Hi all, Jobin and I are at the woodshop, we noticed something was wrong with the dust collector’s sound. Also Yellow light was on and the planer stopped collecting dust at some point. We watched the maintenance video, checked the collector bins (half empty). Neither of us have the experience or know how to judge if the filters need replacing. Yes blast gates were always open while machines were in use. We left the dust collector off for now. Any recommendations while we are still here?
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When you turn the unit on is the dust bin pulling up to form a tight seal? In the first 10-15 seconds you should be able to visually see it pull up as vacuum builds.
If it isn’t try raising the lock bar and closing again with a foot against the bin. You are looking for a flush fit against the top casing. Also, make sure the bags aren’t blocking the round vents between the two collection chambers.
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We are no longer at the shop right now, but when we raised the lock bar to check the bins, we then closed it and did remember that the bin is supposed to be flush with the top casing. When I checked to see how flush it was, I noticed about a 2/8ths - 3/8ths inch protusion of the bin, so we closed it tighter and got the protrusion down a bit (maybe around 1/8ths inch). It felt right to us and it did seem like a tight fit, but maybe not? I’ll be sure to inspect how flush the bin is tomorrow and future days so I can more aptly judge the flushness next time that I have to check the bins or start the machine.
Regarding the yellow warning light, is there a troubleshooting guide that can be followed if I ever see that happen again? I looked at the manual and see 7.4.1 “Dedusting the filter” which recommends turning the machine off for 2 minutes to allow for regeneration purposes/automatic cleaning process.
During all this I think there was indeed a time that the machine was off for longer than 2 minutes. When turning it back on it didnt sound right and the yellow warning light remained lit.
We did pay attention to the round vents as well and didnt notice any blockage by the bags.
Manual link: https://dallasmakerspace.org/w/images/2/27/Felder_RL250_Manual.pdf
Typically repositioning the bin by lowering it [raising the bar] and then raising it back in up [lowering the bar] while holding the bin in place with your foot [preventing the bin from shifting out] will fix the “off” sound.
But the yellow warning light is probably on permanently until the filters get replaced… the filters are past their end of life. The new filters are in house, but we are waiting on a couple more parts [on order] to do the overhaul. It might be beneficial to remove the filters and blow them out with compressed air outside, but I feel we didn’t get much mileage from the last time we did that.
Thanks for checking things and giving it a quick once over - it helps a lot, and most things can be fixed with a simple inspection.
Can’t speak to the dust collector but the Planer hose was just super built up and clogged. Cleaned it out with someone else last night and it should be good to go
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I have seen the yellow light come on about 20 times this year. First thing I check is the bins - are they full? Are they flush/vacuum sealed (as stated above)? Then I start closing blast gates. If I close enough blast gates, the yellow light goes off. Generally, when I get down to 2 or 3 open blast gates the yellow light goes off. In all 20 or so instances I got the yellow light to go off. You can get the yellow light to blink if you get just the right number of blast gates open then open and close one blast gate. It’s kind of fun (when I have time). These are my observations from this year, your results may vary.
Now we know what statisticians do for fun!!!
Filters are probably clogged, we’re hitting close to 2x their manufactured recommended lifespan
Check the donuts when you drop the dust bin… make sure they are all there