# HF Dust collector on sale



## DesertRatTom (Jul 3, 2012)

The HF 2hp DC unit is on a 72 hour sale right now. Price is $209, but there is also a 20% off coupon that brings it down to just $167. Here's the coupon link https://www.harborfreight.com/#

Although there are many other options, it is very hard to beat this unit at this price. I have two that are trouble free. You can also purchase the Rikon metal impeller and substitute it for the plastic one in the unit (about $90), it's a tight fit, but I think it was David who did before and after tests that showed the Rikon impeller dramatically increased air flow. The Attached word document covers the topic of the new impeller, including the part number. Do not tell the Rikon order desk you're using it for a HF unit, they have on occasion refused to fill an order.

The unit comes with a cloth bag and should not be used inside as it will leak a lot of very fine sawdust, the worst kind. The picture shows the addition of a Wynn canister filter, which was a bit more than the DC unit. Today I would prefer the Grizzly finlter because it has a mechanism to knock off the sawdust lodged in the filter element. I must use compressed air to do the same cleanout. 

The picture of the unit is how I installed my unit outside the shop in a covered area between sheds. It also shows the chip collector, which uses Rocker connectors and flex hose, and a 30 gallon fiber drum with locking lid you can order from ULine. (about $50 when I bought it) Here's the link to the Rockler hardware for the chip separator https://www.rockler.com/dust-right-4-dust-separator-components. Moving the unit outside dramatically reduced the amount of wandering sawdust inside the shop. What's left is the stuff that comes directly off the blade of the tools with mediocre or no above table DC.

Rockler also makes a through the wall 4 inch connector, which made it easy to go through the wall and connects inside to a 27 ft hose I use for both connecting to the tool currently in use, and to a floor sweep that makes cleanup much easier. 

I know there are units that unmodified do more airflow than the basic unit, but add the impeller and a canister filter and this is the equal of most others priced less than $600 and up. And I'm of the opinion that this DC unit is a vast improvement over most make-do home made setups or no DC at all.


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## ger21 (Feb 10, 2019)

Glad I got mine for $139 several years ago. 

Just ordered the impeller....


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## Stick486 (Jan 4, 2013)

https://www.routerforums.com/2014547-post28.html


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## Stick486 (Jan 4, 2013)

how about some pictures inside the shop of your DC hook ups...


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## Marco (Feb 21, 2009)

Bought mine same price Easter weekend with a 25% off.... out of stock in store so bought on line. and paid $21 shipping. It won't be here till now the 29th. Shipping and 9% tax came to $195

I go from tool to flex line through the wall to the separator to the DC and in to the air. So except for the loss of CFM due to turns and the flex line there is "ok" power for a small shop with a 1hp. Hope the 2hp has the "WOW" factor.


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## DesertRatTom (Jul 3, 2012)

@Stick486 My setup works well for me. 

Inside the shop is simple. The through the wall pipe connects to a Y, which divides into a 4 and 2.5 inch port. The 2.5 goes to a blast gate then to the DC over the blade (Shark Guard). The 4 inch goes to the 27 ft hose, which most of the time is much shorter since all my cutting tools are on one end of the shop. Near the throught he wall pipe is a switch to turn the DC on and off. Electrical goes through the wall. 

I have tightened up some of the flex pipe so it no longer droops, but never seem to get around to taking a new pix. I am a hobbyist and rarely have the DC on for more than a few minutes, and most of the time the temp when I'm out there is great. Except during the deep freeze winter and scorcher days in Summer, I generally have no problem keeping comfortable out there. 

I fully understand what your point is, but I'm not nor have never run a commercial shop, which you obviously have. I also know that when someone's on a budget, that the price of a DC unit is often enough to tempt a hobbyist to buy another tool instead of DC. If someone has a commercial shop or does a LOT of woodworking, then your points definitely apply. But for me, with a split shop, the two HF units is a perfectly good solution, and the drastic reduction in sawdust littering the shop is evidence enough that the HF units were a good investment.

When I went looking for DC alternatives, the comparable unit cost was almost 3 times the HF unit. But who knows where most of the small shop units are made. A number of them likely are made in the same factory as the HF, the mid priced ones certainly are made in Taiwan at best. Compare the Jet drill press to the WEN, They have identical casting marks, and there are many brands made in the same Chinese factory.

So I will continue posting when they go on sale, and hopefully, you'll keep sharing your view, and the members can make up their own minds. There is nothing personal about our different opinions, and NEVER any disrespect intended toward you. We're just starting from different places.


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## Marco (Feb 21, 2009)

DesertRatTom said:


> So I will continue posting when they go on sale, and hopefully, you'll keep sharing your view, and the members can make up their own minds. There is nothing personal about our different opinions, and NEVER any disrespect intended toward you. We're just starting from different places.


Harrysin and BobJ3 used to spark things up with opposing points of view that expanded ones thinking on the subject being discussed. There is much to be learned when looking from different angles and I greatly appreciate the knowledge and experience that Harry, Bob, Stick, you and others have respectively expressed. To me it is the best part of The Router Forum.


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## DesertRatTom (Jul 3, 2012)

Marco said:


> Harrysin and BobJ3 used to spark things up with opposing points of view that expanded ones thinking on the subject being discussed. There is much to be learned when looking from different angles and I greatly appreciate the knowledge and experience that Harry, Bob, Stick, you and others have respectively expressed. To me it is the best part of The Router Forum.


I completely agree. I have enormous respect and appreciation for the accomplished guys and gals here who so willingly share. You may notice tht many of my posts are speculations on alternative ways to accomplish something. I often make simple drawings in M$ft Word to clarify. 

I am also a very practical fellow. I like things that produce good results and working smart instead of hard. Up until I was forced to retire a couple of years ago, I had ample money to buy gear, but since then, things are tighter and I think it's reflected in paying more attention to cost issues in my posts. Sure, I like having all the fancy stuff, but I couldn't afford to buy some of it these days, and I think that's the case for a lot of new-to-the-addiction folks here. 

I am also reviewing a number of my woodworking videos and developing a deeper appreciation for what you can accomplish with fundamental tools, using jigs for example in place of a jointer, a hand plane for thicknessing. Cutting simple joints for drawers using the table saw is another example. Just happy to be participating in this great Forum.


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## Sominus (Oct 4, 2012)

I upgraded from a HF unit to a Grizzly G0440.. I still have the motor and shroud hanging around in my garage taking up space... 

If anyone in the Houston area is interested in building a DC and needs the blower/shroud, I'll let it go REALLY cheap!


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## DesertRatTom (Jul 3, 2012)

Sominus said:


> I upgraded from a HF unit to a Grizzly G0440.. I still have the motor and shroud hanging around in my garage taking up space...
> 
> If anyone in the Houston area is interested in building a DC and needs the blower/shroud, I'll let it go REALLY cheap!


Would you mind sharing some info on the Grizzly? Amazon price was $1300, and it looks to be pretty large. With CFPM above 1300, it completely outclasses the HF. A little out of my price range, but I'll admit to a little DC envy. Is it 110 or 220, listing didn't say. Says it's 54 inches tall, which seems short for a 35 gallon drum as shown.

Looked up what Class F motor means, it is ability to operate in higher temperatures. Here's an explanation and example from an engineering site:

In general a motor should not operate with temperatures above the maximum. Each 10 oC rise above the rating may reduce the motor lifetime by one half. It is important to be aware that insulation classes are directly related to motor life.

Example - a motor operating at 180oC will have an estimated life of

only 300 hours with Class A insulation
1800 hours with Class B insulation
8500 hours with Class F insulation
tens of thousands of hours with Class H insulation

Temperature Tolerance Class B is the most common insulation class used on most 60 cycle US motors. Temperature Tolerance Class F is the most common for international and 50 cycle motors.


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## Sominus (Oct 4, 2012)

DesertRatTom said:


> Would you mind sharing some info on the Grizzly? Amazon price was $1300, and it looks to be pretty large. With CFPM above 1300, it completely outclasses the HF. A little out of my price range, but I'll admit to a little DC envy. Is it 110 or 220, listing didn't say. Says it's 54 inches tall, which seems short for a 35 gallon drum as shown.


The G0440 I have was purchased used on Craigslist for $600 about two weeks ago. It had probably seen about 100 hours of use (according to the seller) and was squeaky clean. It is a 220v 2hp unit that, at the top-height of the motor is somewhere around 94" tall. There is nothing subtle about this machine -- heavy gauge steel is used in all the components. NOTHING flexes or bends easily (or at all, for that matter!) on this unit. My son and I took about 6-8 hours to install it, including some modifications to the garage wall to be able to support it.

This G0440 is an older, now-discontinued unit (circa 2012-2013?). Grizzly has a few "new" flavors of the G0440 which has seen some minor upgrades and extra components (e.g., the "stand" is now standard, not optional. HEPA filtration upgrades are also part of the package). I think mine originally sold for around $1300, plus shipping which would put it close to $1600. If I could have gotten the 3hp unit (G0441) for that money ($600), I'd be in heaven! However, I can't be too greedy, and this unit is likely overkill for anything that I will throw at it in my hobbyist shop. It will also likely last until I'm in the grave. 

I have mine mounted to the wall, which was no minor feat. I probably over built the mount a little, but didn't want to have any issues later which could results in catastrophic damage or injury. 

The drum is a little bit small -- I considered modifying the mounting height to allow me to use a 55 gallon drum (the drum supplied is the same diameter as a 55 gallon drum, and they do sell a $166 "upgrade" to increase the supplied drum size to 55 gallons), but ultimately decided that I would stick with default as I was already a little bit close on clearance at the top of the motor height. It'll be fine for what I do.

The G0440 is supplied with a polyester pleated filter on the air output that has around 90 s.f. of filtration surface area (and a rating of MERV 11). It has an internal brush mechanism (operated by a pulley system) to clean the pleats, and honestly doesn't work very well at that. I had set up my old HF unit with a Wynn Environmental 13F230NANO (MERV 15) output filter that has something like 230 s.f. of filtration surface area, and am transferring that filter to the G0440. This particular filter has a nice cage on the outside to let you "beat on it" to get the dust out of the pleats and will also let you use an air hose to push the dust out of the pleats when necessary. I have an "Omega Lid" on a 5 gallon pail attached to the bottom of the Wynn filter to catch the fine dust.

Sorry to hijack the thread!


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## DesertRatTom (Jul 3, 2012)

No hijack Michael. All discussions of dust collection build awareness of the risks of stray sawdust to your lungs. What a great find! Good move to reuse the Wynn filter.


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## Stick486 (Jan 4, 2013)

cleaning a filter ''to clean'' reduces it's cleaning efficiency...
and a clogged filter doesn't filter and seriously hurts the efficiency of the collector..


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## DesertRatTom (Jul 3, 2012)

@Stick486 Kind of a keeping on an edge sort of thing. On my Wynne, I just blow in compressed air and what comes loose with that is fine. You talked about this some time ago, so I just don't overdo the cleanout. BTW, shortened up and straightened our the hoses on my DC and Super Dust Deputy. That enclosure project turned out well. Thanks for the suggestions for the return air port.


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