Dust Collector: using a bag inside canister

[Ben Hatcher]

I totally dislike cleaning my canister filter. I still have my old 5 micron bag filter and I was thinking about installing it inside the canister to act as a pre-filter. Have any of you tried this before? Did you notice much loss of airflow?

[Bruce Wrenn]

Build yourself a "Phil Thien Baffle" and be done.

[Bob Riefer]

I use a thien baffle, stacked assembly (smaller footprint) and suck the dust through a bag so that cleaning is easier. Works terrific. To keep the bag from imploding, I have a skeleton inside the bag. I just shimmy it out when time to discard dust, tie off my bag, and put the skeleton into my next bag. Takes roughly 2 minutes and 14 seconds to accomplish.

190299190298190297

And here's a video showing an early test of the concept.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9MSOCePr35s

[david brum]

Agree with Bruce. If your filter is clogging with chips, a Thien baffle will cure the problem. I doesn't have to be fancy, just a plywood ring inside the dust collector's body. There is plenty of info on how to do it. If you go back to a bag, you will lose performance because a filter (when clean) moves a lot more air through it than does a bag. If you''re pushing air through both a bag and filter, you will significantly reduce the airflow of your system.

[Lucas G Hager]

Isn't the purpose of the canister to get more filter square footage generally resulting in more airflow. Wouldn't the bag inside defeat that purpose?

[Curt Harms]

Build yourself a "Phil Thien Baffle" and be done.

Ding ding ding ding Winner! I still get some fine dust but virtually no chips. Pre-baffle I got quite a coating of chips and larger particles.

[Alan Schaffter]

Isn't the purpose of the canister to get more filter square footage generally resulting in more airflow. Wouldn't the bag inside defeat that purpose?

You bet, BIG TIME!!!!

[Ben Hatcher]

I have a cyclone. It gets all of the chips, except for the time I had a leak in the drum and the other time where I let the drum get too full. Still, the cyclone and thein baffle aren't 100% efficient and some dust will enevitably make it through.

As for the loss of airflow, the filter I thought about putting inside was the original filter. If essence, I would adding the canister. What if I were to go with a less restrictive bag inside the caniser? It seems to me that this combination would come close to the same backpressure of my original bag, still provide protection against overflows and leaks, and give a bit of filtering to extend the time between cleanings for the canister.

I think that I'll give it a try and let you all know what I find.