Bill Leonhardt wrote:
Tempest Cyclone
(12" impeller, 2hp) with the tall canister filters.

I also recently purchased the Tempest Cyclone 2hp (110v/220v) with the
12" impeller and the tall canisters (filter down to .5 microns). I
found it packaged quite well and everything was in good shape with no
pieces missing, so perhaps Bill has some pretty rough handling UPS
drivers.

4.. The fitting used to connect the filters to the fan discharge
was
clearly not well thought out. It looked to me to be one that was
used for a
different size connection and altered with a saw (but not de-burred).
It
had you tightening a hose on a steep tapered surface.

I agree here. I ditched the connector that Penn State sent and made my
own. A round piece of plywood with a circle cut from the middle for a
piece of 5" stove pipe. Silicon the stove pipe into the hole, then
silicon it to the top of the filter. Use a hose clamp to clamp the
hose from the fan discharge to that pipe, and you're set.

1. You need to assemble the motor and blower assembly to the
cyclone
drum. This connection requires a seal, but Penn State thinks you
should
provide it.

I agree here too, but again I just spread some silicon (Penn State
included a tube of it) around before pressing these two pieces
together, and it seems to work just fine.


2. The system uses two cartridge filters for discharge. They are

assembled with a top fitting (connects by hose to the fan discharge)
and a
canister on the bottom. Penn State's design calls for this all to be
glued
together so it's very hard to change any components. Also, you also
have to
cut a seven inch diameter hole in the canister lid.

He's right, but for me so far it hasn't been a concern. Cutting the
hole in the canister lid is no big deal...just get a hacksaw blade for
a jig saw (it doesn't have to be a precise, perfectly round hole) to
cut through the thin metal lid.


3. The wall mounting brackets attach to the cyclone drum to the
wall.
The bolt hole pattern in the brackets and the cyclone are very
different so
there was some additional drilling.

My bolt holes aligned just fine. YMMV if you want to turn the cyclone
so that the intake/outtake are positioned such that the bolts that hold
the cyclone together don't line up with the holes in the mounting
brackets.

Next I had to deal with piping. I initially bought
25' of 4" hose so I could get up and running with the thought in mind
that I
would be installing some permanent piping as time permits.

I just ran 6" stove pipe and sealed it up with tape & silicon caulk.
Forget about the $50 coupon, because as Bill mentioned, the price of
the Penn State (and most others too) fittings & pipe will soon eat that
up and it'd cost you more than buying stove pipe and/or PVC pipe from
your local hardware store.

Before going with the 6" duct (not sure how much 6" helps with a 5"
intake), I measured the amp of the unit running without any ductwork at
all, and with the 12" impeller it should basically be impossible to
burn this motor up (wide open it didn't draw it's rated current - a
larger impeller would increase it's draw) . There are some
enhancements that can be made to these systems to help them draw more
air (and current - see Bill Pentz's site mentioned previously) to help
optimize your air volume/current draw (install a neutral vein, larger
impeller, etc). I haven't tried any of these with mine...yet.

Well I took my system apart and then I took the back off the motor.
The set
screw that holds the motor's internal fan impeller was gone and the
impeller
was free spinning.

Boy I hope that doesn't happen to mine.

Perhaps some of this is my fault. I have the cyclone installed in
the
basement so the motor sits between two first floor joists and can be
accessed only by taking everything down off the wall.

I suspect that you'd have this problem with most any cyclone unit
mounted this way, but I could be wrong. Mine's mounted the same way.
Charlie