One more dust collector question

[Jerry Lawrence]

Ok, just one more dust collection question then I won't ask any more, I promise! (at least not until the next one )

I have a small, old, reliant dust collector that I use as my "roll around the shop and hook to a machine when I need it" d/c. It is 1 h.p. with one upper and one lower bag. I had been noticing that fine dust was escaping around the opening of the bags, as they were not forming a tight seal, and even bunching and gapping where the belt pulled tight. So, trying to fix the problem, I adhered a ring of foam weather-stripping type material around the body of the d/c where the bag attaches, squeezed the bag up over (or down over, for the top bag), tightened the belts, compressing the foam a bit, and figured I'd be good to go!

Now for the interesting part... When I hooked the hose up and turned the d/c on, I noticed that the bags were not inflating fully, I was still able to push the top bag right down almost flat with my hand. The suction was great, more powerful than ever, and there was no dust escaping around the edges anymore so it seems like the issue was fixed, but I can't help but wonder what's up with the bags. Maybe air escaping through the weatherstripping foam, but not allowing the dust through? I'm not really that concerned, since like I said, the suction is great, but thought I'd hit you guys up for your thoughts on the situation. Should I be addressing this 'problem', or just leave it as it is?

Thanks!

[Michael W. Clark]

That's strange. I would look for a leak in the bags and in the hose after the fan. If you are getting airflow on the fan inlet, that air has to come out of the fan outlet. If everything is sealed, then the bags should inflate due to the back pressure of trying to push the air through the top bag. I don't think airflow through the compressed foam would reduce the back pressure that much.

Mike

[glenn bradley]

Agree. If there's more air going in, there's more air coming out. If its not coming out through the bags, its not getting "filtered". That being said; a properly sized bag/filter will not necessarily blow up like a balloon as most low end commercial units do; mine included. I added an after-market American Fabric Filter bag to my 1HP bagger. I only went with half the recommended size which is double the original and then some. It does offer much better filtering and barely inflates but, does inflate if hung from above.

[Jerry Lawrence]

Thanks for the responses, guys. I'm still not totally sure what the cause was, but I'm chalking it up to a not tight seal on the bags. What leads me to that conclusiom? Couldn't say....
On a totally unrelated note...I now know what it looks like when you've been drilling 3/8" holes in soapstone for a half hour and the top bag of the d/c comes flying off! It's not a pretty sight, but feel free to give it a go and see for yourself, don't take my word for it!
The adjustment has been made, the bags now seal tightly...lol.