Does your Oneida cyclone filter get clogged prematurely?

  • yes

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • no

    Votes: 13 100.0%

  • Total voters
    13
  • Poll closed .

Tim Brun

Member
Messages
8
I have been using a 5 hp Oneida Cyclone for the pass year and a half. I average about 50 gallons of debris a week, mainly from milling, not sanding. Dust and debris is pulled up and swirls around the clear flexible tube from the 55 gallon drum when there is only about 12" of material in the bottom of the drum. This happens as soon as the cyclone is turned on. Also, the debris below the clear tube, in the barrel itself, constantly swirls. The air flow diminishes fairly rapidly (about 4 weeks) after the filter is taken down and thoroughly cleaned. I have called Oneida multiple times and the response I get is "this is new, we have never heard of this before". I have tested the outside of the cyclone, barrel, and flexible tubes for leaks, and have none. I have talked to other Oneida 5 hp Cyclone owners and heard similar issues. I recently talked with a shop owner who has a Torit/Donaldson Cyclone and he told me that this is not normal. Is this normal or just a design issue with this cyclone? Is there a way to stop the dust from being pulled up from the bin and prematurely plug the filter?
 
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Are you sure it is getting to the filters? If it is only swirling at the pipe going into the debris container, that doesn't necessarily mean it is being sucked up into the center tube of the cyclone to get to the filters. Not sure how to check for that. If it is getting to the filters, that would lead me to believe that there is a leak somewhere that you haven't been able to detect, as that is the only cause I've ever heard reported that could suck the debris out of the container and into the filters. Doesn't mean I've heard all of the possibilities though. Keep on Oneida. Show them that there are others out there with this problem. Hopefully they will be able to help you diagnose and fix whatever is going on. Jim.
 
I have a 3HP SDG and I see some chips swirling in the clear tube, but that seems normal. I've never had anything but light dust getting to the filter. If you're sure there is dust and chips getting from the collection container back to the filter, it leads me to believe there is a leak at the tub. When the system is running, there is a vacuum on the tub just like the rest of the system.
 
Are you sure you don't have a leak somewhere in the drum? My Grizzly was wanting to suck the bags and dust into the filters until I added a bead of caulk where the two halves of the dual-size drum mated. Very small leak, but big impact.
 
... My Grizzly was wanting to suck the bags and dust into the filters until I added a bead of caulk where the two halves of the dual-size drum mated. Very small leak, but big impact.

There's so much vacuum on my drum that it will lift off the floor until it gets several pounds of chips/duct in it! :eek:
 
Do other brand cyclones do this ?

Are you sure it is getting to the filters? If it is only swirling at the pipe going into the debris container, that doesn't necessarily mean it is being sucked up into the center tube of the cyclone to get to the filters. Not sure how to check for that. If it is getting to the filters, that would lead me to believe that there is a leak somewhere that you haven't been able to detect, as that is the only cause I've ever heard reported that could suck the debris out of the container and into the filters. Doesn't mean I've heard all of the possibilities though. Keep on Oneida. Show them that there are others out there with this problem. Hopefully they will be able to help you diagnose and fix whatever is going on. Jim.

I am assuming that since it is pulling chips and dust out of the bin and swirling it around the clear tube that it is picking up the fine dust also. It is hard to imagine that if it is not picking up the fines from the bin then it must be serparating very poorly. I tried extending the clear tube to see if that helped, but not dice. I took the filter down 6 weeks ago and thoroughly cleaned it with a leaf blower from the inside. There is so much dust that cakes between the pleats that it has to be slightly broken up by hand in order to loosen it up. Does anyone know if the same thing happens on other cyclones like Clearvue or Grizzly's?
 
There's so much vacuum on my drum that it will lift off the floor until it gets several pounds of chips/duct in it! :eek:
When I put the fiber barrel bag on, it does lift it off the ground when it is empty. However, once I get about 6-8" of material in the smaller fiber barrel, and start the machine up, it sucks a small bit into the clear tube and slings it around. At this point the clear flexible tube vibrates pretty badly. However, if the drum is empty, and no material is picked up, then there is no vibration coming from the clear tube. I have checked for a leak with a smoke test, and did a garbage bag test by putting a large garbage bag around the outside of the barrel first, then the clear tube. I could not get the garbage bag to cling to in the slightest bit. If there is a leak between the cyclone body and top then that will be a real s.o.b. to fix. It will have to be taken apart and have new weatherstrip put in. This unit has only been in use for about 1.5 years or so. Do these things occur on other cyclones?
 
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... Do these things occur on other cyclones?

I've never had any issue with my 3hp SDG. Cleaning the filter takes a few light taps on the outside to knock the fines dust into the small bin; occasionally, I'll blow it from the outside with an air hose. The suction on all tools is great.

Oneida has always been great to deal with on both the sales and customer service side. If I were you, I'd write up the issues as you have described them here and send an email to a tech.
 
Sorry to hear about your problems with your dust collector. I was about to pull the trigger on a 5hp Oneida but now I will certainly look elsewhere. Anytime you have a major system fault (like you describe) and the vendor says "we've never seen that before" it's either a brand new design or an engineering / fabrication mistake. In your case the fact that you've been using the unit for a year and a half indicates it ain't a new design.
Hope they get it fixed for you. Keep on them.
 
I'd get a stick of incense and burn with the unit running to see if it sucks the "smoke" into the unit anywhere below the bottom of the cone.
Otherwise I can't help either. I do have a Clear Vue, but I exhaust outside, so no filters involved. And I use a plastic 55 gallon drum for my chip barrel, and it does not lift off the ground. :huh: :D Jim.
 
Sorry to hear about your problems with your dust collector. I was about to pull the trigger on a 5hp Oneida but now I will certainly look elsewhere. ...

To preclude a manufacturer on the basis of one experience is unfair, in my opinion. I don't own stock in Oneida, but they have a reputation for great equipment.
 
I had a similar problem with a smaller version----added a thin rubber gasket to the groove in the lid---problem solved--leak caused the problem for me.
 
The reason that larger particles of sawdust and chips fall into the barrel in the first place is due to a loss of velocity in the air as it reverses direction inside the "funnel" portion of the cyclone air filter. At the lower velocity, the air won't carry the larger particles, gravity takes over and "voilà" the larger particles fall into the barrel.

Any minute air leak in the area between the funnel/cyclone, the pipe/tubing connecting it to the barrel or in the barrel will result in an upward flow of air that will defeat the purpose of reversing the direction of the air flow in the first place.

I would repeat the checks for leaks in the barrel and the connecting piping/tubing etc.

I have a 3 HP Oneida and experience none of these problems.

BTW..I use the short barrel and mine is lifted off the floor in operation after the barrel is first emptied. Once enough chips/dust are in it, it no longer does it.
 
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I have a 5 hp Clearvue and doubt if I accumulate a teaspoon of fine dust out of the filters per month, including running a 38 inch drum sander. I, too, believe something is wrong, probably an air leak.
 
I'd get a stick of incense and burn with the unit running to see if it sucks the "smoke" into the unit anywhere below the bottom of the cone.

I would just like to take a moment and say the Jim is a freakin' genius. I would have never thought of using incense as a smoke supply. Picked up a few sticks after work today and checked my system. I only got reactions where I expected (open gates) which is great. I loosened a joint to observe what a leak looked like. If there had been any unexpected leaks, they would have shown up easily. Thanks Jim!
 
When I use the fiber drum it does pick it up off the floor. I have come to the conclusion after checking for leaks multiple times, that I think that bottom cone of the cyclone needs to be longer. Look at high quality cyclones that are made for more commercial work like Torit/Donaldson http://www2.donaldson.com/torit/en-us/pages/products/cyclonedustcollectors.aspx . In my mind, it is apparent that Oneida has compressed the design in order to fit under an 8' ceiling. At this point the cyclone continues to pull chips up from the bottom barrel and put them in the clear flex tube. This cyclone is used everday for 4-6 hours. You pay for what you get.
 
The vortex from the cyclone is ample to stir things up in the barrel. If contents from the barrel are geting blown into the filter, you have a leak. When the impeller is spinning, it creates tremendous suction in the entire system, including the barrel.

I recently took the filter completely off my DC and carried it outside to clean it. I usually just tap the outside so the fines drop into the catch can at the base of the filter. Since I had been using the system for five years, I decided to take a closer look inside the filter. I was surprised at how much dust had accumulated in the pleats that didn't drop out when I tapped it. There were a few small chips, but mostly fine dust. I used an air hose both inside and outside the filter to clean it thoroughly. After re-installing the filter and testing the system, I saw no real difference in suction, attesting to the design having an ample filter on it.
 
When I use the fiber drum it does pick it up off the floor. I have come to the conclusion after checking for leaks multiple times, that I think that bottom cone of the cyclone needs to be longer. Look at high quality cyclones that are made for more commercial work like Torit/Donaldson http://www2.donaldson.com/torit/en-us/pages/products/cyclonedustcollectors.aspx . In my mind, it is apparent that Oneida has compressed the design in order to fit under an 8' ceiling. At this point the cyclone continues to pull chips up from the bottom barrel and put them in the clear flex tube. This cyclone is used everday for 4-6 hours. You pay for what you get.

Tim, if the problems you're seeing were typical for Oneida cyclones (in other words, if there were more people reporting similar problems), then I could agree with you that the design is insufficient. But every single time I've seen someone reporting the same type of problem, ultimately they find the leak and the problem goes away. I know you've checked repeatedly for leaks, but you've still got one. There's nothing wrong with Oneida's design. ;)
 
I've got a Grizzly 2 hp cyclone and I never get anything out of the filter when I run the cleaning brush through it. My barrel will fill up all the way to the lid before anything goes into the filter. The only time I've gotten anything out of the filter is when I've forgotten to empty the barrel (my DC is in a lean to on the back of my shop, out of sight, out of mind. :rolleyes:) I do have swirling chips in the clear hose connecting the barrel lid to the bottom of the cyclone.
 
Sounds like there is not enough reploacement air entering the system. Open up one or two gates other than the machine being used---should make a difference. Some years ago I was helping install a 5hp Oneida. We hooked up one piece of 10" pipe, turned on the fan and promptly sucked the pipe flat.
 
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