final clearvue install, bottom to top of motor? I am considering one for my shop.

Its about 93.25" high. My installation is such that the motor goes between the joists and I think it stands at about 95" or so total. I've made a closet (as you see) and the exhaust is from the top past the motor to cool it down too.

[mreza]

This thing really sucks!!!

Doing some shop re-organization and have used my cyclone a bit and even though I knew this is a bigger machine (compared to my earlier 1.5HP DC) this thing really powerful. At my tablesaw, I have a 6" that branches to a 5" to go to the base (which then reduces to a 4") and a 3" that goes to the over the blade guard.
Was cutting a piece of 3/4" particle board and was surprised that the off-cut piece (about 1"x6") was sucked off the floor by the blade guard hose.

Tonight I was trimming about 1/2" off the side of a 7" wide 1/4" thick MDF.
Once the cut was finished the piece was sucked up all the way through the 3" hose!
Here are the 3 piece I cut later (I caught one in the hose afterward):

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This picture shows the setup of the pipes to the tablesaw:

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Over the weekend built the following clamp rack to store my growing collection of clamps. As I'm running out of space everything is now on wheels (including the shaper that I just restored) so that they can be moved out of way when not needed:


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[Rusty]

Is it so strong that it could initiate a kickback as it lifts the workpiece up to the back of the blade? It's one of the reasons I don't use an overarm dust collector. I'd like to, but I don't trust them. Just asking.

[mreza]

It is interesting that you ask Rusty because I thought of it myself. The guard is like a box over the blade close to the table (only slightly above the thickness of the piece being cut) so it can only be shot back straight, sliding over the top of the table saw; given that I have a riving knife on my saw I think the chances of it is very small.

[Rusty]

I tend to agree. Thank you.

[Lost in the Woods]

I have an Excalibur overhead collector/guard. Recently, I started using whenever I could the Lee Valley magnetic dust chute which is connected to my DC by placing it on the metal part of the shrouds frame closect to me pointing towards the surface of where the dust can escape from the shrouds enclosure. Works remarkebly well. I already had a hose that is part of my table saw setup, so it was just a matter of placing the chute at the end of the hose.