Felder RL125 or 160 vrs. Oneida Cyclone

[junk731]

Such great info. Thank you for taking the time to respond as you did.

Im a carpenter by trade so my exposure to all kinds of construction debris is huge. Most of my days are spent  indoors huffing saw dust, pvc dust, mastic dust, composite dust. At the end of the day the stuff that comes out of my lungs is horrific.

This unit is for my home workshop so it actually working is paramount to me as i am also concerned with the health of my family.

Felder it will be as im just cant spend 7-10k on a dust collector. If that be the case i suppose i should opt out of the 10K Felder Ad741 and just stick with the Hammer A3-41  

Iceclimber, I started out with a Hammer A3-31 with straight knives, then had an opportunity to buy a used AD741 with low hrs and powerdrive. Both good machines but having the powerdrive is the best upgrade ever IMHO. I now have an AD951 with powerdrive and the 20" capacity comes in real handy. You will get real good use out of the Hammer or keep your eyes open for a used AD741. They are around. When you get the RL125 and if you want to set it up for remote start PM me, there is some info I can pass on specific to the new RL machines.

John

 

[CWWB]

I'm currently running an RL160 after having a Clearvue CV1800 for 6 years. The first thing is while they are both DC's the RL work more like giant vacuums as opposed to cyclones. The Oneida you mention costs about 1500.00 while the RL125 is around 5000.00 and the RL160 is around 6500.00. One of the issues with cyclones is if you overfill the dustbin you start to fill up your filter which can be a major mess and cleanup. Because of the design you don't have the same issue with the RL's. The RL's depending on the size have manual or automatic filter cleaning. The Felder cfm ratings are measured more honestly then the Oneida IMHO mainly because of the Euro regulations. Looking at the chart for the V3000 this should become pretty clear if you have any knowledge about dust collection and SP. It would also be interesting to know where the Oneida unit is manufactured. I would recommend reading what Bill Pentz has to offer about dust collection before making any decision or purchase.

John

Hi John, I am brand new to this group, and not even sure I am replying correctly! Thank you for all the information. I am looking into the Felder 125 or larger for my two car garage shop and am wondering about whether the 4" ports on my old Powermatic 66, and jointer, as well as my 3" planer port are sufficient to get the fine dust. Is it necessary to enlarge ports to match the wide port of the Felder? Any experience with this? Thank you, Thomas

 

[Gregor]

I would recommend reading what Bill Pentz has to offer about dust collection before making any decision or purchase.

I second this. It's a great read.

 

[petar73]

HI CWWB, I don’t have much experience with DC’s but I have RL 140 in my small workshop collecting from bandsaw, jointer/planer combo and spindle moulder. It does a great job with the j/p and the spindle moulder not so good with the bandsaw, but it is mostly because it is an old cast iron bandsaw with only one dc port. Before I got the rl I was worried that it will not be powerful enough to collect from my jointer/planer as it is 20m pipes away, but it is fine.  I am using 140mm metal ducting from the rl140 to the gates and 120mm/80mm to the spindle moulder, same for the bansaw and single 120mm soft pipe to the j/p. The bandsaw port is only 100mm and as I mentioned it is not enough to collect all the sawdust, but all that is left is bigger chips and most of the fine dust been collected. 
I apologise for my English.

 

[junk731]

CWWB, after using the RL160 daily for the last 3 years I honestly can't recommend it as a good machine if they still have the same poor filter retention design as the 2014 models. I have had multiple seal blowouts due this design which allow fine dust to constantly enter the shop air. I first noticed the problem after about a year of use. If you still want to get one the minimum I would do is ask to see in through the side access panel to see if the filter is still only secured on the outside 2 edges of the large filters.

 

[ben_r_]

Man you guys must be running some massive shops to need something more than a 3-5HP cyclone. That is certainly all anyone in a typical home/garage shop needs. I have a V-3000 ducted to all my tools in a home/garage shop and every operation with every tool is near as dustless as when working with my Festool hand power tools. Of course it does also include stationary powers tools that were designed with good dust collection themselves. Some power tools will just never have good dust collection no matter what collector/extractor you connect to them. They just simply werent designed for it.

 

[Alanbach]

CWWB - I am no expert on DC duct design but I have had many conversations with the good folks at Oneida over the years as they originally designed mine and then redesigned mine when I moved. My summary of what I have learned that applies to your question is as follows. DC’s unlike vacuums use slow air speeds and high air volume to move particles. Start your thinking with the size of the inlet on the DC you choose. My 2HP Oneida has a seven inch inlet. As the ducting moves further away from the cyclone I have to drop the size a bit but I try to stay as large as possible. If you have enough air volume I would say that using a reducer to convert your 4” ports to 5” and your 3” planer port to 4 or 5” at the tool that would be preferable. Having said that I would seek some councel from the company that provides the DC. That is one of the main reasons I chose Oneida years ago, because they helped so much with duct design and I learned a lot along the way. Furthermore I would say that if the DC removes the chips and dust that you can see well then you are well on your way. In my experience when duct size is insufficient you will see the less than great results right away. Not too many visual signs when it is great but not excellent, but plenty of signs when it is less than great. In my experience so many people focus a great deal of thought on the DC choice and much less on duct design which I believe to be a big mistake.