DC3300 - in shop and working on it - have questions.

[bobgroh]

My S-I-L dropped off the DC3300 and I have started working on it. Seems to work with no extra noises. Was blowing sawdust out the rear motor vents so decided to start pulling pieces off, do a general cleaning and see what I have.

Pull the top off

SS_TopOff.jpg (167.76 KiB) Viewed 8700 times

Certainly some dust piled up here and there (top off)

Got some dust in there

SS_DustInside.jpg (216.05 KiB) Viewed 8700 times

And I have an old mud dabber's nest blocking most of the air vent into the motor department:

Mud Dabbers Nest on motor air inlet

SS_MudDabbers.jpg (245.47 KiB) Viewed 8700 times

Now to my question. The foam strip gasket that seals the motor end of the fan compartment to the outer ring is totally shot. Cheap to get from SS except for shipping cost. Anybody just used foam rubber weather stripping for this? Also I assume you just remove the 2 screws holding the collar on the inset side of the fan housing and pull the whole shebang out of the circular ring deal.

[dusty]

As you tear deeper into the DC3300, please keep posting. You are already as deep as I have ever been but it is almost certain that someday I will have need to do what you are doing.

As for the gasket material. I would swallow hard and order a gasket from Shopsmith.

[charlese]

Yes, I would say you need a little help here. The two screws you mentioned will release the intake from it's mounting, but don't pry up too hard when it's loose. You still have the motor area to free up. this part has to be lifted straight up to avoid breaking the molded support of the motor housing.
See http://www.shopsmith.com/ownersite/manu ... lector.pdf

There is an exploded view in the manual that should help you along.

I've had my DC apart two or three times, and as I remember, I found it advantageous to separate the two halves of the fan housing.

[bobgroh]

UPdate on the taking apart operation (and thanks to all for the comments and hints). It was quite easy to take the motor/fan assy out - 4 screws for the collar on the intake and the 2 screws underneath and holding the tail end of the motor enclosure to the outer shell. Then gently pull the fan/motor assembly back to move it off the intake tube and then gently move the tail piece up and out. The foam gaskets were shoot and I did order new ones from SS - quite inexpensive really - $8 or so plus $8.50 for shipping. Also order a pack of the new heavy duty dust bags at the same time. Blade looks ok so I probably won't muck with it. Now to wait until gaskets come in. Will replace plug on electrical cord while I wait.

Still pondering some way to add a cyclone to unit. Pictures taken and will post all later.

[JPG]

'Pickup' > cyclone > DC3300

[bobgroh]

I know how to hook up a cyclone - problem is a bit more fundamental - the available cyclone's (e.g. Oneida Dust Deputy, Super Dust Deputy and ClearView's version) are not a good fit for the DC3300 (and a bit pricey for the bigger ones). 'Dust barrel' (my name for a simple barrel with a pseudo-cyclone action) are not the greatest performers. Still pondering the alternatives.

[JPG]

ya I thought the question was too simple!

However I think you are over analyzing this.

The dust deputy is adequate for me with my limited use and I use it with the dc330 and at other times a small shop vac for other uses.(cleaning car/house etc.)

The Dust Deputy is quite reasonable if purchasing only the cyclone and not the 'buckets' etc. I mounted mine to a salvaged shop vac barrel.

P.S. I assume you blew the dust out of the motor real good.

[charlese]

Although a Dust Deputy would probably be more efficient, the "dust barrel" works for me. Although I have not included it with the DC3300, I use it every time I use my Shop Vac. The Shop vac filter remains pretty clean. Haven't had to change the paper filter after MANY cleanings of Guinea Pig cages.

The barrel I use is just a 5 gallon bucket. I've filled it multiple times with the cage litter and poop.

Got the barrel top several years ago from Rockler. It's just a plastic top with two 2 1/2" holes. Not very expensive!

Don't find the separator at Rockler, but found a similar one at Woodcraft. http://www.woodcraft.com/product/143868 ... rator.aspx

[bobgroh]

Thanks for comments. The Dust Deputy (and I do use one with my 6 gallon ShopVac and am very pleased with that setup) does extract a bit of a performance penalty and is beyond it's flow capacity with the DC3300. The 'dust bucket' approach is interesting - probably not as efficient as cyclone at filtering out the fine dust but, IMHO, an improvement in using a single stage system. We'll see.