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New remote control for dust collector

1831 Views 9 Replies 5 Participants Last post by  difalkner
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Warning!! This is Geek stuff!! This could go in the Woodshop Dust Control forum but it really applies to any device you might want to remote start.

About 3 years ago I bought the three-remote control set from Harbor Freight to activate my dust collector, shop vac, and window fan I use when I spray finishes. I realized the remotes weren’t intended for the current draw of the dust collector but figured I would use it until it burnt up, which I thought would be a couple of weeks.

Well, three years later it finally burned up the circuit. So I took the unit apart, repaired the circuit board, and then used an enclosure to house a 30 amp contactor and the remote switch – it works great! And now I needn’t be concerned about the remote not working since the current for switching the coil on the contactor is only about 0.04 amps (4 watts).

My only real concern was whether the remote would activate the relay switch since it’s enclosed in the steel enclosure but it seems to work just fine from anywhere in the shop. Before the dust collector really gets going you can hear the contactor close when I press the remote and that’s a good sound!
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David
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Warning!! This is Geek stuff!! This could go in the Woodshop Dust Control forum but it really applies to any device you might want to remote start.

About 3 years ago I bought the three-remote control set from Harbor Freight to activate my dust collector, shop vac, and window fan I use when I spray finishes. I realized the remotes weren’t intended for the current draw of the dust collector but figured I would use it until it burnt up, which I thought would be a couple of weeks.

Well, three years later it finally burned up the circuit. So I took the unit apart, repaired the circuit board, and then used an enclosure to house a 30 amp contactor and the remote switch – it works great! And now I needn’t be concerned about the remote not working since the current for switching the coil on the contactor is only about 0.04 amps (4 watts).

My only real concern was whether the remote would activate the relay switch since it’s enclosed in the steel enclosure but it seems to work just fine from anywhere in the shop. Before the dust collector really gets going you can hear the contactor close when I press the remote and that’s a good sound!
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David
That’s great David and sounds like something I would have done.
David the tool man
Are you electronic technician? That was my trade for 42 years before retirement.

Nice work.
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David the tool man :)
Thanks, Bryan! I just enjoy tinkering with things, like designing the schematic for my CNC and wiring that - cool stuff for me! ;)

David
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Btw, you can go to my Instagram account and see a short video of it in action (link below).

David
David, did the same thing a while back.


I also did something similar for my cnc dust collector, I just operate a Relay from the "vacuum cleaner" port on the control box. You can get a 30 Amp 110v relay off of the web for $12.
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I adopted a different approach, I built master/slave switches to each machine. The best ones were designed by an inventor friend of mine and can be set so that when the machine is switched on, the dust collector comes on a few seconds before the machine and when the machine is switched off the dust-collector remains on for a few seconds, the intervals are adjustable. the other master/slave switches use the German made module shown.

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Just wondering if that metal box interferes with the RF turning on the remote switch when the door is closed.
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My only real concern was whether the remote would activate the relay switch since it’s enclosed in the steel enclosure but it seems to work just fine from anywhere in the shop.
Just wondering if that metal box interferes with the RF turning on the remote switch when the door is closed.
Nope, but it was a concern.

David
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That's great David . I have a few sets of them that I bought a couple years ago after Christmas 75% off that I use to control my outside lights. That sounds like a good option for the shop as well. I will just have to pick up a 30 amp contactor. That might help with controlling my way to many Christmas lights also LOL Thanks for sharing.
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