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Thread: cleaning dust collector bags

  1. #1

    cleaning dust collector bags

    how do you clean the felt dust collector bags ? can you check them for function

  2. #2
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    Supposedly with the "shaker felt" bags, the dirtier they are the better they filter the air (2-3 microns when clean and as small as 1 micron when dirty).

    I just smack mine a couple of times a week to get the big stuff to fall down into the lower bag.

    Jason

    Quote Originally Posted by dan petroski View Post
    how do you clean the felt dust collector bags ? can you check them for function
    Last edited by Jason White; 01-06-2010 at 7:51 PM.

  3. #3
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    Take the DC outdoors, put the bags on inside out, and turn it on.
    Never, under any circumstances, consume a laxative and sleeping pill, on the same night

  4. #4
    Quote Originally Posted by Myk Rian View Post
    Take the DC outdoors, put the bags on inside out, and turn it on.
    That outta do it!

  5. #5
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    I also turn them inside out and inflate them outside. I use the exhaust from the shop vac. The shop vac is easier to move than the DC.

  6. #6
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    On my bagger, I do what Jason does. About every third lower bag dump or so I will smack the cake off a little before I pull the lower bag. I had the metal strap sewn into a hem of sorts on the lower bag. Makes putting it back on a breeze.
    "A hen is only an egg's way of making another egg".


    – Samuel Butler

  7. #7
    Replaced my top bag with a pleated filter cartridge. It has a handle on top that I give a few turns to remove any build up. Have never had to remove it for cleaning. Great investment if you do not want to purchase a cyclone.
    Good Luck:
    Don Selke

    Julius A. Dooman & Son Woodworking
    My Mentor, My teacher. "Gone but not forgotton"

  8. #8
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    I remember vacuuming it with my shop vac.. Even Cyclones have filters.. the bag still needs to be cleaned..

    My Felder has a huge filter.. about 30" x 60 " .. Guessing.. Twice I have laid on my back with a respirator and vaccumed it out.. It goes all white again.

    (always after an overfill) .

    Normally if the bag or filter is clean, it will work much better..

  9. #9
    Join Date
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    Quote Originally Posted by Rick Fisher View Post
    I remember vacuuming it with my shop vac.. Even Cyclones have filters.. the bag still needs to be cleaned..

    My Felder has a huge filter.. about 30" x 60 " .. Guessing.. Twice I have laid on my back with a respirator and vaccumed it out.. It goes all white again.

    (always after an overfill) .

    Normally if the bag or filter is clean, it will work much better..
    It will FLOW better when new/clean. It will not filter small particles as well. If that's what you are going for, that's ok.

  10. #10
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    Quote Originally Posted by Josiah Bartlett View Post
    It will FLOW better when new/clean. It will not filter small particles as well. If that's what you are going for, that's ok.
    The Catch-22 of DC's with bag filters.

  11. #11
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    I took the lazy route and simply yanked the bag and installed a canister...

    Seriously though, with a bagger or a canister, you need a certain amount of cake built up in the filter for it to be effective, I use a Thien separator to keep the big stuff away from the filter, and literally drum on the canister after shutdown to knock any loose fines down to the bag before they get embedded in the filter. With a bag I would probably just whack the bag down similarly for the same reason...

    The idea behind rolling the DC outside, installing the bag inside out and turning the thing on sounds like it ought to work though...
    Trying to follow the example of the master...

  12. #12
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    Why does it need to be cleaned? Mine haven't been cleaned ever and they work just great.

  13. #13
    How do you turn a bag inside out that is 12" in dia. and 8' long and I have six of them?

  14. Quote Originally Posted by Bruce Koch View Post
    How do you turn a bag inside out that is 12" in dia. and 8' long and I have six of them?
    The same way you do a bag that's 1" in dia. and 12" long.. It just takes you longer..

  15. #15
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    Quote Originally Posted by Chris Damm View Post
    Why does it need to be cleaned? Mine haven't been cleaned ever and they work just great.
    Because, from a health standpoint, they don't work great, you just think they do.

    Filtering and dust collection work against each other. For a DC to work properly, both from health and cleanliness standpoints, it must collect a large volume of air AT THE SOURCE. When new, the stock bags provided with most DC's at best filter down to 25-30 microns. They let a lot of air though and only provide limited resistance to flow in the system and collection of a large volume AT THE SOURCE. However, the unhealthy stuff is .5 - 10 microns in size, and passes right through - your DC is pumping that stuff right back into the air where it can stay airborne for 30 min. or longer. As the larger chips and particles start to build cake on the bags and clog the holes the filtering efficiency starts to go up. However, unfortunately, at the same time flow becomes more and more restricted and collection AT THE SOURCE is diminished. You may still be capturing the big stuff but less of the invisible, dangerous stuff. Folks that have used Dylos particle meters to test their DC's are usually shocked when they see what happens.

    The best and easiest remedy for this is to use an efficient* pre-separator a discharge outside without any filter.

    *efficient- one that separates out a majority of the chips and dust, while at the same time, has minimal resistance and effect on flow.

    Commercial installations solve this problem by have large filter "bag houses" mounted externally to the work areas. Dust can not return to the workplace from the bags and dust cake is shaken off the bags when flow is reduced (when the static pressure reaches some pre-determined level).
    Last edited by Alan Schaffter; 01-08-2010 at 6:17 PM.

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