Coal vac build 101

swyman · Post by **swyman** » Mon. Feb. 11, 2019 7:28 am

Did my first clean up on this setup since installing the new vac about 3-4 weeks ago. The dust deputy bucket was half full of black baby powder, super fine stuff! Went and bought 2 new bags for inside the shop vac but to my surprise there seemed to nothing in the original bag and the pleated air filter looks as if I just put it on....absolutely no fine dust on it. Also since installing the new vac there has been no fine black dust on the white washer and dryer lids. I am extremely pleased with this system and although it takes me 10 minutes a day to fill the barrel, it is worth not having any coal dust to clean up! I feel I can still do some tweaking...... one thing I would like to do is run that flexible pvc all the way to the barrel and eliminate all the joints.....there are 2 45's and might work a little better if eliminated?

Post by **CoalJockey** » Mon. Feb. 11, 2019 7:38 am

Something I had forgotten about that I had considered doing with mine was eliminating the PVC completely and using in its place a 2-inch water pump hose. You would want the suction-grade as it is reinforced and will not collapse under pressure, and the inside is also smooth walled to allow the material to flow more freely.

My original thought with this was it would eliminate a lot of joints and elbows that would eventually wear out but also be much more airtight as well. The entire thing could be flexible enough to run it wherever and not so rigid as straight lengths of pipe.

I think at the time Tractor Supply had the green suction line in 25 foot lengths. Would this do you any good?

swyman · Post by **swyman** » Mon. Feb. 11, 2019 10:05 am

CoalJockey wrote: ↑
Mon. Feb. 11, 2019 7:38 am
Something I had forgotten about that I had considered doing with mine was eliminating the PVC completely and using in its place a 2-inch water pump hose. You would want the suction-grade as it is reinforced and will not collapse under pressure, and the inside is also smooth walled to allow the material to flow more freely.

My original thought with this was it would eliminate a lot of joints and elbows that would eventually wear out but also be much more airtight as well. The entire thing could be flexible enough to run it wherever and not so rigid as straight lengths of pipe.

I think at the time Tractor Supply had the green suction line in 25 foot lengths. Would this do you any good?

I think the flex pvc is about the same stuff. It is rated for pressure and is flexible enough to where I am using it as a standard vac hose. I wasn't thinking enough when I cut it and added it to the end of my 2" pvc run....I would have eliminated the whole pvc run and elbows and just used the flex. I think I am going to get a coupling and eliminate the 2" pvc run to the barrel and just use this flex. I'll post results when I get it done. I still need some better valves for the bottom of the barrel's.....still getting a little leakage and I have found out from before how much performance you lose with leaks. May take off the valves I have and use a bead of silicone to seal when reinstalling.

Kungur · Post by **Kungur** » Mon. Feb. 11, 2019 4:25 pm

Tell me more about this 2" "hose" product.
Thanks

swyman · Post by **swyman** » Mon. Feb. 11, 2019 4:36 pm

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It's 1 1/2" flex PVC. My neighbor is a pool man and he uses this stuff for suction lines. Really good stuff.

McGiever · Post by **McGiever** » Mon. Feb. 11, 2019 9:02 pm

Pool or Pond Hose...sold in various lengths of coils @ Amazon.

Same size as standard rigid PVC and can solvent weld to any standard size PVC fitting

Kungur · Post by **Kungur** » Thu. Feb. 28, 2019 7:42 am

Swyman, how is you coal Vac working?

swyman · Post by **swyman** » Thu. Feb. 28, 2019 7:56 am

Kungur wrote: ↑
Thu. Feb. 28, 2019 7:42 am
Swyman, how is you coal Vac working?

It is working as good as I expected it now. I took the valves off and added a heavy bead of silicon around each one but I still have to put plastic bags over the gate openings. There is still a slight hiss and cannot tell exactly where it's coming from but that single 2 stage vac is doing a great job I feel. I am not sure how many ton I have ran through it and when I opened the vac up I had some fine black dust on that blue pleated filter so I changed the bag. What a difference that made! I didn't time it but I know I am under 8 minutes now and am happy with that. I have ZERO black dust on my wifes white washer and dryer now so I am pleased to say the least. I still have not made a top and there is dust when I open the valves but once they are open I turn the vac on and it acts like a fume hood and collects all the dust as the coal dumps out. The coal slows down when I turn on the vac but it's working for me so if it ain't broke, don't fix it! I have not replaced the 2" sch40 with flex yet either. I may burn a ton or two of rice when I run out of buck so it will be interesting to see how the vac works with that? I assume it might be a little faster?