J. Phil Thien's Projects

Oh, and as for "sweeping it under the carpet", I'm more worried about it getting down into the rooms below than up into the loft. 

Many years ago my sister's bedroom ceiling fell down, and the biggest problem was all the dust and crud that had been sitting on top of it (the house was built in 1837, a hundred years before this one) and my father had to dress up like Neil Armstrong to clear it all out before repairs could commence.

So while it's tempting to leave it there, it just doesn't feel right to do so.

Cheers,

Howard

Thanks for the advice, guys.  Unfortunately Wynn filters don't seem to be available on this side of the pond (we don't really have AirCon the way you do Over There, so I assume there isn't the market here).  I don't like the idea of exhausting the dust to the outside and I think my neighbours would agree!  :-)

The "thin slot" Thien baffle sounds like it's worth trying, although I don't understand the aerodynamics of it, I'll see how it works.  Has anyone tried making a variable-width slot, or a tapered-width one, I wonder?

Thanks again!

Cheers,
Howard

Hi folks, I'm new here!

I have a problem:  My loft has incredibly fine dust inbetween the joists, and while boarding it over I've been using a Dyson DC07 (with HEPA filter) to clean out this dust.  I just don't like the idea of leaving it there "out of  sight"! 

I think it may be soot from when coal fires were a thing (this house was built in 1937 with 4 open fires) although it's grey rather than "as black as soot".  If it's not soot then I have no idea what it is!

Anyway, it's so fine that the washsable pre-motor filter and the HEPA post-motor filters clog up in about half an hour, so I spend more time washing the one filter and replacing the other (expensive!) than actually sucking up the dust.  Also, some of it makes it all the way through and shows deposits around the air-exit, so I'm probably breathing some of it too - a Bad Thing.

So:  I thought of getting a cyclone and putting in a first stage to catch the stuff before the Dyson gets it - and then found out about the Thien baffle.

My question, then, is which would be better at collecting this stuff?  I can get a cyclone for about £15 from eBay, and I have a bucket I can use for collection, but all the "shoot outs" I've seen are testing with woodworking equipment, so (probably) don't have anything as fine as my problem stuff.

Thoughts, please?

Cheers,
Howard