A reminder that the baffle doesn't get everything...

[dbhost]

Not a knock to the baffle, but I wanted to remind folks to avoid being stupid like me...

As those that read this, and other woodworking forums regularly should know, I have 2 current Thien separators, one on a Ridgid wet / dry vac 20 gallon trash can setup, the other on a HF 2 HP DC 55 gallon drum setup. I use the HF DC so often that I kind of forget about the wet / dry vac rig until...

The story is, that I used the wet / dry vac rig until I got the HF DC / Thien rig setup, which was I guess back in September now... Now I haven't cleaned the filter in my vac since at least march. I have been through a LOT of projects in that time, and a lot of empties of the dust bin. Even after the HF DC got set up the vac setup pulled from my planer and jointer until I found some nice funnel type 2.5 - 4" adapters for them... I have probably emptied the dust bin no less than 7 times in that time...

Well, doing some shop cleanup the other day, I noticed that when vacuming behind the lathe, I lost suction, all of the sudden, and total, like the line was blocked... I checked everything, found very little in the dust bin, in all fairness hadn't used it since I last emptied it, so what I just picked up was it... Then it was on to the vac...

When I first pulled the head off the vac I knew I hadn't cleaned it in too long... there was a good coating of dust on the inside of the vac, and last time I cleaned it, I CLEANED it, by taking the hose to it... it was spotless, but again, that was last march...

I bumped the filter, not hard, just bumped it against the side of the vac, and that's when the plume came, thankfully I was in the driveway at the time... So I took the filter off, emptied the vac, and knocked and blew the dust out of the filter, took me 10 minutes, and I am sure the neighbors down the street appreciated the dust cloud...

So the moral of my story? The baffle does a heck of a great job, but do NOT ignore your filters! I would have had to stop, and clean my filters at least 4 times for every 1 time I emptied my dust bin... So 4x7= 28 versus 1 cleaning. A good deal if you ask me... Yeah, I know you "Shop Vac" brand guys can run the fine dust bags which helps a lot... My Ridgid won't take a bag...

[jerry]

I got some HF dust bags to put in my Craftsman Shop Vac. They fit just fine.
WHen I turned on the vac, the air flow was inadequate immediately. I checked to be sure no kinks in the bag material etc. None.
I gave up on the bags, Was I doing something wrong? Is the problem inferior quality HF bags?
Jerry

[dbhost]

Dunno. Like I mentioned, the Ridgid vac I have doesn't accept bags. The inlet is through the vac head, not the tub like a Shop Vac or Craftsman vac...

[wizard of oz]

I have the Shop Vac brand shop vac, and use their bags, with no problems. Filter is always clean using the paper bags. The seperator is a great lifesaver.

Oz

[t3e871]

I have the ridgid shop vac as well, and I have used a panty hose to cover the filter. This is easy to clean...instead of beating the dust out of the filter, just remove and toss the panty hose. I heard this tip from TampaTom on  a woodtalk online podcast.

[dbhost]

Is it hard to get the panty hose on the filter with her still in them?