# Dust Collector - Harbor Freight



## Tony B (Jul 30, 2008)

Does anyone here own this model?
If so, what do you think of it?
*13 Gallon 1 HP High Flow Dust*


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## BigCountry79 (Jun 2, 2021)

Get the 2hp instead.

At that size, you are better off with a shop vac.


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## Tony B (Jul 30, 2008)

My electric wont handle the 2 HP or I would be asking the same question about it instead.
I have one of the bigger Shop Vacs and its great for Table Saw, Planer and Band Saw. But totally useless for chop saw, drill press, lathe and RAS where I need a larger input collector. 

The 2HP model says 20A but I really think it is around 16. Sometimes HF shows the required circuit breaker and not the current pulled. If that be the case, I might could run it and transfer some of my loads to my Honda 2K Generator. Maybe I will call HF tech support and find out for sure. 20A just dont sound right for a HF 2hp motor.
The 1 HP model shows a current draw of 5.1A and I'm sure that that is way low. Another part of the manual shows the 1HP at 7.5A which sounds about right.

They need to get their act together.


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## woodnthings (Jan 24, 2009)

70 gallon 2 HP High Flow High Capacity Dust Collector


Amazing deals on this 70 Gallon 2Hp Hi Flo Dust Collector at Harbor Freight. Quality tools & low prices.




www.harborfreight.com




I'm no electrician, but as I understand it a 20 AMP breaker will have a momentary overload period greater than the 20 AMP rating that will prevent it from tripping when a 20 AMP motor starts up. However, the "running" current for those 2 HP HF DC's is around 18 AMPs if I recall which will help in your case. You are seriously under powered which you will have to deal with the best you can. I wish you the best on that issue!


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## BigCountry79 (Jun 2, 2021)

I ran my 2hp HF DC on the same circuit as my table saw for a while. It ripped the breaker twice on a 20A circuit...


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## Tony B (Jul 30, 2008)

Seems like most 120V 2HP tools draw around 15 -16Amps.
I could buy it and if is a problem, I could return it.


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## sanchez (Feb 18, 2010)

I know it's pretty strong for the price. Add a Super dust deputy and a Wynn Filter and you've got a great setup.

I ran mine with the table saw on the same 15A circuit before I built my basement shop. After that I kept them on separate 20A circuits.


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## rbk123 (Jan 10, 2013)

I have that dust collector and it works fine - not perfect but good for the price. I seem to remember having to take off the intake guard on it; apparently everybody did it if I remember. I also got a much finer micron bag to replace the stock one.


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## DrRobert (Apr 27, 2015)

DC blowers CFM’S are rated at the inlet with no drag. Add some ducting and the CFM’s can drop like a rock. Depends on the blower design & filter back pressure.

I bought a PowerTech 1HP wall mount to use a dedicated unit for my miter saw and router table. One look at what they call a dust bag and I knew it would clog right away. I was going to exhaust outside anyway.

Works well, I suspect it’s very similar to the HF. Bottom line you’re going to get what you get only time will tell. I suspect that dust bag will be next to useless, and degrade performance considerably.

What are you collecting?


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## Tony B (Jul 30, 2008)

@DrRobert .........you asked "What are you collecting?" 
Most collected material will be from RAS, Chop Saw and Lathe. Mostly chips and shavings. The only significant fine dust will be from power sanding on the lathe. That could be choking at times.


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## Steve Neul (Sep 2, 2011)

If you have the space I would get the 2hp collector. I have two of them, which one I run on an extension cord with a 16ga wire. Doesn't seem to need much power.


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## Tony B (Jul 30, 2008)

Space is a problem. Right now I have plenty of space to work in and put projects in progress out of the way. But the 2 HP Dust Collector unit will definitely encroach into my work space. Right now I have my RAS and Chop saw for sale. If I sell both of them the sliding miter saw will go where the chop saw is now and the Dust Collector will go where the RAS is. 
This is kinda like living on a boat - if something comes on the boat, something else must come off.


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## JayArr (Sep 18, 2018)

I think it might depend on how long the run to your tools is. 

My dust collector is right beside my RAS and my table saw is right beside it and I get away with a small 3/4HP unit. It came on a dolly like the pic you posted and I just took the wheels off and screwed it to the wall. It works great on the planer which I set on top of the table saw. It works OK on the table saw and RAS by keeping the dust level down but I still need to sweep up the finer dust and push it toward the port to clean up at the end of a job.


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## ToolsOnaWall (Apr 8, 2020)

I have the Dust Deputy connected to a Shop Vac. The Dust Deputy collects all of the dust, nothing in the Shop Vac. Mine is on a cart so it can be moved when I want to use it and out of the way when I don't.


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## somervillain (Oct 1, 2021)

I own that dust collector. It still runs after 10 years. I was about to say "it sucks" but that would be confusing. I am unimpressed with it. It seems to provide suction a fraction of what my shop vac does. My workhorse is a basic shop vac connected to a rockler dust right cyclone separator. I have that model and the 2hp harbor freight one. 

As an experiment, I've connected all 3 to my dust separator with a 2.5" reducer. (Each tool is about 10 years old). The $60 shop vac bests them all and it has a filter I haven't cleaned in a long time. Both Harbor Freight models make a lot of noise and seem to be moving a lot of stuff, but the shop vac works best for dust collection when connected to the tools as well as cleaning. I haven't figured out if I am doing something wrong with the dust collectors. For the 1hp one, I cleaned it thoroughly and inspected it to see if I could see blockages as well as checked for any leaks.

I'm going to post in a separate thread to figure out if I am missing something. Both dust collectors have well over double the CFM rating and the 2hp model is a legend on most forums, but then why do they perform so poorly in my setup? At this point, I am contemplating if I need 2 dust collectors or should just use a shop vac and cyclone.


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## Tony B (Jul 30, 2008)

@somervillain .. is that name like in Somerville, Texas?


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## dbhost (Jan 28, 2008)

Mind you, that 2KW Honda generator is a GREAT little generator, the key here is little. Pretty sure you know it is your limiting factor.

IF somehow budget would allow, upsize your Generator to at least say a Predator 3500. Heck, if you don't need an inverter, you can get a LOT more power for the dollar going with a contractor style generator, but they are considerably louder. When you consider you will be running power tools with it, probably not a big issue.

If I had to pick between a big shop vac, and one of those small wall mount units, I would grab a shop vac, but that is just me... 

The tools you mentioned having problems collecting from, even with a giant 5HP ClearVue cyclone and large dia piping, you are going to still get some mess out of them. Miter saws, radial arm saws etc... are just a pain to do dust collection on... And the lathe, forget it except for maybe sanding...


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