"PyroHog" wrote in message:
Having gotten busy dimensioning wood on the Jointer & Planer, I have
over-filled my cyclone's chip-bin more than once. It is a very messy
business to then have to open all the dust-bags to empty the
overflowed chips/shavings from them.
I was therefore very interested when I learned of Oneida's infrared
chip-bin level-sensing device called "Dust Sentry".
Although their site suggest they cannot make them fast enough for the
demand, there are no customer reviews of the product. I've not found
any references to the product online other than Oneida's pages. I'm
reluctant to drop than kind of cash on unproven technology.

Anyone out there have one of these gizmos and are your thrilled/OK/
disappointed with its performance ?

Thanks in Advance.

I have an Oneida with a 55-gallon drum. It would be nice to look at
something and know how full it is. I have (confession) let the drum
overfill and even filled up my filter. not much suction LOL. I just
learned to check it more often, mostly doing so by pushing against the top
of the drum to see if it is heavy.

After a time, I disciplined myself to check it daily if I was doing any
planing or a lot of panel raising. If the drum is half full, I empty it.
If there is more, I have to unload it with a dust pan into another trash
bag-lined trash can until I can lift the bag out (which gets heavy).

BTW, I reuse bags since they cost so much for the 55-gallon version in that
thickness. I asked the Oneida salesman about a good source on bags but he
slickly said he didn't know but he was sure I could easily find one. He
also said that he couldn't imagine why anyone would reuse the bags, after
telling me that some other guy did. One bag can last a year of industrial
(small shop) use if one is careful and patches any little tears
occasionally. And they do work fine with small tears.

Another BTW, it is increasingly hard for me to lift a large, bulky bag out
and lift it again high enough to get into the dumpster. I was an "also-ran"
athlete, but too many injuries and too many decades have passed since then.
My lumbar region doesn't like me :-(

I faithfully use a dust mask or respirator with only the cotton filter while
I empty the cyclone or clean the filter. (Cleaning the filter is another
story for another day).

Oh yeah, a small sign on top of the barrel lid says that it should be
emptied daily. Honestly, I don't necessarily do this but I acknowledge that
I should.

OK, so I over-answered your question, but hopefully someone out there might
benefit from hearing of my misteaks.

woodstuff