DC maint and observations.

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This sucks more than it has ever sucked before...

Okay I have been trying to figure out how to get a Beavis and Butt Head line in conversation for a while. There it is...

So on to the subject of the post shall we?

My old green Harbor Freight 2HP (yeah right) dust collector has been chugging along for, well I don't really recall offhand. I started my shop buildup in 2007 and got the dust collector after falling on my face trying to use a shop vac and doing a mess of research... Over the years I have swapped in a Wen impeller (best upgrade ever!) Thein cyclone separator lid, Thein side inlet cyclone separator, and finally neutral vane in the inlet ring. And of course I added the Wynn Environmental pleated filter, and, well just had a good run using the DC.

I have been through 1 dust bag, because I never poked holes in it, and the separator kept the bag from filling. And after the neutral vane every time the bag got 50% full I just emptied it into a trash bag and tossed the trash bag out. The factory bag chugged along no complaints.

As I was working on some minor projects to support my shed build / migration I noticed not just wood dust, but chips on and around the outside of the collector. So I hooked up my planer, turned the DC on and ran some scrap 2x6 stock through the planer and watched as the DC spewed dust and chips from around the ring where the buckle for the bag holder cinched together. Turned it all off, and dropped the bag, and as it came off, so did HUGE sections of the original foam weatherstripping that acts as the bag seal. I have finished removing the old seal now, and am moving on to putting the new one on, but well, storm overhead and I do NOT want to be in the garage if my lights go out...

Moral of that part of the story? Just like other items with weather stripping, apparently 15 years of hot, cold, nasty climate exposure will do the seal in. Check your seal periodically for any sign of the adhesive getting loose, dust bypassing, or the foam itself disintigrating like mine did in sections...

Moving on now...

You know that 2008 dust bag? Yeah Amazon carries good quality direct fit replacement bags that are every bit as good or better than the OE. Just tie it up and pitch it... I was just trying to avoid a trip to Rockler or Woodcraft to get new bags, and had never seen them online before...

My ducting, ah the ducting.

I have 5" galvanized mains reduced to 4" branches as close to the intended tool as possible. Between this, and the impeller upgrade, I went from fair DC performance to clear air, clear work surfaces and an oh so satisfying whooshing noise of the chips and sawdust being sucked through the ducting.

HOWEVER...

I used the aluminum HVAC tape which is good. I did NOT get it all fully sealed up and apparently have some minor air gaps which is bad, Not horrible, but bad.

I had to run around to the ducting with the blast gates closed, and listen for where that horrible whistling was coming from...

Yes my DC ducting was whistling...

I used the end of a Harbor Freight screwdriver handle to smooth out the wrinkles, and get the seal all the way down. No more whistles...

As you know from my other posts, I am redoing my flipper stand for the jointer and planer, moving it to where my old tool cabinet was, and utilze the space for my drum sander. So that leaves me with some desired fine tuning left to my DC as I do not want to abandon the HF DC and 5" ducting after all this time...

That fine tuning should be...

1. My one run I intended to get to 5" that I couldn't at the time I did the upgrade was the run to the miter saw dust hood. I am going to do a major redesign of the miter saw dust hood using many of the suggestions I have gleaned from here, and minimze the air volume that had previously been to accomodate the rear slides of my HF miter saw. The Metabo front slides so not an issue there. And the dust port I will build into that will be a 5", and at that time I will upgrade to 5" duct and remove the reducer and 4" run...
2. I do not have a separator or cyclone of any kind at this point beyond the neutral vane which is shockingly effective. Yes SOME dust gets into the filter, blowing the filter down with compressed air on a monthly basis keeps it clean, and may have contributed to my gasket going away, not sure if there is a connection to that... I am not sure if I want one or not, but considering a Super Dust Deputy 4/5 with a 6 to 5 reducer so I have 5" in and 5" out... (The sell them with reducers to 4" for both sides, I figure 6x5 reducer wouldn't be a problem...) Again not sure about this one though...
3. Replace my aging DC hose as much of it is starting to show its age, cracking and getting leaks...

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So I woke up early this morning and figured it would be a good thing to finish tossing the new bag onto the dust collector. I have so rarely changed bags that it ended up being a royal pain in the butt. The issues are that my DC is on a riser, not on the floor and is at a funny angle, and is temporarily behind some large heavy objects.

I spent far too long fighting the bag slipping while trying to install the cinch strap before I wised up...

Out came the roll of Gorilla tape, and basically tacked the bag onto the ring in 5 places around the circumference, and then easily installed the cinch strap.

Done.

Do Gorilla brand tape is not the important part, it just happened to be convenient, and yes the DC does have alleged spring clips that retain the bag in 3 spots around the circumference, but they just don't hold...

So point being, if you are trying to swap bags and are having trouble with the bag slipping off in reinstallation, just use a few narrow strips of duct tape to keep the bag from falling and it is super easy to get the bag and strap on, even if your DC is in an ackward position.

[LCHIEN]

The way to do this I learned, is to have a series of magnets to hold the bag in place, before tightening the cinch strap. 20 inch ring is 64 inches dia. and a magnet every 10 inches means 6 magnets. Better than having 6 hands!!! You get to make the bag nice and level and even out the excess few inches of bag circumference instead of having it all bunched in one place.

I have a series of magnets stuck to the ring housing for the bag and filter. Ready for the next change of bags which might becoming soon.
These are a lot bigger than they need to be, but easy to handle. They're the magnets out of seismic sensors.

You can get stacks of the Neodymium disc magnets on eBay or Amazon really cheap.



These 1/2" magnets with handles will probably work really well and you can use them on the fridge, too

From the jungle

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I hadn't considered magnets but that is a really really good idea.