Filtermist (blower style) VS Mist Away (stack of filters)

Looking for feedback on mist collectors. I'm putting a VMC in a very small room and want to keep the air decent as best I can.

Royal Filtermist. Really simple design without a bunch of consumable filters, drains back into the coolant tank. Needs 3 phase power, and is spinning a good sized mass.



Mistaway. Single phase, quieter, runs air through a stack of different filters that need to be replaced.



Anyone used both and have thoughts.

The Filtermist style will help reclaim coolant, and without disposable filters it will be cheaper to run over time. I have a "shop made" setup on my mills that's similar in operation. And you could always add a enclosure to the exit and use a furnace or other cheap disposable filter to try to collect any remaining particulates.

BTW, good for you for paying attention to your lungs.

Above all factor in some forced ventilation, no filtration is 100%

In our R&D shop our experience is with the MistAway units. One is mounted on a 4020 Fadal and the other on a DMG DMU 50 5-axis machine.

The unit on the Fadal has been in service for a year and a half. Given the interior volume of the machine, it is operating near the manufacturers stated limits of effectiveness. Overall performance has been satisfactory - keeps the mist down and reduces the residual coolant on the walls and roof of the machine (has the top enclosure sheetmetal). As yet we have not had to replace the filters - two of them can be cleaned and reused, the third final filter needs to be replaced. Admittedly, we do not run 24/7; more like 8/5. Given the Fadal's accessory plugs that respond to M codes, we've gone to running the unit only when the coolant is on.

The DMU 50 is a much smaller and tightly sealed volume, so the unit mounted on it is very effective (in service for ~8mos.). Before we installed the MistAway, at the end of 15-20min machining cycle the 'fog' inside was rather unpleasant if you opened the door immediately. Now, not a problem. A further benefit is during machining - we now have a much better view of machining as its taking place since the mist inside is dramatically reduced.

The units themselves were easy to install - prepping the DMU however was quite a 'story'

The main shop has a Royal unit of the Filtermist type. It's effectiveness is compromised by being used with open-top machines and some lengthy plumbing, but it has mitigated the mist problem satisfactorily. Certainly, installation and servicing are more involved.

Don't know the cost of the Royal unit, but believe the MistAway enjoys a pricing advantage that helps offset the filter cost. HTH

Fred

PS Was just going to hit SEND when other fellow in the shop came in and said ' Uh, looks like we ought to clean the filters (on the Fadal unit)'. The filter indicator was near the top end of the blue or acceptable zone. Based on that, I'd say the manufactures recommendations are reasonable - 4-6mos. for a machine running near continuously and 1yr. for 8hr a day operation. BTW, we use a Blaser coolant: BC20. Damn, now I have to go clean filters

I have two filter mist units in our shop. One is on a vmc and does a good job. Unless I'm hogging Al with a shell mill for a while it keeps up really well. You notice when you don't have it running.

The other unit is suspended from the ceiling near our cluster of lathes. We run a hose to whatever machine is making the most smoke or mist. It work fairly well given the fact that the machines aren't enclosed.

They obviously will work the best if they are pulling from a contained machine.

Centrifugal, for sure.. Dealing with filters is expensive and a hassle. The smaller centrifugal units are usually under 1hp; easily operated with an inexpensive VFD.. But won't tax your phase converter much either. Ours are a little noisy, but otherwise have been maintenance free. We had bad luck with electrostatic, though it doesn't appear you're considering that option anyhow.

They should be able to size it for you, but you need to make sure it is capable of evacuating the enclosure in a very short time frame. It needs to be clear by the time you open the door, or its not really doing much good..

Centrifugal is about twice as much, and I have to deal with a distributor to even order it, so that sucks. But is does seem like a simple approach. Looks like I would need the FX 575 size.

Any last thoughts? Need to pull the trigger this week.

When we went through this, it was for a production shop running 60+ hours a week. Depending on how many hours you plan on running that thing, the filter replacement intervals are likely significantly longer than what we calculated here. Further, dealing with filters on one machine is much less of a hassle than on twelve. IOW, I probably jumped the gun in recommending the centrifugal. With more time to think about it, I think I've actually swayed to the other side. The filter unit will be quieter, use less power, is initially less expensive and in all likely hood would remain less expensive over it's lifespan. So yeah. Changing my vote, I think in your scenario, i'd go filtered. Or centrifugal.. I mean, it's not life or death

I have a filtermist and it's been in service for 2-1/2 years with no maintenance.

I would HIGHLY recommend the dry smoke filter. The unit alone will filter coolant, but if you start hogging it will not filter smoke. We did one job that had the lathe look like an old timey coal fired locomotive.

I bought the dry smoke filter that same day and smoke was never an issue again.

Two things in your post stand out to me.
"small room" and "quieter".
Do not underestimate the long term pain of listening to a blower run all day long.
I do not know the db output of these but quiet is nice when you have to live with it for 20+ years.
Bob

CarbideBob said:

Two things in your post stand out to me.
"small room" and "quieter".
Do not underestimate the long term pain of listening to a blower run all day long.
I do not know the db output of these but quiet is nice when you have to live with it for 20+ years.
Bob

Click to expand...

This is ultimately what swayed me as well, especially with the other products you've selected for their quiet operation.. All it takes is one noisy product and you might as well picked up the noisy versions of everything else.

There was one at the show that had the centrifugal disks that were self cleaning (?) and finished up with a HEPA filter. I couldn't hear the unit run, and it was no-where's near the Ingersol booth, so ... if noise is an issue, this one may be werth looking into.

Give me 'till tonight to dig out the pic of the booth.


-----------------

Think Snow Eh!
Ox

I think the filtermist is pretty quiet, especially after you add the smoke filter (like a v8 air cleaner sort of)

Keep in mind as well that LNS (the barfeed people) have a similar product out as well IIRC.


Here is the guy that I talked to.
I have the "booth babes" get into the pics to help me remember better.

I wasn't exactly listening for it, but I don't recall actually hearing this unit at all.
If I did, it wasn't enough to make note of anyway.

There is a stack of cone shaped plates that spin 100mph in there to get moisture particles, and then a Hepa at the end to get smoke mostly. One main features of his pitch was the fact of little to no downtime for maintenance.










----------------------

Think Snow Eh!
Ox

If budget isn't a problem. I would go centrifugal they work better I had a Japanese brand (can't remember the name) at my shop, and I have a mistaway at home. It doesn't work as good. I wish I would have stepped up and paid for a better one, but that's just my opinion.

I have two Filtermist FX275's, both on lathes. They work good and the replacement pads are cheap. The optional smoke filter is expensive though. I'm still on the original pads, they last a long time. I have these connected to the machine with a relay and controlled by m-codes.

I also have a bigger LNS on my GX1000 mill. It also works good.

Well I went with the MistAway. It's quieter, and should do a good job keeping the air clean with as many filters as it has. But the real deal sealer was the fact that I could order direct from them on their website. I sent an email to my local Royal Products distributor over a week ago, and have heard nothing. Sure I could call, except I really don't have time to during business hours. I also have no desire to actually talk to them, setup "an account", and verbally give them my information only to have them screw it up.

So we'll see how the MistAway turns out.

Edster said:

I have two Filtermist FX275's, both on lathes. They work good and the replacement pads are cheap. The optional smoke filter is expensive though. I'm still on the original pads, they last a long time. I have these connected to the machine with a relay and controlled by m-codes.

I also have a bigger LNS on my GX1000 mill. It also works good.

Click to expand...

That's what I ment I don't even know what I have at home.

jid2 said:

Well I went with the MistAway. It's quieter, and should do a good job keeping the air clean with as many filters as it has. But the real deal sealer was the fact that I could order direct from them on their website. I sent an email to my local Royal Products distributor over a week ago, and have heard nothing. Sure I could call, except I really don't have time to during business hours. I also have no desire to actually talk to them, setup "an account", and verbally give them my information only to have them screw it up.

So we'll see how the MistAway turns out.

Click to expand...

I have one in my hobby shop and it was getting really stuffy and stinky in there. I ended up having to vent it through the roof to help out.