HF DC wynn filter question

[skamath]

hi folks,
i have had the spun bond wynn canister filter for a while now on my HF DC.

recently i removed it from the HF DC to clean the filter. i thought
rinsing the filter might get it clean as new (i got the spun bond for
precisely this reason), but turns out it was not such a good idea.
trying to rinse it from outside didn't work at all. my guess is that
the pores are so small that water doesn't go through the filter
surface. the other thing is the fine dust got caked and i had to wait
until it was fully dry before i could vacuum out the dust. even then
it was hard work since the dust was still caked.

now i have the filter clean, but it looks like the suction could be
better. on HF DC the amp meter registers 10.6amps. i remember when the
filter was new it was higher. i remember it being 12amps or more.

so my question is if i damaged the filter by washing it. is it
possible that water made the fine dust stick to the pores of the
filter causing the suction to drop down?

please let me know, i am a little bummed out.

thanks!

[LCHIEN]

maybe that's a questions for the guys at Wynn, they'r pretty good at answering user questions, right?

[JimD]

I did something similar with a HEPA filter on my shop vacumn. I rinsed it in the sink, got a LOT of dust out but not all. I then did what a friend at work says he does. I gave it a toss out in the yard. That knocked a significant amount of the remaining dust out. I reinstalled it and it seems fine.

I wouldn't recommend tossing your cartridge, however. I have one too and mine has metal rings at each end that could be damaged. I use a paddle "cleaner" on mine - do you do that? If not air at low pressure from the outside with it installed could help further clean it. Wynn recommends the air, if I remember right. I followed their directions on the paddle cleaner and it seems to work well. But I have a pre-separator on mine now so the filter doesn't get dirty very fast.

Jim

[toolguy1000]

once you get the filter issue sorted out, try adding this enhancement:

http://www.bt3central.com/showthread.php?t=55973

you don't have to worry about cleaning out dust that doesn't make it to the filter.

[All Thumbs]

I would install a Thein baffle. You can google "thein baffle" and find instructions. It keeps most of the dust and chips out of the filter.

I looked into the wok and pan methods but Phil (Thein) says they don't work as well.

[JR]

Compressed air from the outside works lilke a champ. Use a horizontal motion as if painting with a sprayer, but a little slower.

I once stiuck my head up underneath my filter to test three cleaning methods:

1. "Spraying" compressed air as described above. Definitely the most effective. Each pass cleans out about 6" of dust cake. Give it five minutes for the dust to settle and you're good to go.

2. Bang on the filter with the meat of your hand. This is surprisingly effective. It can be a good habit to give the filter a couple of whacks at the end of each day.

3. Vacuum from inside. Almost completely ineffective for built up dust cake. Once methods one or two have been employed, vacuuming can do the final clean up, but it's way more hassle than it's worth.

My filter is not spun bond, so I didn't try washing.

JR

[toolguy1000]

I would install a Thein baffle. You can google "thein baffle" and find instructions. It keeps most of the dust and chips out of the filter.

I looked into the wok and pan methods but Phil (Thein) says they don't work as well.

while i would never contradict phil, keeping dust and chips out of the filter is exactly what the addition of the pan/wok/cone does. given the first hand results i experienced, it's probably 90-95% of what the flat baffle will do and there's no need to fabricate the baffle. took me under 1 hr, start to finish (not counting the time ti retrieve the discarded frying pan).

[jdon]

Re: your initial attempt at cleaning by rinsing with water. Reducing the surface tension of the water (adding detergent or alcohol- denatured or isopropyl) would make it easier to go through the pores. Caveat- I've never cleaned spun bond filters!

[All Thumbs]

while i would never contradict phil, keeping dust and chips out of the filter is exactly what the addition of the pan/wok/cone does. given the first hand results i experienced, it's probably 90-95% of what the flat baffle will do and there's no need to fabricate the baffle. took me under 1 hr, start to finish (not counting the time ti retrieve the discarded frying pan).

I'm a 100% kind of guy. The baffle only takes 15 minutes to make. Apprently the shape can make a big difference. The woodgears.ca guy made one and shows how it actually works better than a 3M filter at separating flour!!!

[pelligrini]

I use my leaf blower/shop vac motor to clean my Jet canister. It has a flapper, but I'll blow it out when I empty the lower bag. Some day I'll make a baffle. I've got no room for a seperator.

I don't worry too much about getting it sparkling dust-free clean, as it will get dusty again after one shop session.

[skamath]

thanks guys for the responses. i am in touch with wynn.

and i did yesterday make the thien baffle and install it. should have done it earlier, i didn't realize it was so simple to make. i used this method:
http://www.cgallery.com/smf/index.php?topic=145.0

few questions:
. what amps does your HF DC pull when the wynn cartridge is clean? i thought Loring had listed it in one of his responses a while ago but i couldn't find it.
. how firm is the plastic bag when the DC is running? mine is pretty firm at the top. to me that is another indication that the filter may not be allowing free flow of air.

thanks!