Dust Collector Filter Replacement

[John Lankers]

I need to upgrade my dust collector. I have a 1 micron canister filter at the moment and would like to upgrade to a better one, the Grizzly/General ... Hepa filter with the cleaning paddles or a Wynn filter - that's the question. I haven't checked prices yet.
Also, is the General 10-600CI air cleaner any good? My concern is I am aiming for a Hepa filter on the dust collector and all the air cleaners have 5 micron outer filters and 1 micron inner filters.
Confused

[Jim German]

What sort of dust collector? Cyclone?

I've had good luck with the Wynn filters on my Clearvue.

[John Lankers]

What sort of dust collector? Cyclone?

I've had good luck with the Wynn filters on my Clearvue.

Jim, it is single stage with a 4 hp motor.

[Jim German]

I'd be wary of putting a HEPA type filter on a single stage dust collector. The filter will likely become quickly clogged. HEPA class media also tends to be more fragile than lower efficiency media and won't keep its high efficnecy after being cleaned frequently.

Also keep in mind that you aren't going to be collecting anything near 99% of the dust from the source, so you will still be getting some dust in the air. The dust collector will fairly quickly pull this out of the air if you keep it running, but a HEPA filter may be overkill depending on your situation.

[John Lankers]

Good information reg. the Hepa filter and you're right about not collecting 100% esp. of the very fine dust at the source (sliding panel saw, shaper, bandsaw, table mounted router) which is why I am contemplating of installing a shop air cleaner, but what's the point if it can't filter more than 1 micron particles. What am I missing?

[Susumu Mori]

Another point I want to add is that my previous single-stage collector had loose sealing of the bugs. Even if the top filter compartment becomes HEPA, the internal pressure (could be higher with HEPA, especially clogged?) may leak from the sealing of the lower compartment. In my case, it was just a metal band and no way to seal tightly. Good cyclones go extra length for the tight seal everywhere so that all air evacuates from the giant HEPA filter.

[John Lankers]

I applied 1/4" x 1" weatherstripping within days after I bought the d/c ~5 years ago. I would love to add a ClearVue cyclone but considering my current setup this requires some serious changes.

[Jim German]

I think what you may be missing is that a filter has an efficiency curve. That is if it "Filters up to 98% of 5 micron airborne particles and up to 85% of 1 micron particles" it will still filter smaller particles just at a lower efficiency. Even if its only running 50% at 0.3 micron particles it will still remove them from air, just more slowly. If your shop is 20'x20'x10', that General will be running all of the air in the shop through the filter every 3 minutes or so. That means that half an hour after you stop creating dust, it will have gotten more than 99% of even the 0.3 micron particles.

In addition, as the filter loads up with dust they become more efficient. So if its only doing 85% when new, when its been running for a year it may be up to 95%. (Of course the airflow rate will have tanked by that point).

To further confuse things, woodworking does not create dust in an evenly distributed spectrum from chips to 0 microns. Saws tend to create bigger particles than sanding. Particles in the 0.3 micron size are typically created by combustion. (cigarettes for instance produce a ton of particles in this size). You don't tend to get a ton of particles in this size being created by woodworking, although there certainly are some, and obviously if you're using a dull blade and burning the wood you will get a ton.

Lastly, your lungs have the hardest time dealing with particles in the 0.3 micron size, so depending on your sensitivities it may be most important to filter these small particles more.

[John Lankers]

Makes sense, by circulating the air over and over the filter will catch what it missed in the previous "round".
Using cigarette smoke as comparison to the finest dust particles in the shop air makes sense too, I had the cans off the other day to shine a light through and there were fumes still hanging (suspended) over the can after ten minutes or so and that was a big eye opener for me. I am 54 now and don't want to die of lung cancer or develop some other respiratory problems.
Thanks, you guys were of tremendous help.