Replies

1. 
   WillGeorge | Oct 19, 2007 04:06pm | #1

   I can't say because I only had the small Jet model that had two bags of what I thought were the same material. Synthetic something and not felt. I gave it to the local school wood shop and they seemed happy with it. I found that my shop vacuum worked better.. Just me..

   However, I would say ANY filter will, in time, clog up. I would put on a good dust mask and go outside and shake it out.. Note that the neighbor may get excited when their Rolls gets covered in dust!..

   You may even try turning the bag inside-out and putting your shop vacuum on 'blow' and let the air pressure (holding the bag tightly with something) remove some of the trapped dust.

   OR buy a new bag?

2. 
   Elcoholic | Oct 20, 2007 02:21am | #2

   I heard the same thing about the felt bags of which I have on my 2hp DC.   Thing is that it's the 1 to 5 micron particles that are harmful and the felt bags don't filter at that level.  So do as I do and rename it what it really is, a chip collector.  When it comes time to empty the bag I don my respirator, roll it into the middle of the lawn, turn it on, and wail on it with a broom stick a few times.

   John O'Connell - JKO Handcrafted Woodworking

   The more things change ...

   We trained hard, but it seemed that every time we were beginning to form up into teams, we would be reorganized.  I was to learn later in life that we tend to meet any new situation by reorganizing; and a wonderful method it can be for creating the illusion of progress while producing confusion, inefficiency, and demoralization.

   Petronious Arbiter, 210 BC

1. 
   Jimurock | Oct 20, 2007 03:34am | #3

   "Thing is that it's the 1 to 5 micron particles that are harmful and the felt bags don't filter at that level. "

   Don't know if they're telling porkies, but the makers of the felt bags on my fairly basic DC claim that they now filter to 1 micron.      Jim

1. 
   bobbronner | Oct 20, 2007 06:41pm | #4

   What I ended up doing was bringing it out into the driveway, turning it inside out and shaking all of the excess dust out the best I could. Then I turned the hose on it. It didn't seem like too much was coming out of it, though. After hosing it out real good, I let it drip dry and finished it off in the dryer - the wife was real happy about this :) oops!So now I have it re-installed and though the suction seems to be quite a bit better, I can't say that it's like I remember when it was new and although the bag does inflate fully, it doesn't seem as firm when I push on it but I can feel air coming through it.Something just doesn't seem right. Any Ideas?Bob

1. 
   saschafer | Oct 20, 2007 10:11pm | #5

   If the bag doesn't seem as firm, it would mean that the problem is further upstream. Have you checked for clogs, taken a look at the impeller blades, etc.?

   -Steve

    

1. 
   wiskytango | Oct 21, 2007 07:15pm | #8

   I second this, Check for a clog. Mine sucked up some stuff that got stuck in the grate right before the impeller.

2. 
   WillGeorge | Oct 21, 2007 05:28pm | #7

   Something just doesn't seem right. Any Ideas?... I would say.. and finished it off in the dryer ..Depending on the material a HOT dryer will fuse some materials together. Turn off the heat and AIR FLUFF only..AND tell the wife.. I'm a man and we do not know better.. Sorry!

   Edited 10/21/2007 10:29 am by WillGeorge

3. 
   Dave45 | Oct 20, 2007 11:22pm | #6

   Cleaning the filter bag is an absolutely necessary part of using a DC.  All of that air that gets pulled into the system has to go somewhere and the idea is that the sawdust, wood shavings, chips, and perhaps small animals will be sucked thru the ductwork and impeller.  In a theoretically perfect system, the air could be directly exhausted and everything that wasn't air would drop neatly into the collector bag - and stay there.

   In the real world, however, it doesn't quite work that way.  The larger chunks (and small animals) do what they're supposed to, but the finer dust tries to stay with the flowing air (going with the flow?) so some kind of filter is needed to trap it or it will create a haze all over the shop.  Hence, the filter bag.

   Filter bags have to strike a balance between allowing the air to flow, while still trapping most of the dust.  If you carefully (and I do mean carefully) remove the filter bag, you will find a cake-like coating on the inside of the bag.  That's the dust that didn't want to stay in the collector bag. 

   The thickness of the coating is the important parameter.  As the dust layer builds up,  less air can be exhausted from the system.  Choking down on the exhaust flow reduces the amount of air that can be pulled into the ductwork and the whole system loses effeciency.  Let it go long enough, and your DC quits working completely.

   Cleaning a filter bag can be a real adventure since even the most delicate touch will disturb the dust layer and make it "poof" all over the place.  I found that I could mininimize the "poofing" by removing the bag very slowly.  Once I had it off, I carefully carried it outside and - keeping the wind at my back - gave it a gentle shaking.  After a few gentle shakes, I was able to get more enthusiastic and the bag came clean.  Of course, there was a cloud of dust wafting down the street, but none of the neighbors have ever made any really serious threats.  I did find it necessary to pick a time when the next door neighbors daughter was gone, however.  She was slightly annoyed one day to find a layer of sawdust all over her freshly washed, black, Honda.

   You might have noticed that I described my filter bag cleaning procedure in the past tense.  I recently upgraded to one of those pleated cartridge style filters and I think I'm gonna like it just fine.  It has about twice the filter surface area as the cloth bag, and the crank operated cleaning feature looks like it will be very effective at cleaning off the dust layer so the dust falls into the collector bag.  With a bit of luck, I'll have far fewer days of dealing with "poof" and annoying the neighbors.

   
   

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   Edited 10/20/2007 4:24 pm by Dave45