I've read about some of you owning a Harbor Freight dc. How loud is it? Are bags for less than 30 microns available? I've been looking at the 2hp model (
Thanks in advance.
Yeah, on the expensive one they admit it is only 6a; on the cheap one they "claim" it is 14a. You pay for honesty.
Odds are the 2hp is twice as powerful as the 1hp; even if they really are
1hp and 1/2hp. Only reason I can imagine to buy the expensive one is if you absolutely have to run it on the same circuit as another tool; you are less likely to overload it with 6a than with "14a".
Lots of
The 2 HP pulls between 11 and 12 amps at idle. You can get it up a bit by playing with how long the hoses are and blast gates, but that is about the range. Makes it an honest 1.5 hp.
It's loud enough in a 15x22 garage I turn it off, buy you can have a normal conversation and be heard over the top if it.
I also upgraded mine instantly with a Wynn cartridge.
There once was a nice thread on "WoodNet" about the HF DC. It has apparently died. I googled it but it would not come up so I clicked on google's Cache button and got the basics, including info on bags, etc. I tried copying it below but it isn't real nice so I suggest going to google and searching on Harbor Freight Dust Collector Woodnet, then pulling up the cache to get some good info on this DC.
Dave Hall
The Harbor Freight Central Machinery Dust Collector Thread on WoodNet
by Cian Perez
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Total Units Sold = 166 (1437 posts)
This webpage is for the benefit of the online community at WoodNet. The following chart shows the purchasing activity of the WoodNet forum thread for the Harbor Freight Central Machinery 2hp Dust Collector (Harbor Freight model no. 45378). This thread first started on July
10, 2002, and ended on March 3, 2003, with over 1400 posts!An Owner was recorded when there was evidence that the user actually made the purchase. Sometimes, individuals had indicated that they ordered the machine just minutes earlier. Other times, purchasers would first post when they actually received the machine. In any case, I simply recorded the sale on the page number where the post can be found of the individual admitting evidence to having bought one of these machines in either of the above (or similar) scenarios. If you are a member of the WoodNet community, and you see that your user ID is missing and you actually did make the purchase, please email me and point out to me the page and thread where I may have missed your comments. Likewise, any corrections should be forwarded to me as well. The chart shows the number of units sold, on what thread page the purchase occurred, and who purchased them. If it was made available, I also listed some specifications of how the unit was put in service (i.e. 4" duct, 1 micron bags, etc.). I have been collecting purchase activity externally on other threads or through email as well. Any known purchases outside of this thread are noted in italics. For example, for a short while, purchases were being publicized in a Grizzly DC thread that was going on concurrently.
Central Machinery DC FAQs
Central Machinery Dust Collector Trivia
Thread Started: July 10, 2002, 2:27pm Thread Founder and first recorded HF 2hp DC Owner: Chris72IL Shortest Wait: 11 Days (Rob J: Ordered 2/8/03. Received 2/19/03.) Longest Wait: 91 Days (Rob H: Ordered 10/30/02. Received 1/30/03.) Motors blown: 1 Number of people who opted to purchase two units: 2 First WoodNet thread page without a recorded purchase: 13 Batting 1000: rbl2 (post #1000); David Gillie (reply #1000) First Conversion into a Cat Collector: rbl2 Last Thread Purchaser: kaveman Last Post: March 3, 2003, 10:44am by rbl2 Owner Approved Accessories / Bags
American Fabric Filter Co. Custom 1 Micron H-Style Upper Bag Central Machinery Dust Collector Accessory Kit (Item 47911) Grizzly 0.3 Micron Bags Highland Hardware Shaker Felt Bags HouseOfTools.com 1 Micron Bag (various sizes) HouseOfTools.com 4 mil Clear Poly Lower Bags Penn State Industries 1 Micron Bag Set (model BC2-1V) Wireless Long Ranger Switch Wireless Shop Fox Switch Woodworker's Supply 0.1 Micron Bag (model 904-819) Woodworker's Supply 4 Mil Clear Bottom Bag Resources
Wynn Canister Conversion!!! Wynn Canister Conversion Part II Harbor Freight Order Status Webpage DuaneD's dust collector assembly pics; also has pics of HF DC accessory kit. Cian's dust collector assembly pics OSHA on wood dust hazards Bill Pentz's Cyclone Website - Although Bill's site is primarily focused on cyclones, it's a great area to suck up a lot of info on dust collection and air quality in general. The Board
UNIT PAGE* DATE OWNER COMMENTS
1 1 7.10.02 Chris72IL 2 1 7.11.02 Arborhead 0.1 micron upper bag from Woodworker's Supply 3 2 7.11.02 Peter121 4 3 9.4..02 LuigiBasco 5 3 9.5.02 Woodsmack 6 3 9.5.02 AZeddie 7 4 9.5.02 ToddM 8 4 9.8.02 Spitfirepete 9 5 9.10.02 Cellardweller 10 5 9.19.02 Eazyduzzit 11 5 9.20.02 DougWilkison 12 5 9.19.02 Bradn 13 6 9.19.02 dru Blew motor - returned to HF for full refund / 1 micron top bag / 4" PVC ducting 14 6 Grainraiser 15 6 Azeddie's friend 16 6 Clamp Man 17 7 9.20.02 Kmac 18 7 Neal Johnson 19 7 Retired2400 20 7 Picklepork 21 7 SPJRR Oversize AFF 1 micron upper bag / poly trash bag bottom 22 8 9.26.02 Dave99 23 8 benny52 24 8 Wheel 25 8 TK'sDust 26 9 10.8.02 strick 27 9 10.8.02 jdeardor 28 9 Bbirch 29 9 Roger109 30 9 paulrl 31 9 Bradn 32 9 ModelRRMan 33 10 10.22.02 Michael Prisbylla 34 10 SlickyBoy 35 10 McApple 36 11 10.23.02 vacasteve 37 12 10.28.02 rbl2 38 12 TDKPE 39 12 Moses Grizzly 0.3 Micron Bags 40 12 msargeaunt 41 14 10.29.02 Riverr1 42 14 TommyD 43 14 shawnharper 1 micron 20" x 64" upper bag from HouseOfTools.com / 4 mil poly lower bag 44 16 10.31.02 DUD 45 16 BubbaDog56 46 16 bxline 47 17 11.4.02 dc112678 48 18 11.8.02 antonio's friend 49 19 11.26.02 kthoennes 50 19 Timbeck2 51 19 jaz 52 20 11.28.02 Reckless_2350 53 20 aquabub 54 21 11.29.02 eelis2 55 21 swfurn 56 21 Rob H cyclone trash can separator / "This thing is GREAT..." 57 21 Wheel Second unit purchased 58 23 12.1.02 MMcMahon 59 24 12.13.02 rethier 60 24 jrhardie 61 25 12.15.02 k9s 62 25 fscottfishing 63 25 Reefbone 64 26 12.16.02 BigMike Penn State 1 Micron Bags 65 27 12.19.02 Jasontking 66 27 dwalser 67 27 sconya 68 27 RussM 69 28 12.20.02 bassnut 70 29 12.31.02 bpatters69 71 29 Stuart H 72 29 jkleb 73 30 1.2.03 jabernathy 74 30 1.2.03 David Gillie 4" duct throughout / cyclone trash can separator 75 31 1.2.03 Highlander 76 31 1.2.03 Cian Penn State 1 Micron Bags / "Passes the Soiled Pant Leg Test!" 77 34 1.3.03 highlandergym Grizzly 0.3 Micron Bags (on order) 78 34 1.3.03 dmanick 79 1.5.03 magpies 80 1.5.03 Cutbuff 20" x 48" upper bag from Lee Valley / 4 mil clear plastic bottom bag from Woodworker's Supply / "I can have two gates open, TS + Router or Planer and it's capable of clearing both machines." 81 1.5.03 joeprinter 82 1.6.03 CC 83 38 1.6.03 tedp 84 38 1.6.03 tedp's 1st friend 85 38 1.6.03 tedp's 2nd friend 86 38 Big Johnson Installed chromed acorn nuts on caster bolts. Claims he realized improved performance with these "aerodynamic" bolts. 87 38 QuiggyB 88 Pancho 89 39 1.7.03 TomSligar 90 39 1.7.03 geebake 4" PVC / Grizzly 0.3 Micron Bags (on order) / "It works great!" 91 41 1.7.03 Brandt 92 42 1.8.03 btodoroff 93 42 richtes 94 43 1.8.03 rosow/mn 95 43 Steely_Bob 96 43 wpmealey 97 44 1.8.03 cbag1 98 45 1.8.03 planbbob 99 45 Ritch H 100 46 1.8.03 jn 101 47 1.9.03 CT Wood Highland Hardware shaker bags 102 47 mrnugget Highland Hardware shaker bags / 24' long 6" main running along ceiling with two 4" branches and several 4" drops 103 47 Doghouse 104 48 1.10.03 R-squared 105 48 1.10.03 gbs 106 51 1.11.03 ramonerl 107 52 1.11.03 Lewis 108 53 1.12.03 DuaneD Penn State 1 Micron Bags 109 54 1.13.03 MattBell007 110 55 1.14.03 Mmarzluf 111 55 1.14.03 Earl smith 112 55 1.14.03 hardtimes 113 1.14.03 thodges 114 1.14.03 Toolman8393 115 56 1.14.03 JeffG 116 57 1.15.03 kakid cyclone trash can separator 117 57 1.15.03 RRM 118 58 1.15.03 monte 119 58 1.15.03 gilligan 120 58 1.15.03 Del Hilburn 121 60 1.15.03 Bria150 122 61 1.16.03 studuster 123 63 1.16.03 RupertP 124 69 1.22.03 Stewart_in_CO 125 71 1.22.03 Red H-Style 1 Micron Bag from AFF / 4" PVC / cyclone trash can separator 126 71 CABINETSBYSTEVE 127 73 1.23.03 petey 128 74 1.23.03 ala_eh 129 74 1.23.03 crewgoodman 130 76 1.24.03 jimbo181 131 76 1.24.03 AZeddie's buddy 132 77 1.24.03 Nathanp 133 77 1.24.03 GUNGATIM 134 78 1.24.03 TuffAsNails Bought 2! 135 78 1.24.03 TuffAsNails 136 79 1.25.03 snipped-for-privacy@vci.net 1 Micron Bags from houseoftools.com 137 80 1.25.03 dale55 Penn State 1 Micron Bags / "I have a (4" PVC) run 32' long with 2 els,1 tee (not even a sanitary tee) and 1 45 deg. el. It will suck a 3/4" block of wood up the drop and down the run quicker than a cat trying to get away from RBL2. Not very scientific...but I'm impressed. " 138 85 1.27.03 KeithMed "This DC works really well for the price." 139 89 1.29.03 BigArngEE 140 91 1.30.03 dustpan 25' duct run along ceiling with a 7' drop to TS / "This thing had no problem sucking it up baby." 141 94 1.30.03 Dmalpiedi 142 95 1.30.03 pnctar 143 97 1.31.03 Puff 144 98 2.1.03 TonyNY 145 99 2.2.03 Raylp121 146 99 2.2.03 Kraco 147 99 2.2.03 Duan Packard 148 100 2.2.03 Vic Thompson 149 2.3.03 Michael Grilli 150 101 2.3.03 MGoBlue1984 151 107 2.6.03 Mr C 152 115 2.9.03 MarkM Grizzly 0.3 Micron Bags / 4 mil clear plastic bottom bag from Woodworker's Supply 153 115 2.10.03 Gunn 154 118 2.11.03 bobhajjar "I attached a length of expanding drier vent hose to the 4" inlet and a section of 4" pipe to make a vac. works great, the hose self retracts when you move." 155 121 2.12.03 jspchief 156 123 2.14.03 Jetmaker1 157 124 2.17.03 Rob J 158 130 2.19.03 gEEk1 159 131 2.20.03 BigArngEE 160 133 2.22.03 clweed 161 133 2.23.03 David A. Frattaroli 162 138 2.25.03 bauerb 163 138 2.25.03 scambo 164 141 2.26.03 nicobie 165 141 2.26.03 Rob J 166 142 2.27.03 kaveman
I think this is what you were trying to find.
This fellow has some interesting stuff on the HF dust collector.
Again, here is a post from someone that has never seen on in use! I have one, I like it, and I would buy it again over what else is out there.It is a great buy. If the bags bother you, buy better bags. You will still will have spent less that anything else on the market! As far as noise, they are less noisy that a shop vac. Greg
In a 2 car "shop", it's pretty loud... and draws a LOT of juice... With the DC and a Saw running it sounds like I'm making one hell of a racket, but the neighbors across the street (where the garage door points all the noise) say that the saw is louder than the DC, so I guess it isn't too bad..
I put it on it's own circuit because it dimmed all the shop lights when I powered it up... I also put it in a corner and leaned a couple of insulating ceiling panels against it to block some of the noise..
OTOH, it's quieter than my compressor.. lol
mac
Please remove splinters before emailing
ALSO.. I built a seperator/cyclone out of a 50 gallon drum and the DC works great with it... I've had it for about a year and haven't had to empty the bags yet..
mac
Please remove splinters before emailing
I've got a 1.5HP Penn State with their optional muffler. It's quiet enough that you can easily carry on a conversation in my two car "shop" without having to shout. I bet it'd fit your machine.
Just curious.. going by the "no free lunch" theory, how much does the muffler cut down efficiency?
mac
Please remove splinters before emailing
I have no idea. I ordered the muffler at the same time as everything else so it's never been run without it. I've got more than adequate slurp power.
well, that's a great recommendation... sort of "it does what I bought it for", which is about as good as you get.. *g*
I'll check it out... noise isn't a big problem now, but we'll be moving to Baja in a few years and the DC and compressor will be outside, so low noise will be a priority.. thanks!
mac
Please remove splinters before emailing
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