Vacuum box by Josh Beckman question

[ClayM325]

Hello,
I am moving my machine soon and plan on using Josh's plans to build a new vacuum box. My question is, he plumbed all the motors into the same line with gate valves. Would it be more beneficial to plumb each of the 4 to a separate quadrant of the table (96x48) then maybe have a crossover between to motors in case of a failure? Or plumb them all together like he had? Why or why not?

[ken_rychlik]

I have done several where I put cut off electrical switches on some of the pumps. No valves used and just turn on the sections you need at the time. Everyone likes something different, but it's easy, cheap, and works fine.

[EricSchimel]

You can get sewer back flow prevention valves too that will automatically close on any motors that are turned off. That’s what I did on my setup back when I had it.

[ClayM325]

You can get sewer back flow prevention valves too that will automatically close on any motors that are turned off. That’s what I did on my setup back when I had it.

I may have done a bad job explaining the question. I’m wondering if it’s better to have each pump going to the whole table like josh did, or have each pump plumbed directly to a single quadrant.

[ken_rychlik]

I did per quad with electrical swithes to use the areas needed

[ClayM325]

I did per quad with electrical swithes to use the areas needed

Hows it working? Im leaning towards doing it that way but have closable crossovers so if I have a failure i can run a half table with a single pump

[ken_rychlik]

I never had a need for it, but I had a spare motor on hand. 150 dollars was cheap insurance and easier than extra plumbing.

[pappybaynes]

I did a separate motor for each quadrant - Eric bought my machine.

[jTr]

I built the "black box" ala Gary C about 10 years ago. This means :
- A single concentrated vacuum source, containing all 4 motors
- switched in pairs = minimum 2 running at a time (~15-16 amps per pair)
- "booster" pair not needed unless hideous piece of warped ply is on the table (almost never)
- 5 zones, flow controlled by plumbing valves = you can send the force of all 4 motors to a single zone for max hold-down

After this many years of reliable service, I highly recommend this approach.

jeff

[dlcw]

I built the "black box" ala Gary C about 10 years ago. This means :
- A single concentrated vacuum source, containing all 4 motors
- switched in pairs = minimum 2 running at a time (~15-16 amps per pair)
- "booster" pair not needed unless hideous piece of warped ply is on the table (almost never)
- 5 zones, flow controlled by plumbing valves = you can send the force of all 4 motors to a single zone for max hold-down

After this many years of reliable service, I highly recommend this approach.

jeff


This is exactly what I did. I have a 96x60 machine with 7 zones. I use the "Black Box" for vacuum and use RV sewer dump valves to turn zones on and off as needed. Has been working well for over 10 years. I do keep an extra motor on the shelf when one burns up. I run them A LOT. Just make sure you have air flow to the pumps per manufacturers recommendation. I have little valves I can open or close to make sure the motors have enough cooling air.