DC upgrade

OK, I have a 3 H.P. Leeson motor hooked to a 11" impeller which works decent for some machines. The machine trhat it does not work on is the molder/planer(25"). T he impeller has a straigth blade that is cast alum. Was thinking of trying a larger impeller maybe a 13"(14"x 3-1/2" clearance in housing) with curved fins. I know the motor can handle it, but not sure if I would gain enough suction or should I bite the bullet and get a larger system?

what dc do you have. cfm? static? what size pipe are you using? how long a run?

i have pvc as a temp but i am getting ready to run an 8" trunk and step down as needed and i am only running 3hp. and it is overkill for me i have no problem running multiple machines.

doug frazier said:

what dc do you have. cfm? static? what size pipe are you using? how long a run?

i have pvc as a temp but i am getting ready to run an 8" trunk and step down as needed and i am only running 3hp. and it is overkill for me i have no problem running multiple machines.

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It is a woodmaster system. 6" main line, 2000 cfm. No bag, it blows into a 6' square box outside. Longest run is about 25'. The molding machine is only 14' away and it gets plugged up if I am running two profiles at once.

i do know that with wood you need to keep up a speed of about 3500-4000 fpm or you cant keep your dust "suppended". that being said you are only going to get 775-800 cfm out of a 6" main. and 1400 cfm out of a 8" main. a 4" port is 350 and a 5" 550. my sander need 1100 cfm with its two 5" ports. you can see how it adds up fast. can you change your main? what requirements (ports) do you have on the planer?

It has one 6" port on it, but I am thinking of changing it to two 6" ports to see if that helps.