Cartridge Dust Collectors

[Bill Hughes]

Realizing they are fairly new, does anyone have any experience with any of the new cartridge style dust collectors? I imagine the filtration is excellent, but what is the life of the cartridge itself, especially compared to say a 1 micron bag ? Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks, Bill

[Jim Becker]

The single stage cartridge systems have been out for a couple years now and cartridges have been used with cyclones and other types of commercial systems for a long time. Filter life is essentially "unlimited" with regular cleaning using the proscribed methods.

[Hoa Dinh]

I'm too considering upgrading my 1 micron bag to a cartridge for my Grizzly G1029.

I realize the main benefit of a cartridge is its great surface area. But I wonder when that surface is caked with a thick layer of dust inside, whether the advantage is still there.

To get rid of the dust coating (or most of it at least) inside a bag, I can turn on the DC and beat the upper (inflated) bag with a stick.

What would I do to the cartridge? I notice some of them have internal flaps. How well do the flaps clean the cartridge?

I also notice some of the cartridges can be washed, but I don't want to do that very often.

Is there any comparison between a DC with well-used bags and one with well-used cartridge?

[Ian Barley]

I run cartridge filters on my DC and would not go back to bags given any choice.

They catch everything I can see and when the airflow reduces, turn the machine off, turn the paddles through a couple of rotations, turn the machine back on and it sucks like new.

I do take the cartidges off about twice a year and vacuum the interior using a vaccum cleaner with a bag. Not sure that this is important but it makes me feel better.

Like Jim says, as far as I can tell these will last at least as long as the machine and represent money very well spent.

[lou sansone]

I have an oneida cartridge which I believe can be washed, but I am not sure about some of the less expensive paper ones.


lou

[Noah Levy]

THis may be of interest to you. You can get the DC shown for $149 plus the cost of the cartridge.
http://www.wynnenv.com/35A_series_cartridge_kit.htm

[Allen Bookout]

I have seen several post where guys are saying to dump a ten pound sack of flour in and turn it on to coat the cartridge. Evidently the flour will stick to the cartridge but the air will go through the flour and the residue will not stick to the canister near as much. They say it really makes a difference. All of the parts for mine are not here yet as they are still on back order or I could give you a first hand report after a period of time.

Allen

[Jamie Buxton]

THis may be of interest to you. You can get the DC shown for $149 plus the cost of the cartridge.
http://www.wynnenv.com/35A_series_cartridge_kit.htm

I've just upgraded my bag-based filter with a cartridge from Wynn. It does do a better jog of filtering, which is good. However, the cartirdge gets clogged rather quickly, and this unit has no brush or paddle to clean it. So far, I just bang on the outside with my hand, but that's going to get old real fast.

[Dave Harker]

Hoa, i upgrade my G1029 to a Wynn cartridge, and made a webpage about my experience. The link is below. Re: cleaning- I've made sure very little gets to my filter - by adding a separator and by adding a neutral vane to the center collar area of the DC (the metal ring between the upper and lower bags) - details on my web page - and I haven't had to do much cleaning.

my dust collection page - shows DC mods (http://webpages.charter.net/harkerhome/WWShop/dustcolloverview.html)

[John Renzetti]

hi, As Jim Becker mentioned the cannister filters have been around for awhile. I had one on a Felder dust collector that I got in 1998. Coral of Italy made them for a number of European DC's, plus their own line. Lately they have been appearing on some of the single stage imports.
Like anything, there are cannisters and there are cannisters. The good ones like the Coral will have a European rated class fitler system. I think they are mostly class G which will get about 99.5% of the particles .5 (or is it .2) micron. This is from a standardized test using quart dust for one hour.
While these work very well there are some drawbacks. One being that if you create a lot of fine dust such as from cutting mdf or using a widebelt the pleats can clog fairly quickly and thus reduce the efficiency. Best bet here is to get the largest size possible. This will provide more surface area for the fine dust to gather. I used to bang the sides of the cannister a couple of times for I used it for the day. Some of the more expensive models have automatic cleanouts or a manual method for dislodging the fine particles from the pleats.
take care,
John

[Ken Waag]

To get rid of the dust coating (or most of it at least) inside a bag, I can turn on the DC and beat the upper (inflated) bag with a stick.What would I do to the cartridge? I notice some of them have internal flaps. How well do the flaps clean the cartridge?
I also notice some of the cartridges can be washed, but I don't want to do that very often
However, the cartirdge gets clogged rather quickly, and this unit has no brush or paddle to clean it. So far, I just bang on the outside with my hand, but that's going to get old real fast
But I wonder when that surface is caked with a thick layer of dust inside, whether the advantage is still there.
Like other here, I have used cartridge filter for years and wouldn't go back. In response to some of the questions above, here are a few tips I've learned over the years regarding cleaning:

The equivelent of beating a bag, is to blow compressed air through the outside of the cartriges. This dislodges the dust and lets it settle to the bottom. Just empy if often enough to prevent a significant build up. A clean out port attached to the bottom saves you having to disassemble anything.

Many of the better cartridges are teflon coated to allow easy dust removal. If you've not already purchased, I would get the teflon coated if you can.

Mine don't have paddles, but those will also dislodge dust. It's a good idea to do it fairly often, as once things get caked up it takes more effort to remove. Might still be a good idea, if you have it, to blow air through.

I don't wash mine, though you can, I just haven't felt the need and it will shorten the lifespan some. I take my cartridge assembly apart once or twice a year to check the inside and if I've been good on the routine maintenance there's not much build up. either way I take the opportunity to really flush them out with air until they look good as new.

IMO they are a quantum improvement over bags in efficiency, effectiveness, and ease of use.

[Jim Becker]

A thought occurs that cartridges are much more maintenance intensive on single stage DCs than they are with cyclones. On the latter, they get little exposure to any volume of dust simply because the cyclone is so efficient at separating dust and even very small particles out of the air stream. (Assuming one is not stupid and forgets to empty the bin in time... ;) ) Not so in the single stage system since all of the stuff gets dumped into the same place; therefore, there is more chance of a quick buildup of cake that is beyond what you want on the filters for efficiency.

[Hoa Dinh]

Hi Guys,

Thanks for the info, especially from Dave Harker. I put a cartridge high on the list of things to buy.

The next thing is to determine which one. I've been reading here and there about cartridges but didn't take notes. I'd better start doing so.

[Alan Tolchinsky]

I'm too considering upgrading my 1 micron bag to a cartridge for my Grizzly G1029.

I realize the main benefit of a cartridge is its great surface area. But I wonder when that surface is caked with a thick layer of dust inside, whether the advantage is still there.

To get rid of the dust coating (or most of it at least) inside a bag, I can turn on the DC and beat the upper (inflated) bag with a stick.

What would I do to the cartridge? I notice some of them have internal flaps. How well do the flaps clean the cartridge?

I also notice some of the cartridges can be washed, but I don't want to do that very often.

Is there any comparison between a DC with well-used bags and one with well-used cartridge?


"To get rid of the dust coating (or most of it at least) inside a bag, I can turn on the DC and beat the upper (inflated) bag with a stick."

Hoa, I've read that it's good to have a build up on bags and actually makes for improved filtration. So I don't dislodge mine except when I remove my lower bag to dump it out. Then I only do it so it doesn't fall on my head.

[Bob Hovde]

"To get rid of the dust coating (or most of it at least) inside a bag, I can turn on the DC and beat the upper (inflated) bag with a stick."

Hoa, I've read that it's good to have a build up on bags and actually makes for improved filtration. So I don't dislodge mine except when I remove my lower bag to dump it out. Then I only do it so it doesn't fall on my head.

Actually, Alan, I think the "1 micron" rating they claim is only after the bag has a fairly think coating of dust. The captured dust acts as a dust filter.

Bob

[Bill Hughes]

Wow, being new here I really appreciate all the excellent input from everyone. I've been leaning toward the canister, and now I'll feel more comfortable buying this type. Thanks to everyone for your help.

Bill

[Steve Aiken]

Alot of manufacturers claim alot of things which are often not supported by fact. I would recommend that before you purchase your catridge filter that you make sure that the filter has been independently tested to the ASHRAE standard. You want a filter that is certified to capture 99.9% of all particles between 0.2 micron and 5.0 micron. If they can't or won't provide this documentation to you, then the filter won't be protecting you from the most damaging dust particles -- the invisible ones.

Steve

[Greg Mann]

A thought occurs that cartridges are much more maintenance intensive on single stage DCs than they are with cyclones. On the latter, they get little exposure to any volume of dust simply because the cyclone is so efficient at separating dust and even very small particles out of the air stream. (Assuming one is not stupid and forgets to empty the bin in time... ;) ) Not so in the single stage system since all of the stuff gets dumped into the same place; therefore, there is more chance of a quick buildup of cake that is beyond what you want on the filters for efficiency.

Jim, This is a good observation. All filtering needs to be looked at as a staged process, and as multileved. This ties into the thread about air filters. One system by itself will only solve part of the dust collection, air quality, maintenance, efficiency spectrum. If you isolate one from the other in your planning process you can never get where you need to be. DC needs to be staged; get the cats and dogs, usually by cyclone separation, get the submicron stuff with a cartridge, make the cartridge easy to clean, etc. This starts with well designed source capture, requires enough stages to return the air as clean as possible for as long as possible with the easiest and least operator intervention as possible. Then filter what is not source captured the same way, in stages; biggest to smallest. When we shortcut any one of these things, the efficiency of the entire system suffers.

Greg