Easy Harbor Freight Dust Collector Upgrades: Part 1, Changing the Impeller

[@whar2010]

You didn’t tell us the second reading, must have been not any better!

[@pcngo1]

Crazy how you made your own crown moldings! So cool!

[@SpottedTongueWoodworking]

Thank you!!

[@casper9256]

Those are the word of a man that didn't get a higher reading but is coinvincing himself that once he seals and vents etc it will all be worth it.

[@SpottedTongueWoodworking]

Good try, thanks for playing

[@ericsfo1]

Where are all the videos of those of us failing to get the impeller removed 😢. I know it isn’t just me because I have read about on different forums. All the videos I have watched make it look so easy. I swear you all fought to remove it gently reinstalled then edited in a new video of it coming off like butter. 😅

[@rdot980]

Vent that thing outside ASAP if you haven't already. The fine dust that shouldn't be in your lungs is all over the place. Also, you can use the metal piece located between bag and filter as your baffle. The way it's designed, you can pull into it and the heavy debris won't be able to get out. I just watched another video where a guy did that and vented it outside.

[@SpottedTongueWoodworking]

That’s part of the master plan- still not entirely sure where I want the unit to end up permanently, but adding an inline dust separator has dramatically reduced the fine dust that is coming out of the bag 👍

[@ahow8017]

I’m sure it will affect the heat in the shop. That system moves several hundred cubic feet of air a minute even if the shop is a good size you could suck all the heated air out of the shop very quickly. That may be nice for the summer but be prepared for a noticeable difference between heat with the system running.

[@SpottedTongueWoodworking]

Thanks for the feedback- I would much rather put as much dust outside as I can, but I didn’t think it would make a significant difference in temperature regulation. I’ll have to put some more thought into my plans

[@chuckbratcher9866]

Instead of venting outside, make yourself a filter box using furnace filters and keep your heat in the shop during the winter. The way I made mine is that the air goes into the bottom of the box with two filters back-to-back on each side of the box. it works well, no dust coming out of me filter box and less work on my gas furnace.

[@stephensanders5166]

How did you seal your filters? I have been thinking of doing this and eliminating the bag / Cartridge filter altogether. I have a 2 stage with a home built cyclone and the HF spline baffle figure with this I can filter the fine dust with a MERV13. Maybe 16 x25 x 2

[@chuckbratcher9866]

I made a wooden frame (20"x20") and cut the bag filter to wrap around it and stapled it to the frame. I purchsed 20"x20" furnace air filters and built my box to hold the two bag filters I built along with the 2 furnace filters. inside the box I made channels to slide the bag filters and Furnace filters into so that the air flow would go through the bag filter first them the furnace filter second. Make the channels a tight fit so that the filters slide in snug. I used some rubber from a bicycle tube to seal the hinged door on the front. I used RTV to seal the inside of the box. it has been up for over a year now and works well. I changed filters every other month and just hose off the bag filters and reuse them.

[@stephensanders5166]

@@chuckbratcher9866 thanks

[@PrintingNerd]

The impeller was backwards. For that impeller you need to switch the motor and impeller sides. It needs to scoop the air but the way it's installed in the vid it is reversed.

[@SpottedTongueWoodworking]

Nope. Pushes rather than scoops. Lower peak but higher sustained.

[@CD-hc5ds]

Funny how people keep doing this with little improvement. Its common sense that the inside ove a scoop or dish is going to catch more air than the outside or rounded side. Trailers, semi's, RVs the fronts are rounded or bubbed out to shed the wind not chatch it. If the big fan had the blades flipped that thing would crank! Someone please 3D print one to use as a test.

[@SpottedTongueWoodworking]

@CD-hc5ds sofasco.com/blogs/article/comparison-between-forward-curved-and-backward-curved-fans#:~:text=Forward%20curved%20fans%20are%20generally,that%20require%20precise%20airflow%20management.

[@PrintingNerd]

@@SpottedTongueWoodworking I understand that which is best for regulated airflow. I challenge that because when doing dust collection you want to move as much air as possible which is provided by a forward scoup

[@SpottedTongueWoodworking]

@PrintingNerd I’m maintaining that it’s not about “peak” but about sustained efficiency under load (dirty air) this is a good comparison between the two sofasco.com/blogs/article/comparison-between-forward-curved-and-backward-curved-fans#:~:text=Forward%20curved%20fans%20are%20generally,that%20require%20precise%20airflow%20management.

[@charlesstepanian397]

The 5 inch inlet to the 6 inch inlet is about a 40% increase in flow area. Figure out the increase in the impeller. Is it 40%? Another issue is the 5 inch discharge. Increase it to 6 inch diameter and measure air flow speed.

[@SpottedTongueWoodworking]

I haven’t thought too much about the discharge. I have read in several places that if the motor doesn’t have enough resistance in the outflow that it could actually overrun itself, that the resistance of the filter/etc actually acts as an important limiter. I could be wrong, but definitely could be some gains to be found on the back end

[@marcellemay7721]

You didn't say what the results were for the new setup. You only said "significantly better". What was the end result i air speed?

[@SpottedTongueWoodworking]

I didn’t? Must have cut that part out accidentally. Air speed of 25 m/s before the upgrade, 29 m/s after changing the impeller.

[@commoncents456]

I liked your video. Have you made any changes Any updates Thank you

[@alanmatthews9260]

“Significantly better” 🤣

[@SpottedTongueWoodworking]

Take it or leave it 🤷‍♂️

[@jimbauer6822]

Its called a key not a wedge

[@SpottedTongueWoodworking]

Thanks for catching that

[@mikedisimile2478]

Why didn’t you tell us the second reading????

[@SpottedTongueWoodworking]

Poor editing

[@stephensanders5166]

Blade cup is wrong. Rotation is wrong Everybody measures flow. What did your motor current do. Did you overload the 2hp motor.

[@SpottedTongueWoodworking]

Blade cup is not wrong. It’s actually easier on the motor and maintains flow under pressure. Six+ months later and it’s working great

[@joedance14]

What puller was used?

[@SpottedTongueWoodworking]

Harbor freight 3-Jaw gear puller

[@voiceofintelligence]

Where can I get the impeller?

[@SpottedTongueWoodworking]

I got the impeller from WEN- the link in the video description will actually take you to where I was able to find everything I needed 👍

[@Prophocy408]

Do you have a link for the impeller?

[@SpottedTongueWoodworking]

Yes- the link in the description brings you to a page that has links to all the items you will need, including the impeller

[@alanmatthews9260]

Bro, you need to upgrade to a good filter ASAP 🤣

[@SpottedTongueWoodworking]

Any recommendations?

[@ROE-dj1dj]

What I don’t understand is why do people buy a cheap dust collector and spend tons of money trying to upgrade it, why not buy a better dust collector from the start. Judging from what that shop looks like along with small dust going everywhere when you turned it on, I’d say you need a lot more upgrades.

[@SpottedTongueWoodworking]

Turns out it’s actually still cheaper and a lot more fun to do it that way 🙃🙃🙃 and I would love to hear what upgrades my shop needs. Besides a good cleaning 😂

[@ROE-dj1dj]

@Spotted Tongue Woodworking The shop comment pertains to the dust all over. The cheap Harbor freight collector needs a filter upgrade also, so now the price is creeping up to the same cost as a better system. Better built, better performance etc.

[@johnd3557]

You can build it out to pull 1200 CFM with separator and down to .3 micron filter for all in cost of about $750. Show me any 2 stage system with a .3 micron filter that you can buy complete to your door for $750...

[@elkskiutah8204]

@@johnd3557 what filter is .3 micron.. link please/

[@SomeGuy8796]

umm .. 24 meters to WHAT?

[@SpottedTongueWoodworking]

Yeah I can’t believe I edited that part out. Awkward. 24 m/s to 29 m/s

[@SomeGuy8796]

@@SpottedTongueWoodworking LOL .. all good

[@ENZIO90]

By the look on your face, and for the money you spent. This was an abject failure.

[@SpottedTongueWoodworking]

Joke’s on you, buddy!

[@ENZIO90]

@@SpottedTongueWoodworking I think it's on you, you spent 10 minutes hoping the reading would get better if you stuck it further in the dust hose. Then you did not even say what the reading was after. Complete failure! Nothing wrong with admitting it didn't work, at least you tried .

[@commoncents456]

I would say the video was only half done. He needs to seal all the leaks, and maybe use 5" port. I'm not sure what the readings mean? Doesn't HF use CFM ? 1HP =600 CFM 2HP=1550 CFM

[@ronaldbarnett7712]

The fan you installed is the wrong direction, you need to change direction on your motor.

[@SpottedTongueWoodworking]

I believe I actually talk about this in the video- it’s supposed to be like that. “Pushing” the air rather than “scooping” reduces strain on the motor and holds more CFM under load than the typical “scoop.” The “scoop” has a higher peak CFM but does not maintain under load

[@commoncents456]

​@@SpottedTongueWoodworking I wonder the same. Change the direction of the motor and see what happens

[@SpottedTongueWoodworking]

@commoncents456 nope, that’s literally how the fan is supposed to go. Push rather than scoop. Lower peak, higher sustained suction