Dirt at a construction site or home workshop doesn't just clog your airways and eyes. Some types of dust are dangerous to the lives of people in the room. It can explode or poison the body with heavy substances. For example, epoxy dust used in furniture making is extremely harmful.
The only way out of a dangerous situation is to install expensive air purification equipment indoors. If it is not possible to purchase a factory version of such a cleaner, you can easily make it yourself. Such a device is called a cyclone vacuum cleaner.
What causes dirt at work and at home
The fact that dust at work and at home is life-threatening is known to almost everyone. But it can also cause other unpleasant situations. So, getting into the moving parts of mechanisms and devices - bearings, trunnions, and so on, dirt causes wear andcauses the unit to break down.
After getting on the lubricant inside the mechanism, the dust turns it into an abrasive substance. As a result, it not only does not work, but, on the contrary, grinds gears and bearings. Any mechanism needs cooling, but if the holes designed for this are clogged with dust, the motor will overheat and burn out.
Device Advantages
A vacuum cleaner with a cyclone does not just clean the air of dust, it has a number of undoubted advantages compared to conventional ventilation or using a purchased filter:
- First of all, this is the absence of a dust bag or filter in the device that needs to be cleaned or replaced. Dirt and small debris can simply be thrown out of the dust box after cleaning.
- This type of instrument is very compact, unlike an industrial plant.
- Because there are no moving parts inside the cyclone, it works absolutely silently.
- If the filter is made of transparent material, it will be possible to visually monitor the degree of clogging in order to clean it in time.
- With the comparative cheapness of the device, its efficiency and usefulness for human lungs is very high. Cleaning the air with a cyclone is much more effective than using respirators or just gauze bandages.
All this makes it necessary to make a cyclone for a vacuum cleaner with your own hands, because it is cheap and necessary. The low cost of this device is extremely important, since this device is only needed during repair or reconstruction, then it is simply thrown away. That is, it should be simple and notexpensive.
Device Diagram
What is a vacuum cleaner cyclonic filter? This is a cone, in the wide part of which there is a hole for air intake, and at the bottom it is attached to the vacuum cleaner. The principle of operation of such a filter is based on centrifugal force. Taking the dust through the hole, the air disperses it and presses it against the walls of the cone. The accumulated sediment under the action of gravity accumulates at the neck, through which it enters the vacuum cleaner collection.
You need to understand that a very powerful vacuum cleaner is needed for the quality of such a filter. An ordinary household appliance may not be able to cope with such work. Moreover, modern vacuum cleaners are equipped with a time relay, that is, they turn off after 15-20 minutes of operation in order to save energy and device life. That is why, if a person is going to make a cyclone for a vacuum cleaner with his own hands, he must use an industrial unit with a powerful motor or just a powerful electric motor.
Instrument accessories
Making a cyclone for a construction vacuum cleaner with your own hands is quite simple, but for this you need to have a number of spare parts. To do this, it is enough to disassemble the old device, which has not been used for its intended purpose for a long time. From it you need to get the power regulator and the power cord. If the vacuum cleaner was large enough and "strong", its motor will come in handy. Next you will need:
- plastic or tin cone;
- pipe 5 cm;
- corrugated hose;
- bolts with nuts;
- plywood and zincleaf;
- you should also prepare consumables such as sealant, skins, fillers for the glue gun.
You will need a regular tool - a drill, a glue gun, a set of keys and screwdrivers, side cutters and a hacksaw, preferably a jigsaw. Next, consider the procedure for manufacturing a cyclone vacuum cleaner.
Steps of work
This method allows you to make a cyclone from an old vacuum cleaner. To do this, take a plastic container, for example, a bucket - you need to make a filter out of it. To do this, a lid is made of tin for the upper part of the container. There you also need to cut a hole for plastic pipes. They are inserted into the grooves at an angle. The direction of the tubes must match - either both clockwise, or both against it. Tightness is created by gluing the place where the tubes enter the container.
A tin circle with a threaded pin sticking out in the middle is fastened with bolts to the bottom of the bucket. A regular filter from a minibus is put on it. This is necessary to clean the air. When the top lid of the container is closed, there should be a hole in the center for this pin, which will ensure that the bucket is tightly closed with a nut.
A motor from a vacuum cleaner with a pump and a switch is installed on the lid of the container. One of the holes is connected to the pump with a corrugated hose.
The motor must be firmly bolted to the cover so that it does not tip over during operation. All grooves for fastening on the bottom and on the lid of the container are treated with silicone orglue gun to ensure sealing.
Procedure for making a cyclone
If there is a powerful unit, then you can simply assemble a homemade cyclone for a vacuum cleaner from sewer pipes.
To do this, take a traffic cone and a plastic bucket with a lid. This is where plywood comes in handy. The cone is covered with a lid from another bucket or carved from wood material. Holes are cut in it for ordinary sewer pipes with a diameter of 50 mm. L-shaped branches are put on them from below, directed in one direction. Outside, a hose from a vacuum cleaner is subsequently fixed to one of the pipes. The lower part of the cone is sawn off so that another pipe can be inserted into the hole. It is then inserted into the lid of the bucket, on which the cone rests with its narrow part.
The cyclone for the vacuum cleaner has already been made. It is only necessary to treat all the cracks and joints with a sealant, but it is better to carefully glue it with a glue gun.
Air will enter the cone through the open hole. Dust and small fractions of dirt under the action of an air flow swirling with centripetal force will settle on the walls and fall into a bucket at the bottom of the cone.
This design is so simple that it can be done at any scale. For example, make a homemade cyclone for a vacuum cleaner from a plastic bottle, only in this case it will suck in little dust. But it should be enough to work in a room when renovating an apartment.
Techniquesecurity
When working on the manufacture and assembly of a cyclone for a vacuum cleaner with your own hands, you must follow the safety rules.
Firstly, the entire power tool must be in good working order, with a whole body and an intact cord.
Secondly, you need to work with protective gloves so as not to cut yourself on the edges of the tin parts.
Thirdly, the windows in the workshop must be open, and a respirator must be worn on the face. It will protect the respiratory organs from dust and shavings, as well as from sealant fumes, which are known to be extremely toxic. That is why you need to open windows when working with it.
Fourthly, there should be light in the workshop.
And last. When launching a prototype, you need to stand a few steps away from it, as loose parts can fly around the workshop and hit a person.
Possible errors in the manufacture of the cyclone
Having understood the essence of the design and the principle of its operation, it is not difficult to make a cyclone, but there are a number of errors that will not allow the finished device to work as planned:
- Firstly, the mismatch between the size of the cyclone filter and the vacuum cleaner. That is, the power of the unit may not be enough for the normal operation of a filter made of a traffic cone. Or vice versa. The motor power is so high that a plastic or tin bucket under a cone, which acts as a dust collector, simply “collapses” under the action of vacuum, that isdeformed.
- The second mistake is bad sealing. All seams around pipes and holes for bolts and screws must be glued and treated with sealant. Complete impermeability is the key to high-quality operation of the device even with a conventional household vacuum cleaner.
- Do not leave the device in operation unattended, for example, during lunch break or at night. Any electrical appliance can break down, catch fire and thereby destroy both the workshop and the entire building.
After all, this is a homemade device. It is not equipped with additional protection against short circuits and other accidents. And no matter how well it was done, it will remain so - homemade.
Conclusion
How to make a cyclone for a vacuum cleaner? Having an elementary skill in working with an instrument and a share of imagination is quite simple. The main thing at the same time is to follow the safety precautions and recommendations of professionals. Everything should work out. It is important what goals you pursue when making the device. A homemade cyclone will not be able to clean a large volume of air.
