Air Supply Cyclone Alternative

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pb4uswim

pb4uswim

Well-known member
Jul 23, 2020
581
Michigan
I'm going to close my pool myself this year. I'll have a bunch of questions, but one of the first is about the Cyclone for blowing out the pipes. I have no problem buying good equipment, but it is surprising that the cyclone is over $300. Is there a place that sells them for less? The best I can find is $330 at Amazon. Or, is their an alternative that I'm not seeing? I'm not talking about using my shop vac, I'm wondering is there is another capable unit that is built for the job. If not, I'm just going to go ahead and order the Cyclone and start getting my equipment together for the fall closing. Thanks.
 
29 Gallon.. It did not take much pressure at all last year to clear the pipes... Maybe 10 pounds... I did not have that plug and used a make shift one that I held with my hands, I was able to hold it and get all the water out...

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I've tried to blow out my sprinkler with a compressor. It's just not what it takes. It doesn't have the volume to push out all the water. I don't want to mess with a possible solution. I think if I was going to rig something up, I'd probably try to connect my leaf blower. It's a commercial grade Stihl.

For what they charge for closing the pool, even buying the cyclone I'll be better off in a year or so. However, it just seems like there would be another manufacture that makes a similar product that is specifically for blowing out pools. I bought a nice fan to dry out my daughter's basement from a recent flood and that was pretty well made and only cost $100. Just don't understand why the cyclone is so much and why there seems to be no other manufacture of a similar product. That's why I thought I'd ask here before I went ahead and bought it.
 
Ahh, gotcha.. I have never seen anything other than the cyclone and that is probably why the price is what it is.. when you are the only one you get to name the price.. I also looked at them last year and thought the same thing as you :)
 
I duct taped the pipe to my commercial backpack leaf blower and it atomized the return water and skimmers. It wasn’t strong enough to make bubbles in the main drains but it did push the water far enough down to seal it off with the valve at the pad.

Last time I had replaced my blower and did want to push the brand new one and used the exhaust on my large shop vac. It took 30 seconds to build up enough pressure but worked amazingly well after that. I then used a garden hose snaked down the lines and sucked the rest with the shop vac.

1 gallon of RV antifreeze per pipe took care of the rest.
 
FWIW, I don’t have a main (bottom) drain. I have a FG pool with one skimmer and three jets. All are just about the same height as the pump. Maybe a foot or two lower. So I don’t think pressure is going to be a problem but I will still need volume.
 
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pb4uswim said:
I'm going to close my pool myself this year. I'll have a bunch of questions, but one of the first is about the Cyclone for blowing out the pipes. I have no problem buying good equipment, but it is surprising that the cyclone is over $300. Is there a place that sells them for less? The best I can find is $330 at Amazon. Or, is their an alternative that I'm not seeing? I'm not talking about using my shop vac, I'm wondering is there is another capable unit that is built for the job. If not, I'm just going to go ahead and order the Cyclone and start getting my equipment together for the fall closing. Thanks.
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I spent more time than I’d like to admit looking for an alternative that would push similar air volume. I didn’t find anything close, so I ended up buying the Cyclone.
My Grandpa was an auto mechanic and he always told me that you can either cry once when you buy a good tool or cry every time you use the wrong tool. 😉
 
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wgipe said:
I spent more time than I’d like to admit looking for an alternative that would push similar air volume. I didn’t find anything close, so I ended up buying the Cyclone.
My Grandpa was an auto mechanic and he always told me that you can either cry once when you buy a good tool or cry every time you use the wrong tool. 😉
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I’ve always been that way too. Never hurts to buy good equipment. Just hard to understand that there are no other options. Thanks for the information though. I’ll buy a Cyclone. No matter what, it will pay for itself.
 
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pb4uswim said:
I’ve always been that way too. Never hurts to buy good equipment. Just hard to understand that there are no other options. Thanks for the information though. I’ll buy a Cyclone. No matter what, it will pay for itself.
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That was my logic. It really is hard to believe no one has made a knockoff.
 
The cyclone is 140 cfm at 6.5 psi. Without looking up specs I would think almost any leaf blower or shop vac might produce and exceed these specifications. the thing that makes the cyclone easy is the fact that it's made to connect to pools.
 
I don’t know for sure, but I think one of the differences with a leaf blower or shop vac is the pressure that’s needed. I think when the pressure to move water essentially blocks the airflow, leaf blowers and shop vacs blow back. Either way, there is some benefit to a job specific tool. The connection process is worth something.
 
NowintersinAZ said:
The cyclone is 140 cfm at 6.5 psi. Without looking up specs I would think almost any leaf blower or shop vac might produce and exceed these specifications. the thing that makes the cyclone easy is the fact that it's made to connect to pools.
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I wasn’t able to get my shop vac to blow out the main drain but it could do the skimmer lines. I had to hook up a compressor to blow out the drain. I almost wonder if a cyclone would put enough pressure to spray paint with an HVLP sprayer.
 
Bperry said:
I wasn’t able to get my shop vac to blow out the main drain but it could do the skimmer lines. I had to hook up a compressor to blow out the drain. I almost wonder if a cyclone would put enough pressure to spray paint with an HVLP sprayer.
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the shop vac must not build up the psi needed to push that amount of volume of air. One I looked up quick Q5 PLATINUM T70 HVLP Spray System uses 9.5 psi. When I used to blow out my irrigation I used and commercial air compressor and made a adapter that reduced it to 10 psi.
 
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