Article about how I did it homemade construction vacuum cleaner with a cyclone type filter. The performance of this useful homemade product for home You can appreciate it by watching a video of his work.
To demonstrate the work, I collected a bucket of sand. In general, I am satisfied with the result of the work done (given that this is a working prototype layout, so to speak).
I’ll say right away: this article is a statement of my history of creating my first (and, I think, not the last) homemade cyclone vacuum cleaner , and I am in no way going to impose anything on anyone, prove or claim that the solutions described here are the only correct and error-free ones. Therefore, I ask you to be understanding, so to speak, “understand and forgive.” I hope my little experience will be useful to “sick” people like me, for whom “a bad head does not give rest to their hands” (in the good sense of this expression).
I once thought about the upcoming renovation and the ensuing consequences in the form of dust, construction debris, etc. And since it is necessary to groove, saw concrete and “perforate”, the experience of the past suggested that it is necessary to look for a solution to these problems. It is expensive to buy a ready-made construction vacuum cleaner, and most of them are designed anyway with a filter (in some models even with a special “shaker”) or a paper bag + filter, which gets clogged, worsens traction, periodically requires replacement and also costs a lot of money. And I just became interested in this topic, and a “pure sporting interest” appeared, so to speak. In general, it was decided to make a cyclone vacuum cleaner. A lot of information was gleaned here: forum.woodtools.ru I did not carry out special calculations (for example, according to Bill Pentz), I did it from what came to hand and according to my own instinct. By chance, I came across this vacuum cleaner on an advertisement website (for 1,100 rubles) and very close to my place of residence. I looked at the parameters, they seem to suit me - he will be a donor!
I decided to make the cyclone body itself metal, because there were strong doubts about how long the plastic walls would last under the influence of “sandpaper” from a stream of sand and pieces of concrete. And also about static electricity when rubbish rubs against its walls, and I didn’t want the future homemade vacuum cleaner threw sparks at its users. And personally, I think that dust accumulation due to static will not have a positive effect on the operation of the cyclone.
The general scheme for constructing a vacuum cleaner is as follows:
The polluted air passes through a cyclone, in which large particles settle into the lower waste container. The rest goes through the car air filter, the engine and through the outlet pipe to the outside. It was decided to make a pipe for the outlet as well, and the dimensions of the inlet and outlet should be the same. This will allow you to use a vacuum cleaner, for example, to blow something off. You can also use an additional hose to release the “exhaust” air outside so as not to raise dust in the room (this suggests the idea of installing this unit as a “built-in” stationary vacuum cleaner somewhere in the basement or on the balcony). Using two hoses at the same time, you can clean all kinds of filters without blowing dust around (blow with one hose, draw in with the other).
The air filter was chosen to be “flat”, not ring-shaped, so that when turned off, any debris that gets there falls into the garbage bin. If we take into account that only the dust remaining after the cyclone gets into the filter, then it will not be necessary to replace it soon, as in a regular construction vacuum cleaner with a filter without a cyclone. Moreover, the price of such a filter (about 130 rubles) is much cheaper than the “branded” ones that are used in industrial vacuum cleaners. You can also partially clean such a filter with a regular household vacuum cleaner by connecting it to the inlet pipe of the “cyclone”. In this case, garbage will not be sucked out of the garbage disposal. The filter mount is made dismountable to simplify its cleaning and replacement.
For the cyclone body, a suitable one was found very conveniently can, and the central pipe is made from a can of polyurethane foam.
The inlet pipe is made to fit a 50 mm plastic sewer pipe into which the hose in the vacuum cleaner is inserted quite tightly with an appropriate rubber coupling.
The second end of the pipe goes into a rectangle, so to speak, to “straighten” the flow. Its width was chosen based on the smallest diameter of the hose inlet (32 mm) so as not to clog. Approximate calculation: L= (3.14*50 mm - 2*32)/2=46.5 mm. Those. pipe cross-section 32*46 mm.
I assembled the entire structure by soldering with acid and a 100-watt soldering iron (it was practically the first time I worked with tin, except for soldering boats in childhood, so I apologize for the beauty of the seams)
The central pipe was soldered. The cone was made using a pre-fitted cardboard template.
The housing for the auto filter is also made using galvanized templates.
The upper part of the central pipe of the air duct was bent into the shape of a square and the lower hole of the autofilter housing (pyramid) was adjusted to it. Put it all together. I made three guides on the sides of the cyclone can to increase rigidity and fastening. The result is something like this “gravity”.
For the garbage disposal and the engine compartment I used 2 barrels of machine oil (60 liters). A little big, of course, but this is what we managed to find. I made holes in the bottom of the engine compartment for attaching the cyclone, and glued sponge rubber onto the contact surface of the garbage disposal to seal around the perimeter. After that, I cut a hole in the sidewall for the inlet pipe, taking into account the thickness of the rubber cuff.
The “gravitapu” cyclone was secured with M10 studs and nuts with fluoroplastic to prevent unscrewing due to vibration. Here and further, all places where tightness is necessary were connected with a rubber seal (or rubber washers) and auto sealant.
To connect the engine compartment and the garbage bin I used latches from the military wooden boxes(special thanks to Igor Sanych!). I had to ferment them a little in a solvent and “adjust” them with a hammer. Fastened with rivets (with rubber gaskets from the chamber).
After that, for greater rigidity and noise reduction, I foamed the entire structure polyurethane foam. You can, of course, fill everything to the top, but I decided to play it safe in case the need arises to take it apart. In addition, everything turned out quite tough and strong.
For ease of movement and carrying of the garbage bin, I attached 2 door handles and 4 wheels with brakes. Since the waste container barrel has a flange at the bottom, to install the wheels it was necessary to make an additional “bottom” from a plastic sheet 10 mm thick. In addition, this made it possible to strengthen the bottom of the barrel so that it would not “squish” when the vacuum cleaner was running.
The base for attaching the filter funnel and the engine platform was made of chipboard with fastening to the barrel along the perimeter with furniture “Euro-screws”. To fix the engine platform, I glued 8 M10 bolts onto epoxy (I think 4 would be enough). Painted it. I sealed the perimeter of the filter installation site with sponge rubber.
When assembling, I coated the neck of the autofilter housing around the perimeter with sealant and tightened it to the base with flat-headed self-tapping screws.
The engine platform was made from 21 mm plywood. For a more uniform distribution of air over the filter area, I used a router to select a 7 mm recess in the area.
To collect the exhaust air and mount the engine, the plastic engine compartment found in the vacuum cleaner was used. “Everything unnecessary” was cut off from it and the outlet pipe was glued onto epoxy reinforced with self-tapping screws. Everything is assembled together using sealant and using metal profile(thick sponge rubber is inserted into it) is pulled to the engine platform with two long M12 bolts. Their heads are recessed flush into the platform and filled with hot-melt adhesive for tightness. Nuts with fluoroplastic to prevent unscrewing due to vibration.
Thus, a removable motor module was obtained. For easy access to the auto filter, it is secured using eight wing nuts. The oversized washers are glued (the shrouds have not escaped).
I made a hole for the outlet pipe.
I painted the entire “pepelats” black from a spray can, after sanding and degreasing.
The engine speed controller used the existing one (see photo), adding to it homemade circuit to automatically start the vacuum cleaner when you turn on the power tool.
Explanations for the homemade vacuum cleaner diagram:
Automatic devices (2-pole) QF1 and QF2 protect, respectively, the circuits for connecting power tools (socket XS1) and the speed control circuit of the vacuum cleaner engine. When the tool is turned on, its load current flows through diodes VD2-VD4 and VD5. They were selected from the reference book due to the large voltage drop across them with forward current. On a chain of three diodes, when one (let’s call it “positive”) half-wave of current flows, a pulsating voltage drop is created which, through fuse FU1, Schottky diode VD1 and resistor R2, charges capacitor C1. Fuse FU1 and varistor RU1 (16 Volt) protect the control circuit from damage due to overvoltage, which can occur, for example, due to a break (burnout) in the chain of diodes VD2-VD4. The Schottky diode VD1 is selected with a low voltage drop (to “save” the already small Volts) and prevents the discharge of capacitor C1 during the “negative” half-wave of the current through the diode VD5. Resistor R2 limits the charging current of capacitor C1. The voltage received at C1 opens optocoupler DA1, the thyristor of which is connected to the control circuit of the engine speed controller. The variable resistor R4 for regulating the motor speed is selected with the same value as in the vacuum cleaner regulator board (it is removed) and is made remote (in the housing from the dimmer) for placement on the top cover of the vacuum cleaner. A resistor R removed from the board is soldered in parallel to it. The “on/off” switch S2 in the open circuit of the resistor R4 is used to manually turn on the vacuum cleaner. Switch S1 “automatic/manual”. In manual control mode, S1 is turned on and the regulator current flows through the chain R4 (R) - S2 is turned on - S1. In automatic mode, S1 is turned off and the regulator current flows through the chain R4 (R) – pins 6-4 DA1. After turning off the power tool, due to the large capacity of capacitor C1 and the inertia of the motor, the vacuum cleaner continues to work for about 3-5 seconds. This time is enough to draw the remaining debris from the hose into the vacuum cleaner.
The automatic start circuit is assembled on breadboard. Switches S1, S2, dimmer housing (to accommodate variable resistor R4) and socket XS1 were selected from one not very expensive series, so to speak, for aesthetics. All elements are placed on the top cover of the vacuum cleaner, made of 16 mm chipboard and covered with PVC edging. In the future, it will be necessary to make insulated housings for the boards to protect live parts from accidental contact.
To power the vacuum cleaner, a three-core flexible cable in rubber insulation KG 3*2.5 (5 meters) and a plug with a grounding contact were selected (do not forget about electrical safety and fight static electricity). Considering the short-term intermittent operation of the vacuum cleaner together with a power tool, the selected cable cross-section is sufficient not to heat up. A thicker cable (for example, KG 3*4) is correspondingly heavier and rougher, which would create inconvenience when using a vacuum cleaner. It was decided to discard the device for winding the cable, which was in the donor vacuum cleaner, since the contacts existing there would not withstand the total load of the vacuum cleaner and power tool.
The top cover is secured with a pin and wing nut.
To make it easier to remove the top cover, the motor is connected to the control circuit via a connector. The motor housing and the vacuum cleaner are connected to a protective grounding conductor. To cool the regulator circuit, I drilled a small hole in the outlet pipe to create an air flow inside the engine compartment housing.
In order to be able to insert a garbage bag into the garbage bin, the top edge was covered with a rubber door seal cut lengthwise.
To prevent the garbage bag from being sucked into the cyclone due to air leaks through leaks, it is necessary to make a small hole in it.
The finalization and testing of the resulting vacuum cleaner took place when the repairs had already begun, so to speak, in “combat” conditions. The traction, of course, is many times more powerful than that of a household vacuum cleaner, which would not be enough for even a couple of minutes of working with construction waste. Relatively heavy concrete debris is almost completely deposited in the garbage container and the additional filter does not need to be cleaned for a long time, while the draft is uniform and does not depend on the degree of filling of the garbage container. Dust from putty (in the form of flour) is very light and, accordingly, is less filtered by the cyclone, which forces you to periodically clean the autofilter. The task of making a vacuum cleaner was not set and therefore no test was carried out for this function.
CONCLUSION and CONCLUSIONS:
The resulting device eventually turned out to be functional and has already been tested during the renovation of one room. Now I consider it more like a working model from the “will it work or not for fun” series.
The main disadvantages of this design:
— relatively large dimensions are not convenient for transportation in a car, although the vacuum cleaner moves around the room very easily on wheels. You can use 30 liter barrels for example. As operation has shown, such a large garbage container is inconvenient to clean, and a bag with a large amount of garbage can tear.
— the diameter of the hose can be increased, for example, to 50 mm and a hose from an industrial vacuum cleaner can be used (but the question of price arises from 2000 rubles). Although even with the existing hose, the debris collects quite quickly, unless, of course, you try to pull in half a brick.
— it is necessary to make an easily removable mount for the additional auto filter and engine for more convenient and quick maintenance and cleaning.
— you can include a thermal relay in the control circuit (just determine the response temperature) to protect the engine from overheating.
Poor screening of light fine dust, which can be solved by introducing a second stage of smaller cyclones.
In conclusion, I would like to thank all my friends who helped with ideas and materials in the construction of this “pepelats”. And a special big thank you to my beloved wife Yulia for supporting me in my hobbies.
I hope my little experience will be useful to readers.
Making beautiful wooden furniture is fraught with danger for a production worker or private workshop - this is the smallest wood dust that has to be inhaled.
The use of personal protective equipment - glasses and respirators allows you to maintain clean breathing, but the air in the carpentry workshop in any case should be as clean as possible from wood dust. Otherwise, the atmosphere will literally become explosive - wood dust burns well.
A cyclone is a type of air purifier used in industry to remove suspended particles from gases or liquids. The cleaning principle is inertial, using centrifugal force. Cyclone dust collectors constitute the most widespread group among all types of dust collection equipment and are used in various fields of industry. Even some models of modern household vacuum cleaners use inertial cleaning. The principle of operation of the simplest countercurrent cyclone is clearly shown in the figure.
Operating principle of the Cyclone dust collector
A flow of dust-laden air is introduced into the apparatus through the inlet pipe tangentially in the upper part. A rotating gas flow is formed in the apparatus, directed to the bottom of the conical part of the apparatus. Under the influence of centrifugal force, dust particles are carried out of the flow and settle on the walls of the apparatus, then captured by the secondary flow and fall into the lower part, through the outlet into the dust collection hopper. Then the dust-free gas flow moves from bottom to top and is discharged from the cyclone through a coaxial exhaust pipe. Centrifugal fan, installed in the upper part of the working chamber, creates a vacuum in the cyclone body, as a result of which air is pumped through the inlet pipe. Passing in a spiral under the action of centrifugal force, heavy fractions are separated and deposited in the bunker, while the air exits through the exhaust pipe and enters the filter, where smaller particles are retained.
Under normal conditions, the optimal air speed in the cylindrical part of the cyclone is 4 m/s. At a speed of 2.5 m/s, the dust collector best copes with purifying the air from heavy impurities. To reduce the noise level, the unit is placed in a separate room with sound insulation. Monitoring the filling of the hopper is facilitated by using a small light source placed behind a transparent corrugated hose. If the light dims, the bunker is full. By the way, the use of hoses large diameter, as well as hoses made of antistatic
materials improves their permeability. To connect such hoses, use connections of a suitable diameter. With sufficient performance, the device can be used to clean the workshop as an industrial vacuum cleaner. As a result, from 20 mm plywood and a sheet of galvanized steel, this is the result (photo 1).
DIY centrifugal fan for Cyclone
First I made a centrifugal fan-scroll. The body covers were made from plywood 20 mm thick, the body was bent from alucobond, a light and durable composite material, 3 mm thick (photo 2). I milled grooves in the lids using
a hand router and a compass device for it with a cutter with a diameter of 3 mm and a depth of 3 mm (photo 3). I inserted the snail body into the grooves and tightened everything with long bolts. It turned out tough reliable design(photo 4). Then I made a fan for the snail from the same alucobond. I cut out two circles with a router, milled grooves into them (photo 5), 8 which I inserted into the blades (photo 6), and glued them with a hot glue gun (photo 7). The result was a drum similar to a squirrel wheel (photo 8).
The impeller turned out to be light, durable and with precise geometry; it didn’t even have to be balanced. I put it on the engine axle. I completely collected the snail. A 0.55 kW 3000 rpm 380 V engine was at hand.
I connected and tested the fan on the go (photo 9). It blows and sucks very strongly.
DIY cyclone body
Using a router and compass, I cut out base circles from 20 mm plywood (photo 10). From roofing sheet I bent the upper cylinder body, screwed it with self-tapping screws to the plywood base, sealed the joint with double-sided tape, tied the sheet together with two zip ties and riveted it with blind rivets (photo 11). In the same way I made the lower conical part of the body (photo 12). Further
inserted pipes into the cylinder, used polypropylene for external sewerage 0 160 mm, glued them with hot glue (photo 13). Suction pipe in advance with inside gave the cylinder a rectangular shape. I preheated it with a hairdryer, inserted a rectangular wooden mandrel into it and cooled it (photo 14). In the same way I bent the body for air filter. By the way, I used a filter from KamAZ due to the large area of the filter curtain (photo 15). I connected the upper cylinder and the lower cone, screwed the snail on top,
I connected the air filter using polypropylene bends to the volute (photo 16). I assembled the entire structure, placed a plastic barrel under the sawdust, and connected it to the lower cone with a transparent corrugated pipe to see the filling level. Conducted tests of a homemade unit: connected it to jointer, which produces the most chips (photo 17). The tests went with a bang, not a speck on the floor! I was very pleased with the work done.
DIY cyclone - photo
- Cyclone assembled. This installation provides high level air purification.
- Fan parts.
- The grooves in the lid were worked with a milling cutter using a compass tool with a cutter with a diameter of 3 mm and a depth of 3 mm.
- Case and fan ready for assembly.
- Before gluing the blades.
- The drum and impeller look like industrially manufactured parts.
- A glue gun comes to the rescue precisely at the moment when it is simply irreplaceable.
- Before assembling the electric motor, it is important to check the fastening of the impeller to the shaft.
- A powerful motor can turn the cyclone into a real vacuum cleaner!
- Blanks for the cyclone body.
- The upper cylinder body is made of galvanized roofing steel.
- The finished cone part awaits assembly.
- Propylene pipes as elements of inlet and outlet lines.
- The polypropylene pipe has turned from round and large to rectangular small.
- Kamaz filter for fine air purification after a cyclone.
- Polypropylene sewer outlets work well as an air line.
- Indeed, there is much less dust, and you can even walk the board clean.
© Oleg Samborsky, Sosnovoborsk, Krasnoyarsk Territory
HOW TO MAKE A HOOD IN YOUR WORKSHOP WITH YOUR OWN HANDS – OPTIONS, REVIEWS AND METHODS
DIY workshop hood
Required: galvanized sheet steel 1 mm thick plumbing pipes d 50 mm and adapters for them, vacuum cleaner, paint bucket.
- I drew a sketch of a cyclone and a wiring diagram for removing dust and sawdust (see figure on page 17). Cut out blanks for the cyclone body and cover
- I bent the edges of the straight sides of the tin body part (marked with dash-dotted lines in the drawing) to a width of 10 mm - for connection.
- On cutting the pipe, I gave the resulting workpiece a rounded conical shape. I fastened the lock (bent the edges into a hook) and crimped the tin.
- At the top and bottom of the case at an angle of 90 degrees, I bent the edges 8 mm wide to attach the lid and garbage bin.
- I cut out an oval hole in the cylinder, installed a side pipe d 50 mm into it (photo 1), which was secured inside with a galvanized strip.
- I cut a hole in the lid, fixed an inlet pipe d 50 mm in it (photo 2), secured the finished part to the body and rolled the joint on an anvil.
- The cyclone riveted to the neck of the bucket (photo 3). The joints of all elements were coated with silicone sealant.
- I attached two channels of the exhaust system along the wall (photo 4) with flaps for changing the flow (photo 5). I installed a household vacuum cleaner nearby, and placed a bucket with a cyclone on the floor (see photo 3). I connected everything with rubber hoses.
CYCLONE HOOD DIAGRAM AND PHOTO
Quite often after various types work remains a large number of fine dust and debris that can only be removed with good vacuum cleaner. A simple home device is not suitable for this. An industrial vacuum cleaner must be used high power. You can make a filter for it yourself.
People who constantly work in the construction industry need to clean up a large amount of various small debris and dust. This could be old plaster, leftover foam, drywall, or wood dust. Such debris can settle in a thick layer throughout the room. It is very difficult to sweep this dust with a broom or wipe it with a rag, because due to large sizes Such cleaning of the premises will take a long time.
Using a vacuum cleaner in this case is optimal. A regular product used at home is not suitable for these purposes. The ingress of wood chips or sawdust will clog the vacuum cleaner or completely disable it. Also, a large amount of fine dust will quickly clog the dust collector, which will need to be cleaned every 20 minutes.
But construction vacuum cleaners are large, inconvenient to use and maintain, and have a very high cost. For this reason, some home craftsmen have learned to increase the capabilities of their household product by equipping it with a specialized cyclone filter. Such dust collectors can be purchased at hardware store or make it at home with your own hands. On the Internet you can find many drawings of dust collectors for woodworking workshops.
Experts highlight the following advantages of cyclone filters:
- no need to constantly buy disposable bags and containers for collecting fine dust;
- small sizes;
- quiet operation of the device;
- when the filter housing is made of transparent plastic, it is possible to monitor its contamination;
- high efficiency.
Operating principle of a cyclone filter
The cyclone consists of several parts:
- pipe branch;
- frame;
- dust collector;
- chamber with membrane filter;
- intake fan.
Polluted air through the pipe it enters the cylindrical body of the product. The pipe is located tangentially to the side walls of the housing, so the air flow near the cylinder walls twists in a spiral. Due to centrifugal force, dirt particles are pressed against the body of the device and then fall into a special dust collector. The remaining air with dust particles enters another chamber, which is equipped with several membrane filters. As a result, all collected dust ends up in the receiving fan.
The membrane compartment is the least contaminated and must be cleaned only after cleaning. The collected dust is simply removed from a special storage device, and the device is again ready to perform its duties.
Vacuum cleaners with a similar principle of operation are much cheaper than water ones, but more expensive than membrane ones. For this reason, home craftsmen assemble the cyclone themselves and then connect it to a household vacuum cleaner.
DIY cyclone from scrap materials
It is quite easy to assemble a cyclone filter for a vacuum cleaner with your own hands. It is often necessary when processing wood. Together with Fraser or electric plane A membrane-type vacuum cleaner clogs very quickly and needs to be cleaned frequently, which greatly distracts from the production process. When a master is engaged in carpentry in a small room, then fine sawdust creates a lot of problems. For this purpose, a cyclone was designed and manufactured from simple details, which is not inferior to its factory counterparts.
Materials for production
To make a homemade cyclone, you will need the following materials:
Assembling a cyclone for a household vacuum cleaner
On the lid plastic containers a special bracket is attached for a small air filter, which can be made from a metal strip or corners. The air filter must fit very tightly to the plastic lid of the container. Otherwise, dusty air will enter the outlet pipe. Next, the outlet pipe must be sealed tightly on top of the lid. Through it, purified air will flow into the household vacuum cleaner. Experts advise leaving the membrane filter of the household product. This will help keep the fan free from dirt and will not weaken the air flow.
Near the air filter it is worth placing a special dust trap, which is collected from thin metal sheet. This element is capable of repelling small particles of dirt that do not fall under the influence of gravity, which allows you to clean the filter much less frequently. An old woman's stocking can do the same job, protecting the filter pores from large and light particles of dust.
The homemade inlet pipe must be positioned tangentially to the walls of the housing and slightly tilted towards the bottom of the device. Dirty air will be immediately sent in the right direction. To ensure that the walls of the container do not collapse due to the vacuum environment, they must be well reinforced with a strip of metal. Plastic containers are not able to withstand heavy loads because the material is quite thin. Since the device is large in size, it is worth making a plywood frame, which it would not hurt to equip with small swivel wheels.
Next, you need to properly secure the assembled filter and household vacuum cleaner to the frame. The fastening must ensure quick dismantling in order to clean the container from collected debris. At the end of the work, you need to test the device. All debris should remain at the bottom of the plastic container.
How to make an aqua filter for a vacuum cleaner
When a person does not need a professional construction vacuum cleaner, a water filter for chips can be made in another way. For example, it can be made from an ordinary traffic cone. Any plastic container with thick walls and a well-closing lid will serve as a dust collector. It is worth noting that plastic container plays a role air system , and leakage has a bad effect on the power of the device. It is necessary to cut the support square from the traffic cone. Holes need to be cut according to the resulting shape. top cover from plywood.
An outlet pipe is fixed into the top cover using sealant, which should be made from an ordinary sewer pipe. This part must be lowered to the middle of the construction cone. When it is raised higher, the dust swirl will be incorrect. If the outlet pipe goes down too low, dirt will be sucked into it.
The narrow part of the traffic cone is also sealed into a circle of plywood, which is attached to the trash compartment. It is worth checking the tightness of all seams and connections several times. An inlet pipe is placed near the upper cut of the cone, into which dirty air will enter.
Next, you need to check that the dust collector is assembled correctly. The outlet pipe must be connected to the inlet of a household vacuum cleaner using a factory hose. Therefore, the nozzle should be selected in accordance with the diameter of the vacuum cleaner hose. The waste collection hose is connected to the inlet pipe of the product. A test run is required. When the device is assembled correctly, all debris will accumulate at the bottom of the plastic container, and the membrane filter of the household vacuum cleaner should remain clean.
You can make the cone shape with your own hands. For example, make it from metal sheet, having previously calculated the layout of the product. An old galvanized metal bucket may also work.
From the very beginning of working in the workshop I encountered the problem of removing dust after work. The only available way to clean up the floor was to sweep it. But because of this, an incredible amount of dust rose into the air, which settled in a noticeable layer on furniture, on machines, on tools, in hair and in the lungs. The concrete floor in the workshop made the problem worse. Some solutions have been to spray water before sweeping and use a respirator. However, these are only half measures. In winter, water freezes in an unheated room and you have to carry it with you; in addition, the water-dust mixture on the floor is difficult to collect and also does not contribute to workplace hygiene. The respirator, firstly, does not block 100% of the dust, some of it is still inhaled, and secondly, it does not protect against dust settling on the environment. And not all nooks and crannies can be reached with a broom to pick out small debris and sawdust.
In such a situation, the most effective solution it would be to vacuum the room.
However, using a household vacuum cleaner will not work. Firstly, it will have to be cleaned every 10-15 minutes of operation (especially if you work on milling table). Secondly, as the dust container fills up, the suction efficiency decreases. Thirdly, the amount of dust greatly exceeding the calculated values will greatly affect the service life of the vacuum cleaner. Something more specialized is needed here.
There are many ready-made solutions for dust removal in the workshop, however, their cost, especially in light of the 2014 Crisis, does not make them too affordable. Found it on thematic forums interesting solution- use cyclone filter in combination with a regular household vacuum cleaner. All of the listed problems with household vacuum cleaners can be solved by removing dirt and dust from the air to the standard vacuum cleaner dust collector. Some people make cyclone filters from traffic cones, others from sewer pipes, the third - from plywood and everything that is enough for imagination. But I decided to buy a ready-made filter with fasteners.
The principle of operation is simple - the air flow swirls in a cone-shaped filter housing and dust is removed from the air under the influence of centrifugal force. In this case, the dust falls through the lower hole into the container under the filter, and the purified air exits through the upper hole into the vacuum cleaner.
One of the common problems in the operation of cyclones is the so-called “carousel”. This is a situation where dirt and sawdust do not fall into the dust collection container, but endlessly swirl inside the filter. This situation arises from too high a flow rate of air created by the turbine of the vacuum cleaner. You need to reduce the speed a little and the “carousel” will disappear. In principle, it does not interfere - the next portion of garbage is pressed into the container most from the “carousel” and takes its place. And in the second model, plastic cyclones of this carousel practically do not exist. To eliminate air leaks, I coated the junction of the filter with the lid with hot glue.
I decided to get a larger dust collection container so that I would have to take out the trash less often. I bought a 127 liter barrel, apparently made in Samara - just the right size! I'm going to carry the barrel to the trash can like a grandmother carrying a string bag - on a different cart, so as not to strain herself.
Next is the choice of layout. Some install the dust collection unit permanently and lead channels to the machines. Others simply place a vacuum cleaner and a barrel next to each other and drag them to the desired location. I wanted to make a mobile unit on wheels to move everything around the workshop in one unit.
I have a rather small workshop and the issue of saving space is very relevant. Therefore, I decided to choose a layout in which the barrel, filter and vacuum cleaner are located one above the other, occupying a minimum area. It was decided to make the body of the installation from metal. Frame from profile pipe determines the dimensions of the future installation.
When installed vertically, there is a risk of tipping over. To reduce this probability, you need to make the base as heavy as possible. For this purpose, a 50x50x5 corner was chosen as the material for the base, which took almost 3.5 meters.
The noticeable weight of the cart is compensated by the presence of swivel wheels. There were thoughts, if the structure was not stable enough, to pour lead shot or sand into the cavity of the frame. But this was not required.
In order to achieve verticality of the rods, I had to use ingenuity. The recently purchased vice came in handy. Thanks to such simple equipment it was possible to achieve precise installation corners
It is convenient to move the cart while holding the vertical bars, so I reinforced their attachment points. In addition, this is an additional, albeit not large, weighting of the base. In general, I like reliable things with a margin of safety.
The barrel will be fixed in the installation frame using clamps.
At the top of the rods there is a platform for the vacuum cleaner. Next, holes will be drilled in the corners at the bottom and the wooden planks will be secured using self-tapping screws.
Here, in fact, is the entire frame. It seems to be nothing complicated, but for some reason it took four evenings to assemble it. On the one hand, I didn’t seem to be in a hurry, I worked at my own pace, trying to complete each stage efficiently. But on the other hand, low productivity is associated with the lack of heating in the workshop. Safety glasses and a welding mask quickly fog up, impairing visibility, and are bulky outerwear hinders movement. But the task is completed. Besides, there are only a couple of weeks left until spring.
I really didn't want to leave the frame like this. I wanted to paint it. But on all the cans of paint that I found in the store it is written that they can be used at a temperature not lower than +5, and on some even not lower than +15. The thermometer in the workshop shows -3. How to be?
I read thematic forums. People write that you can safely paint even in cold weather, as long as the paint is not on water based and there was no condensation on the parts. And if the paint has a hardener, don’t worry about it at all.
I found in the caches an old, slightly thickened can of Hammerite, which I used to paint a horizontal bar at the dacha back in the summer - . The paint is quite expensive, so I decided to test it in extreme conditions. Instead of the expensive original solvent, Hammerite added a little regular degreaser to make it a little thinner, stirred it to the desired consistency and began painting.
In the summer this paint dried in one hour. It’s hard to say how long it took to dry in the winter, but when I returned to the studio by the evening of the next day, the paint was dry. True, without the promised hammer effect. It's probably the degreaser that's to blame, not negative temperature. Otherwise, no other problems were found. The coating looks and feels reliable. Perhaps it’s not for nothing that this paint costs almost 2,500 rubles in the store.
The cyclone body is made of good plastic and has fairly thick walls. But the attachment of the filter to the barrel lid is quite flimsy - four self-tapping screws screwed into plastic. In this case, significant lateral loads may occur on the hose, which is attached directly to the filter. Therefore, the attachment of the filter to the barrel needs to be strengthened. People have different approaches to solving this problem. Basically they collect additional frame hardness for the filter. The designs are very varied, but the idea is something like this:
I approached this a little differently. I welded a holder for pipes of a suitable diameter onto one of the rods.
In this holder I clamp the hose, which bears all the twisting and jerking. Thus, the filter housing is protected from any loads. Now you can pull the unit directly behind you by the hose without fear of damaging anything.
I decided to secure the barrel with tightening straps. When I was choosing locks at a hardware store, I made an interesting observation. A five-meter tie-down belt with a foreign-made ratchet lock cost me 180 rubles, and the bare frog-type lock lying next to it cost me 180 rubles. Russian production would have cost me 250 rubles. This is where the triumph of domestic engineering and high technology lies.
Experience has shown that this method of fastening has an important advantage. The fact is that on forums dedicated to these filters they write that barrels like mine, when connecting a powerful vacuum cleaner, can be crushed due to the vacuum that occurs when the inlet hose is clogged. Therefore, during testing, I deliberately blocked the hole in the hose and, under the influence of vacuum, the barrel shrank. But thanks to the very tight grip of the clamps, not the entire barrel was compressed, but only in one place below the hoop a dent appeared. And when I turned off the vacuum cleaner, the dent straightened itself out with a click.
At the top of the installation there is a platform for a vacuum cleaner
I purchased a bagless, almost two-kilowatt monster as a household vacuum cleaner. I was already thinking that this would be useful for me at home.
While buying a vacuum cleaner from an ad, I encountered some inexplicable human stupidity and greed. People sell used items without a guarantee, with a worn-out part of the resource, defects in appearance at prices lower than store prices by some 15-20 percent. And okay, these would be some popular items, but used vacuum cleaners! Judging by the period of posting of advertisements, this trade sometimes lasts for years. And as soon as you start haggling and name an adequate price, you come across rudeness and misunderstanding.
As a result, after a couple of days I finally found it for myself great option for 800 rubles. Well-known brand, 1900 Watt, built-in cyclone filter (the second one in my system) and another fine filter.
To secure it, I couldn’t think of anything more elegant than pressing it with a tightening strap. In principle, it holds securely.
I had to get a little tricky with connecting the hoses. As a result, we have such a setup. And it works!
Usually when you read reviews from the first use of such things, people are choked with delight. I experienced something similar when I first turned it on. It's no joke - vacuuming in the workshop! Where everyone wears street shoes, where metal shavings and sawdust fly everywhere!
I have never seen this concrete floor, which is impossible to sweep due to the dust stuck in the pores, so clean. Persistent attempts to sweep it up only lead to an increase in the density of dust in the air. And such purity was given to me in a couple of easy movements! I didn't even have to wear a respirator!
We managed to collect what was left after the previous cleaning with a broom into the barrel. When the device is operating, thanks to the transparency of the filter, you can observe streams of dust swirling inside. There was also dust in the dust collector of the vacuum cleaner, but there was a small amount of it and these were particularly light and volatile fractions.
I'm very pleased with the result. There will be no more dust storms in the workshop. You could say I'm moving into a new era.
Advantages of my design:
1. Occupies a minimum area, determined only by the diameter of the barrel.
2. The unit can be carried and pulled by the hose without fear of tearing out the filter.
3. The barrel is protected from crushing when the inlet pipe is clogged.
After some time of using the installation, I still encountered the problem of a lack of rigidity of the barrel.
I purchased a more powerful vacuum cleaner. Household, but it sucks like a beast - it sucks up stones, nuts, screws, tears off plaster and tears bricks out of masonry))
This vacuum cleaner collapsed a blue barrel even without clogging the inlet hose! Tightly wrapping the barrel with clamps did not help. I didn't have my camera with me, it's a shame. But it looks something like this:
On thematic forums they warn about this possibility, but still I did not expect this. With great difficulty, he straightened the barrel and sent it, fairly dented, to the dacha to store water. She is not capable of more.
There were two ways out of this situation:
1. Buy instead plastic barrel metal. But I need to find a barrel of a very specific size so that it fits exactly into my installation - diameter 480, height 800. A superficial search on the Internet did not yield any results.
2. Assemble the box yourself the right size from 15 mm plywood. This is more real.
The box was assembled using self-tapping screws. The joints were sealed using double-sided foam tape.
The cart had to be altered a little - the rear clamp had to be modified to fit a square tank.
The new tank, in addition to strength and increased volume due to right angles, has another important advantage - a wide neck. This allows you to install a garbage bag in the tank. It greatly simplifies unloading and makes it much cleaner (I tied the bag right in the tank and took it out and threw it away without dust). The old barrel did not allow this.
The lid was sealed with foam insulation for windows
The lid is held in place by four frog locks. They create the necessary tension to seal the cover on the foam gasket. A little higher I wrote about the pricing policy for these frog locks. But I had to fork out more.
It worked out well. Cute, functional, reliable. How I love.
Owners of small workshops and just home craftsmen often have to deal with the problem of air purification after intensive work on wood processing and sanding. metal surfaces etc. Conventional room ventilation will not help here; you will need to install specialized equipment. With known skills, you can do it yourself.
Purpose and characteristics of cyclones
A cyclone is a specialized air purification unit (although similar units are also used as chip ejectors, sawdust and other means for removing waste).
As air purifiers, industrial cyclone designs must provide suction and dust removal with an efficiency of at least 85...90%, when removing dust fragments with sizes of at least 10...12 microns. They are equipped various designs filters. The most effective are electrostatic precipitators, which simultaneously remove static electricity charges from dust particles.
The principle of operation of the cyclone is as follows. Air enters the snail-shaped inlet space of the cyclone at high speed (up to 20 m/s), for which fans are usually used. The air containing dust particles is swirled and then enters the conical cavity of the device. Features of the geometric structure of the cyclone cause a gradual increase in the speed of the air flow containing dust and other waste. During this process, heavier dust particles self-separation from lighter ones. The former settle to the bottom, and the latter, moving in a cone-shaped space, end up in the dust collector, from where they can be easily removed using a bucket or sealed container. The purified air is released into the atmosphere through the pipe.
The number of cyclones, depending on the requirements for the quality of dust removal, can be made different: there are groups of three, four and even eight single cyclones.
Operational requirements for cyclones include the following parameters:
- permissible dispersion of particles that enter the cyclone, microns.
- the efficiency of the process, which is expressed in the maximum weight concentration of particles after dust removal, in g/mm 3 ;
- cyclone productivity, m 3 /h;
- limit temperature of air or gas entering the cyclone socket (more typical for gas cleaning systems than dust removal systems) - usually up to 400...600 °C;
- internal diameter of the cyclone, mm.
In addition to purely design requirements, there are also conditions for high-quality installation of air cleaning devices. For example, if the gaps in the air duct connections are exceeded, air leaks often occur, during which the performance of dust separation from air sharply decreases. The permissible suction value should not be more than 6...8%.
Cyclones not only remove dust from the ambient air, but can also supply clean air into the room.
Construction of a household cyclone
There are no universal cyclones for performing various cleaning operations. For example, the chip ejector must have increased strength of the pipe walls, which will prevent premature wear. Regarding the cyclone intended for collecting and removing sawdust, it is important to provide minimal losses in the intake air ducts. Providing a cyclone for the purpose of cleaning the air from cement dust arising in construction work, Special attention pay attention to filter design.
IN living conditions The most universal are cyclones that clean the air from coarse dust. By changing the design of the filters, such devices can be made for dust removal purposes, as a chip suction unit, or for cleaning the air from sawdust in a woodworking workshop (for example, at an operating sawmill).
The components of such a unit are:
- body - includes conical and cylindrical parts, and the shape of the conical part has a predominant influence on the quality of the process;
- pipe - one or more, where the original polluted air enters;
- an exhaust pipe designed to remove dust-free air;
- inlet filter (or their system) as a chip suction device;
- receiving bucket;
- drive motor;
- fan.
All of the listed parts/assemblies can be purchased or made by yourself.
Motor selection
Since a homemade cyclone is installed in a workshop, the main parameter of the engine is its power and the number of rotor revolutions. If there is a fan, the power of the engine does not matter much, since dust particles will still enter the operating machine, sawmill, etc. will not hit. However, the power and diameter of the cyclone scroll must be interconnected. With a snail wheel diameter of up to 300...350 mm, a high-speed (required!) engine of up to 1.5 kW is quite suitable. With smaller diameters, the power may be lower, but the cleaning performance will also decrease. Therefore, if there is a metalworking machine in the workshop, they accept a motor from 1 kW.
The power of the electric motor increases significantly if you plan to build it yourself homemade device outside the premises. There will be more free space, but cleaning efficiency will decrease, mainly due to losses in the air ducts. It is also worth noting that during the cold season, such a homemade cyclone will effectively “pull” heat from the workshop.
A good option is to purchase an electric motor complete with a volute, the number of which determines the consumer capabilities homemade system air purification. The most common for household use The parameters of the snails and the electric motors recommended for them are given in the table:
The systems are supplied with rubber vibration isolators. They are capable of creating operating pressures of 0.8 kPa and above.
When choosing (or making with your own hands) a snail, preference should be given to a radial air intake pattern rather than a tangential one.
In the latter case, unproductive losses for a homemade snail increase, and the inertia of the particle selection method for the option with a chip suction device will be very low.
When choosing an engine, it is necessary to take into account that the speed of air movement in the device cannot be less than 2.5...3 m/s. If cleaning is unsatisfactory, the elements homemade cyclone like the chip ejector (filter, bucket) they quickly become clogged with shavings, sawdust and other small waste.
Manufacturing of cyclone elements
On specialized Internet forums you can find drawings of all components of the unit, which are available for making them yourself. Using improvised means, a household (or better yet, an industrial) vacuum cleaner is often remade. Additionally required:
- a set of hoses made of translucent corrugated material (this will facilitate visual control of dust particles settled inside). For chip extraction, rubber hoses are more practical;
- a soundproofing box that will perform two functions - it will reduce the noise level in the workshop, and additional protection protect all machines and power tools located there from static electricity periodically accumulated by dust. For this purpose, you can make the box yourself from plywood, and decorate the inside with any type of sound insulator;
- air ducts for purified air: assembled with your own hands from thin aluminum sheet, and are connected to each other by folds;
- waste collection container - can be made from an ordinary construction bucket with a capacity of 20 liters or more, which is sealed with the body of a homemade cyclone using a corrugated sleeve;
- filter (you can use a filter from trucks), which is installed on the outlet pipe.
A vacuum cleaner converted with your own hands for dust removal needs is checked: first for Idling, passing normal air through the system, and then connecting the vacuum cleaner to the operating machine.
