Oneida Bag Gripper, No More?

[Derek Arita]

I used to have a Dust Gorilla and used their Bag Gripper suction pump to keep the bin bag down. Now I see that they no longer offer the suction pump. They only offer what looks like a plastic cylinder, that slides into the bag in the drum to keep the bag down. Why the change? I ask because my new Laguna DC also has done away with the negative pressure suction in the drum and they've gone to a metal frame that fits into the bag and holds the bag down. I was wondering why the two companies have done this?

[Matt Meiser]

I'm just guessing here, but I made the mistake once of pulling out the sleeve and shaking down the stuff in my cyclone's drum so I could run just a little longer without emptying. With everything tight against the sides of the drum, the suction made removing the bag nearly impossible. That cancelled any ideas I had on a DIY bag gripper or something patterned after what Laguna did (Grizzly has/had the same on some models.)

[Ken Fitzgerald]

If I remember correctly, the Gripper used a vacumn pump that was wired to run while the DC was running. I can't help but wonder they a) they had a number of pumps fail, b) the price of the pumps became too expensive for the market or c) the company makes more profit by selling a metal or plastic sleeve that achieves the same result?

[Jamie Delker]

Hi guys,
In our case, we see it as just a simple matter of cost and convenience for our customers. The liners are a third or less of the cost of our original vacuum pump bag gripper and they do the same job. And it's basically just one part, has no mechanical parts to wear out, and no extra wiring is needed or retrofitting involved. You just stick it in and go.
Thanks,
Jamie
Oneida Air Systems

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Thanks for replying Jamie!