RT1500 trimmer vacuum setup

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CMV

CMV

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I like how the trimmer works overall. But I have a problem with it using a small 1.5 gal shop vac ($40 at Lowe's).

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The vacuum seems plenty strong enough, but the trimmings get stringy and clog up in the hose making a bird nest blocking airflow. I'm thinking maybe because that hose is corrugated & all the little ridges trap any stringy chips, which then helps to trap more, then very quickly it's a mess.

So what do you use that works well for this task? I'm kind of thinking maybe I could replace/modify the oem shop vac hose with some smooth tubing or PVC pipe? Or maybe just a 1.25" hose is just too small.....

Getting ready to setup and process another large (3k ish) batch of 1x 223 brass and would like to avoid continually stopping to mess with the shop vac hose this time.
 
CMV said:
The vacuum seems plenty strong enough, but the trimmings get stringy and clog up in the hose making a bird nest blocking airflow. I'm thinking maybe because that hose is corrugated & all the little ridges trap any stringy chips, which then helps to trap more, then very quickly it's a mess.
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Your assessment is correct. When cutting chips come off the work piece as a spring-shaped coil, they do not flow well in the standard corrugated vacuum hose. They eventually double over and get stuck in the small diameter hose, which only encourages the other chips to pile up behind it.

Obviously you need a solution with a smooth bore hose, but what it might be is a mystery to me.
 
I thought about going to Lowe's to get some clear tubing that way I could see any blockages starting. But that stuff has such a soft wall I think the vacuum would just collapse it. Curious to what others use. I could also use my larger 5 gal shop vac and just fit something to attach the larger diameter hose. But I barely tolerate the noise of the little guy as is...... And, I don't really care if i burn out a $40 shop vac leaving it run a long time processing a big batch. I'd be upset doing that to a more expensive machine.
 
I'm looking for a good solution also. There are smooth walled vacuum hoses but I'm to cheap to order one. I was thinking of the clear plastic hose also. I have compressed air in the shop so I've just been blowing it off to the corner of the reloading room and clean up the mess later.
 
I have the press by a window and a board with a hole in it I can close between the window and sill with PVC going through the hole. This way the loud vacuum is outside the house, PVC is also smooth on the inside.
 
Use your vacuum, but attach a smooth hose to another bucket, a tall one. Smooth hose from press to bucket lid, in about four inches, vacuum hose to the other side of the bucket lid top.

The spring coils will drop out of the air flow into the bucket, just like a vacuum canister, but the hose only has to be short to reach the trimmer, the vacuum can be farther away and won’t pickup the springs and larger chips.
These can be added to the scrap brass bin for recycling.

Smooth hose at the plumbing section of Home Depot, three dollars.
Tupperware iced tea container, five dollars.
Every man has duct tape, right?
Doesn’t need to be air tight, the chips aren’t really that heavy.

This method also works for bee hive relocation, as it doesn’t kill the bees by dashing them into corrugated hose walls at hundreds of miles an hour.

Of course, if they’re Yellow Jackets, only the regular hose...:evil:
 
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