Dust collector opinions please - down to 2 choices

[jordanrossbell]

Thanks for any help. I am looking at a dust collector under 3k. I am down to the Harvey g700 and the Oneida super cell. Both similarly priced. 220 is not a limitation. If you had to pick one of these which one do you choose?

Have Oneida 3hp currently. It’s served me well but the size has given me restrictions on layout in my shop. The super cell is 5hp and smaller footprint. I like the idea of the low and wider Harvey but it’s hard to judge the validity of the reviews because it seems Harvey has sent all the big woodworkers on YouTube theirs for free in exchange for a review. It’s getting harder and harder to find unbiased reviews. Any guidance appreciated

 

[ChuckM]

From what I've read, both have good performance.

Are there any significant differences in customer service and after-sales/maintenance/repair services between the two? If there are, I'd choose the one that would give me timely assistance when things go wrong in the short and medium terms. If there're no differences, choose the one that's better in the aspects of footprint, noise, maintenance cost and maybe resale value.
P.S. I'm assuming both are HEPA-rated.

 

[Dane]

I’m having a similar decision paralysis between those two.  It is really hard to find a non-biased review of the Harvey. 

 

[ChuckM]

https://blog.bridgecitytools.com/2016/11/23/bridge-city-review-gyro-air/

Bear in mind that John's BCT has been sold to Harvey, and his review was done in 2016, and during the time Harvey was the supplier of his Chopstick Master product. Having cautioned that, I believe John, whom I don't know personally, is a maker whose opinions are seen to be sharp and independent. Was he biased? You be the judge.

 

[ryan_k]

I've been using a Record Power CamVac 4HP since Christmas and I've been very impressed. I've used it with and without a cyclone and its great in both scenarios.

 

[Joelm]

I bought a SuperCell about a year ago.

Biggest factor was size. It fits in a 2X2 area compared to the larger Harvey.

If noise considerations are big on your list then maybe look closer at the Harvey. The SuperCell is loud! I built a partial closet out of noise cancelling material and now it is about 69db when on. Without the closet it was close to 93db.

I recently saw that Oneida has an even newer SuperCell Turbo. If I was to buy again, I'd go for the Turbo version but as is I don't have any complaints with my purchase.

 

[Michael Kellough]

https://blog.bridgecitytools.com/2016/11/23/bridge-city-review-gyro-air/

Bear in mind that John's BCT has been sold to Harvey, and his review was done in 2016, and during the time Harvey was the supplier of his Chopstick Master product. Having cautioned that, I believe John, whom I don't know in person or have ever met, is a maker whose opinions are seen to be sharp and independent. Was he biased? You be the judge.

In the mid ‘80’s I read a review of the Paralok table saw fence by John Economaki. I’d never heard of him or the fence but it seemed like he knew his stuff and the saw he used it on was the same oddball saw I owned (Walker Turner). The best purchase I’ve ever made, just a hair ahead of my first Festool tracksaw and Domino.

I trust his opinion and as far as I can tell there has not been a decline in quality of BCT products since Harvey took over.

 

[jeffinsgf]

In the mid ‘80’s I read a review of the Paralok table saw fence by John Economaki. I’d never heard of him or the fence but it seemed like he knew his stuff and the saw he used it on was the same oddball saw I owned (Walker Turner). The best purchase I’ve ever made, just a hair ahead of my first Festool tracksaw and Domino.

I trust his opinion and as far as I can tell there has not been a decline in quality of BCT products since Harvey took over.

I will forever regret the day I sold my saw that had a Paralok on it. The saw was just okay, but boy do I miss that fence.

 

[xedos]

Funny how no one has seen the elephant in the room..................................namely , that the SuperCell is a glorified vacuum cleaner and has about half the suction power of the Harvey.

Now, it's a really nice, high quality vac, in a sweet little, small package from a reputable co. with a proven track record, coupled with very good customer service/satisfaction.  But , it has 40% less pulling power than the G700 when using a 4" pipe -and-  2x  less when utilizing a 6" pipe.  Something the SuperCell doesn't support.

Perhaps you can't use 6" pipe, or don't have 2-3 times the floor space to devote to the Harvey - all things that may make the SC a better choice.  But since you're really buying suction , not horsepower , don;t you want the machine with the most of it ?

n.b.  those vac motors in the the SuperCell are going to require more maintenance and wear out long before the TEFC motor in the Harvey.  Which means costs and downtime down the road.

 

[festal]

I've been using a Record Power CamVac 4HP since Christmas and I've been very impressed. I've used it with and without a cyclone and its great in both scenarios.

Do you have any pictures of your setup with cyclone?  Friend of mine got the camvac and looking to do cyclone setup with it, as after installing filters with the bags on them, there not much room left for wood shavings

 

[ChuckM]

Snip.
Biggest factor was size. It fits in a 2X2 area compared to the larger Harvey.

Snip.

Not familiar with either system, but if I were buying a central unit, space, too, had to be #1 factor. There's no point of buying something that can't fit into my existing (small) shop no matter how good that machine is. #2 for me is HEPA filtration. Noise is important, but I can find ways to contain it, including wearing hearing protection when it's in use. Money and performance? #3 as long as the differences are reasonably close or meeting my budget/needs.

 

[Michael Kellough]

Looks like The Harvey Gyro 700 is designed to fit under a bench.
It’s 56” long, 34” high, and 24” deep and looks like you only need front access.
The red filter cleaning knobs might need some special accommodation.

 

[Joelm]

Funny how no one has seen the elephant in the room..................................namely , that the SuperCell is a glorified vacuum cleaner and has about half the suction power of the Harvey.

Now, it's a really nice, high quality vac, in a sweet little, small package from a reputable co. with a proven track record, coupled with very good customer service/satisfaction.  But , it has 40% less pulling power than the G700 when using a 4" pipe -and-  2x  less when utilizing a 6" pipe.  Something the SuperCell doesn't support.

Being a "glorified vacuum" is the great thing about it. The SuperCell doesn't need a 6" duct. The static pressure is so great that it will maintain CFM with all kinds of crazy 90 degree and T-joint 4" ducts. It doesn't care. Before my SuperCell broke my anemometer, I measured 550 CFM at each one of my machines (bandsaw, tablesaw, router table, planer). As long as all the other blast gates were closed the suction was just as great at the end of my ducting as at the start. For comparison, I had just replaced a Rockler 1250 Dust Right that claimed 1250 CFM. I was only able to get 750 CFM right at the 6" outlet and then it dropped off to anywhere from 500 -300 CFM depending on how far the machine was.

The new Turbo SuperCell is supposed to have even more suction.

In my own decision I made a spreadsheet with all of the dust collectors I could think of, Oneida, ClearVue, Harvey, Felder... The SuperCell checked all of my boxes for my small shop.

 

[jordanrossbell]

Great discussion everyone. Honestly seems to be personal preference. I have the space but the port coming out would be tricky

 

[ChuckM]

Snip. Honestly seems to be personal preference. Snip.

Definitely true for many machine purchase decisions.

Having used a central collection system at two different places (one a school), I would not consider it for myself unless the system is just for two or three machines and they're located together, or unless all the blast gates are controlled remotely (for example, with the iVAC wireless). Walking back and forth to close a blast gate so I could use the dust collection for another machine was frustrating for me.

 

[Aux2496]

If you have a lot of smaller bench top tools that have ports like 1-1/2" to 2" to 2-1/2" , then the Supercell is the right way to go.  Your CFM pretty much goes to hell when using a small 2-1/2" hose on a traditional dust collector (like the Harvey G-700 or any other dust collector).  However, the Supercell is going to be very noisy in the upper midrange of frequencies (like a shop vac) and this can get annoying.

The Harvey has a speed control (essentially a built-in VFD) that enables you to turn down the CFM and noise.  The noise of the Harvey is actually not that bad at all and very comfortable to work with.  If you are using tools with 4"-6" ports, the Harvey is the way to go:

"Unboxing" - Harvey G700 DC

 

[ryan_k]

I've been using a Record Power CamVac 4HP since Christmas and I've been very impressed. I've used it with and without a cyclone and its great in both scenarios.

Do you have any pictures of your setup with cyclone?  Friend of mine got the camvac and looking to do cyclone setup with it, as after installing filters with the bags on them, there not much room left for wood shavings

I started up the CamVac without a blast gate open and it collapsed the heavy duty plastic drum my cyclone used.  Once I get it setup again I can grab a photo. 

 

[luvmytoolz]

I started up the CamVac without a blast gate open and it collapsed the heavy duty plastic drum my cyclone used.  Once I get it setup again I can grab a photo.

My DD did the same, so I ended up cutting a huge LPG cylinder in half and use that for the bucket!

I can now go a fair while before having to empty it so it's a winner.

 

[Mini Me]

I bought a SuperCell about a year ago.

Biggest factor was size. It fits in a 2X2 area compared to the larger Harvey.

If noise considerations are big on your list then maybe look closer at the Harvey. The SuperCell is loud! I built a partial closet out of noise cancelling material and now it is about 69db when on. Without the closet it was close to 93db.

I recently saw that Oneida has an even newer SuperCell Turbo. If I was to buy again, I'd go for the Turbo version but as is I don't have any complaints with my purchase.

If noise is a factor buy a 3 phase unit with the biggest impeller you can get. Doing that allows you to control the motor speed up or down as needed and obviously the slower it can be run the quiter it will be and if you are using say a flat bed sander you can run it faster for that operation. I have said it before but these days I would not buy a single phase unit for a bet. Some people have found the Harvey to be a bit short on holding capacity depending on what machines you use, a straight blade thicknesser would be one example.

 

[ChuckM]

Bumped into this dust collector video recently:


He must have put in a lot of hours planning and setting everything up.