Shopsmith Forums

I am am new to the the world of wood working and shopsmith have a shopsmith mark v 510 and a shops smith dust collector which does not seem to suck dust very well cleaned the filter and pluged the other 2 outlets with a hose also have a scroll saw belt sander strip sander lathe tools craftsman band saw and craftsman compound miter saw all inhearted from my grampa dust collector lived in a shed that might have leaked water appreciaty any help that you guys can provide thatnks Thad

thanks for the info what would cause the dust collector not to suck up the dust or wood chips when hooked up to the table saw
thanks and what maintnance would need to be done

thanks thad

thanks for the info what else would keep the dust collector from sucking up the wood chips or sawdust when hooked up to the table saw also what maintenance needs to be done on the shopsmith and dust collector and also what year was it made serial #111889 and the model # 555510 does the model # mean it is a model 510
thanks Thad

1. Learn what periods(.) are for.
2. Ask one question per period.
3. Vacuum machines are dependant on the following:
a. a clear path for the air(etc) to travel from where it starts to the collection bin.
b. a turbine provides the "suction" to move that air(etc).
c. an enclosure to keep air(etc) flow from "leaking".

Try running vacuum without any hoses attached. Check all inlets/outlets for flow. Do this one at a time if possible.

If no "flow" you have a problem internal to the vacuum.

After vacuum is operating properly attach hoses one at a time to determine if any of them have a "problem" Problems may be "plugged up" or "leakey"

I know this is not specific, but, sometime we have to THINK things thru ourselves!:)

P.S. Does it have a plugged up filter???????

tbergh wrote:I am am new to the the world of wood working and shopsmith have a shopsmith mark v 510 and a shops smith dust collector which does not seem to suck dust very well cleaned the filter and pluged the other 2 outlets with a hose also have a scroll saw belt sander strip sander lathe tools craftsman band saw and craftsman compound miter saw all inhearted from my grampa dust collector lived in a shed that might have leaked water appreciaty any help that you guys can provide thatnks Thad

tbergh;

Keeping first things first, I would like to take this opportunity to welcome you to this forum. This is one of the finest places you could come for assistance. There are many members here who have experiences to share.

Your problem does seem to be fundamental. But, do remember that the DC3300 is not a great big powerful industrial vacuum cleaner; it is a dust collector. I no longer use my DC3300 to vacuum the shop area, I use a Shopvac for that purpose. The DC3300 is used only as a dust collector; attached to the Mark V or one of the other accessories.

It should be rather easy to tell if yours is working properly. As you have done, block two of the ports and put your hand on the other. You should feel a firm suction on your hand.

Another way would be to collect a sizeable pile of saw dust and use the DC3300 to collect it up. You can watch the sawdust, it should be sucked up rather vigorously.

If not; what would I do? I would start by making certain the hoses are not plugged. Stretch it out straight and look through it.

If the hose is clear, I would then take the hood off and make certain that there is nothing blocking the three ports. They connect into a three way manifold that could be clogged.

Nothing unusual found, I would suspect that the blade could be damaged. Remember, at this level the DC3300 is just a big fan. If the blade is broken or not turning you have no suction.

Just pay attention as you go and tear this thing down until you find what is wrong. I know that you can fix this. The frustrating thing for me has always been getting the hood and dust collection bag reattached properly. I find it to almost be a two person job.

Good luck in your endeavor and please let us know what you find. We are all very interested.

Welcome to the forum, Thad. I see that you have a very functional collection of woodworking equipment that your Grandfather left you. Take care of them and they will serve you very well.

It is too bad that the dust collector might have gotten wet but if you could chose which piece was going to get wet it should be the dust collector. There is very little in the dust collector that would be damaged by water.

You have been given some sound advise on how to fix your problem so I'll not add to it. Take your time - that is all that I would say. Use no force. Things should come apart and go back very easily.

Good Luck

There is a lot of good information available on the Shopsmith web site. If you haven't reviewed it I think you should.

http://www.shopsmithacademy.com/Sawdust_Sessions.htm

Sawdust Session #9 has some information on dust collection systems. Unfortunately, it doesn't address your problem directly.

http://www.shopsmithacademy.com/SS_Arch ... ection.htm

Thad,
There is a white bag on the top of the DC3300. Move the DC3300 out of your work area, preferably outside and remove the bag. You will most likely see a great deal of saw dust impacted inside the top of the machine. Clean that and the shake out the dust in the white bag. Replace the bag. You should also check that the bag under the top part is empty. I suspect once you do this, the DC3300 will be OK.

While you have the white bag off, check the blades of the fan to insure that they are OK as has been suggested.

Dick

Thad, Welcome to the forum.
It is good to have another new member with an interest in woodworking.
You've gotten some good information (and some sarcastic info to boot) sift through it and you'll soon figure out which info to hang on to.

Mr Wolf: You are right! I am SORRY! Will try to be less critical from now on!

We should be encouraging "neophytes".