Replies

1. 
   SawdustSteve | Aug 02, 2009 11:26pm | #1

   Re-install the OLD catch box and see what happens. Also, check that you did not accidently suck up a plastic bag. Plastic bags have a nasty habit of hiding inside the main filter medium and cutting down the efficiency of the system.
   SawdustSteve Long Island, NY (E of NYC)

2. 
   Rich14 | Aug 03, 2009 12:11am | #2

   Hat,

   When you say you let your chip bin get too full, what happened?

   Usually that results in all the dust in the bin getting picked up and blown into the fine dust filters, clogging them. The cyclone design is meant to trap all but the finest dust in the collection bin and it shouldn't be necessary to clean the fine dust filters very often, and then, only a small amount of dust should have collected.

   But that's not the case when the main dust bin has been allowed to empty into the filters.

   How do you clean your filters? On my Clearvue, I blow compressed air from the outside, through the paper pleated material and the dust falls into the small trap at the bottom. I believe the Grizzly models have an internal brush. Try cleaning your filters.

   Rich

1. 
   Hat | Aug 03, 2009 10:04pm | #6

   It still worked. It has just been lately that it won't move the air. I have not cleaned it since I instilled the filters. Which has been about 3 years. So I guess it is time. I can fell the air blowing out of the filters. I always thought that was enough. I guess it isn't. What is the best way to clean them?  Thanks Hat   

1. 
   Rich14 | Aug 04, 2009 01:11am | #7

   Hat,"I have not cleaned it since I instilled the filters. Which has been about 3 years." Well, that and the recent collection bin overflow is almost certainly the problem.Clean the filters with compressed air from the outside, plus whatever tapping and shaking is needed. It may take a while, and you probably will need to clean the collection trap more than a few times, but your cyclone should perform again as it did when first installed. Maybe you should clean it more often?!!!Rich

2. 
   Dave45 | Aug 04, 2009 04:58am | #10

   I'm betting that your filter bag(s) is totally clogged and needs a good cleaning.It's easy to forget that all that air that gets pulled into the DC system has to be exhausted or the system gets constipated and won't work. If the filters are caked up, little (if any) of the air coming in can get out, and the air flow drops big time.I don't have a cyclone, but I do have a pleated fliter on my 1100 cfm DC. One of my blast gates makes a pretty loud moaning sound when the filter is clean, and I use it to determine when I need to give the cleaning paddles a few turns. When the moaning sound dies down, 8-10 turns of the cleaning handles knocks off the caked dust, and puts me back in business.

1. 
   Hat | Aug 04, 2009 09:09am | #11

   Have found the problem. Clogged filter. I have already removed a shop vac full of chips. And I'm still cleaning filters. I will finish tomorrow. Thanks for all the help.

1. 
   Jammersix | Aug 04, 2009 12:58pm | #12

   Glad you found the problem.It was exactly what happened to me, and it led to me emptying the damn thing every night.In honor of this thread, I actually took down the top filter bag and ran it through the washer.The bottom one has a metal band built into it, and I am NOT looking forward to the handwashing involved!

2. 
   SARGEgrinder47 | Aug 04, 2009 03:28pm | #13

   I actually took down the top filter bag and ran it through the washer....

   I have a DC I use dedicated to my router table and SCMS which has the 1 micron felt bags. The cyclone takes care of the heavies. I had thought about washing it but the distributor told me it would be best to just replace it.. I question that and especially in the current market when WW tools and accessories have seen soft sales and folks are somewhat desperate.

   So.... are you getting good results after washing your felt bag is my question? Any noticeable wear to the flet weave.. etc.

   Thanks in advance...Sarge..

   Woodworkers' Guild of Georgia

3. 
   Jammersix | Aug 05, 2009 04:56am | #17

   Yes, now my dust collector really sucks.

4. 
   boilerbay | Aug 06, 2009 04:48pm | #24

   Sarge,Have done it in the past with felt and Goretex Cleanstream bags, along with the internal set up in a highmount JDS box cleaner. Wash by hand like a wool sweater in Woolite or dishwasher soap - weak dilution, cold water and rinse a lot without too much squeezing/wringing. I run them in the shower stall and then slow air dry and they turn out great. Clean, undamaged, uncompressed and ready to rock and roll. Learned it from an in-law whose field was pollution control for major companies --US Steel, DuPont etc. The big companies replaced everything but he would grab some 30 footers, clean them and then use them for gun cases and what not. He had his lab test one and it was almost 100% clean and about 95% efficient - except for a little Arsenic from one plant.
   But whats a little poison here or there:)Take care
   Doc

5. 
   SARGEgrinder47 | Aug 07, 2009 06:01am | #25

   Thanks Doc... I had a feeling a washer was too much aggitation and... as someone stated... your wife is not going to allow you inside the house much less inside the washer with the bag. Even guys should have enough common sense to figure that is a no-no without divine inter-vention. :>)

   Mine could use a wash but I have held off on it until I found someone who had done it. With your post I do believe I have a green light... stand up.. hook up.. shuttle to the door. See ya down on earth.. maybe! ha.. ha...

   Again thanks and highest regards to you and the Corps, Doc...

    Sarge..

   Woodworkers' Guild of Georgia

6. 
   boilerbay | Aug 07, 2009 06:49am | #26

   Sarge,Do one at a time....just in case.Then there was the guy who put his in the dryer on hot........
   from cyclone to minvac in one swell foop.Take care,Doc

7. 
   SARGEgrinder47 | Aug 07, 2009 04:23pm | #27

   I only got one, Doc. I have a 1 1/2 HP DC I kept when I got a cyclone which is dedicated to my router table and SCMS. The bottom bag is a plastic disposable. The cyclone takes care of the big boy dust and chip makers.

   Have a good day on the other coast, Doc...Sarge..

   Woodworkers' Guild of Georgia

8. 
   Dave45 | Aug 04, 2009 10:21pm | #14

   I ran the filter bag from my old 650 cfm DC thru the washing machine .........once! It worked ok, but listening to SWMBO raise hell just wasn't worth a repeat performance.IME, turning it inside out and giving it a good shaking out usually does the job. Just make sure you work WITH any wind that may be blowing. - lol

9. 
   SARGEgrinder47 | Aug 05, 2009 02:45am | #15

   Can we say.. commercial laundro-mat boys and girls.. ha.. ha...Sarge..

   Woodworkers' Guild of Georgia

10. 
    ktkamm | Aug 05, 2009 03:14am | #16

    I found that turning it inside out, attaching it to the rack on the back of my pick-up truck and a 10 minute ride on 95 at 65 does the trick!

11. 
    flairwoodworks | Aug 05, 2009 06:39am | #18

    And the 30-car pile-up behind you is a testimony to how much sawdust is cleared out, right? I've often wondered if I could air-dry lumber faster by exposing it to air movement as I drive.Chris @ http://www.flairwoodworks.com and http://www.flairwoodwork.spaces.live.com)

     - Success is not the key to happiness.  Happiness is the key to success.  If you love what you are doing, you will be successful. - Albert Schweitzer

12. 
    ktkamm | Aug 05, 2009 03:31pm | #19

    Just have to pick the right time of day/night!

13. 
    Jammersix | Aug 05, 2009 11:21pm | #21

    "If yu 'clean' your dust filter by tyin' that sucker to your truk, an' blastin' down the Fast Road, you MIGHT be a redneck!"

14. 
    flairwoodworks | Aug 06, 2009 12:29am | #22

    If you say so Jeff!Chris @ http://www.flairwoodworks.com and http://www.flairwoodwork.spaces.live.com)

     - Success is not the key to happiness.  Happiness is the key to success.  If you love what you are doing, you will be successful. - Albert Schweitzer

15. 
    SARGEgrinder47 | Aug 06, 2009 12:51am | #23

    If you take your bag to the drag strip and allow it to be used as a deployment chute to stop a top fuel dragster after 1/4 mile which will clean it throughly... you are a Redneck.

    So what.... ha.. ha... ha..ha..ha..Sarge..

    Woodworkers' Guild of Georgia

16. 
    AZMO | Aug 05, 2009 04:26pm | #20

    Yes sir, the Beverly Hillbilly's got nothing on us over here at Knots!

    It was working just fine until it blew off. Den dat  trucker got it stuck on his radiator. I followed him all the way to the state line ta geet er back.... grrrr rufl mmppbbb shin erager em thang anyways.

                       <!----><!----><!---->

    -----------_o

    ---------_'-,>

    -------(*)/ (*)   http://www.EarthArtLandscape.com

3. 
   SARGEgrinder47 | Aug 03, 2009 01:11am | #3

   Ditto Rich.. I wasn't paying attention once and let the bin over-fill.. which led to the cyclone itself filling which led to the fine dust bin and filters filling. What a clog... It took me 5 hours to beat the filters and blow them out completely with compressed air. Could be some of the things mentioned but.. I bet it is the filter totally clogged.

   From that day forward I cut a hole in the main chip bin and installed a plexi-glass window 2/3 up. I watch it like a hawk and empty the bin when it gets even close to the plexi. I do a lot of jointing and planing and have to empty my bin about twice a week and more sometimes. Not to bad and... a h*ll of a lot easier than blowing out filters with compressed air for 5 hours.. trust me.. ha.. ha...

   Sarge..

   Woodworkers' Guild of Georgia

1. 
   Jammersix | Aug 03, 2009 04:11am | #4

   I don't have a cyclone-- just the Rockler lid that fits on a thirty gallon garbage can.I filled my dust collector up once, and since then, I go even farther than Sarge-- I empty it every night. It's the last thing I do when I quit at night.

1. 
   SARGEgrinder47 | Aug 03, 2009 04:55pm | #5

   That's helpful... check your impellor to be sure is is spinning and not just the shaft it sits on..Sarge..

   Woodworkers' Guild of Georgia

4. 
   sledge | Aug 04, 2009 01:54am | #8

   Also, since you said it was OK one day and not OK the next, if your DC is 220-240 volts, check your electric box breakers. If one breaker is not contacting correctly or at all it may be running on 120 which would result in the condition you describe.

1. 
   Jammersix | Aug 04, 2009 02:19am | #9

   All my 230 breakers are tied together.You either get 230 volts or zero, nothing in between.I would look askance at any set up that could only trip one breaker.