Welcome! Log In Create A New Profile

Advanced

Shop vac burnout (pics)

Posted by papergeek 
Shop vac burnout (pics)
March 16, 2019 03:15PM
I have a 1000x1500mm OX CNC machine I built, and I was planing down the spoiler board to make it perfectly level. I was using my 2hp ShopVac (a genuine Shopvac) for dust control.
About 15 minutes in, the vacuum starts wavering, then blows a circuit breaker, and I have actual smoke rising from the shop vac.
Unplugged it and took it outside right away, then disassembled to see this:

[photos.app.goo.gl]

Basically the motor burned out.
I'm guessing a little shopvac like this was not meant to be run for 15 minutes or more at a time and it just doesn't have a way to cool the motor.

Dust control systems are expensive. There must be a shopvac that can run a bit longer, maybe 30-40 minutes at a time. Any suggestions, or what are you using and how long can you run it for?
Re: Shop vac burnout (pics)
March 19, 2019 03:53AM
I've heard people say wood dust can clog up some filters/bags etc - I wonder if that has contributed to your motor burning out?

Have you had a look at the Cyclone Dust Collectors? They connect inline with the vacuum cleaner and aim to remove most of the dust before it reaches the vacuum cleaner. Not sure if that helps in your situation but could be worth checking out.
Re: Shop vac burnout (pics)
March 19, 2019 05:53PM
I've seen mention of Cyclone Dust Collectors and it seems like something I want to do. However, I've been pretty careful to empty the dust regularly. In this case I was facing my spoilerboard to level it and going very slowly, and was in the middle of a section where I wasn't generating any dust. I did have good airflow from the dust shoe but I think my little shopvac was just not meant for that kind of continuous duty.
I went and got a larger Ridgid shopvac from Home Despot and it seems to have better integral motor cooling which does not depend on the vacuum stream (which in any case I wouldn't run stalled). It's also much more powerful and significantly quieter (the smaller shopvac had a very high frequency and even with hearing protection it was painful). The relay outlet I have controlling the vacuum can handle up to 10A and so far it's all working fine, and I've introduced some vacuum rest cycles in the really long facing jobs like this.
Most of what I'm planning to do is engraving which won't involve runs of more than 10 minutes or so. Levelling the spoilerboard is taking hours....
Sorry, only registered users may post in this forum.

Click here to login