PM1900 Dust Collector - Collector Bag Leaking

[Peter Perrello]

I have a Powermatic PM1900 and both collector bags are leaking fine dust. Is anyone else having this problem? The unit is equipped with canister filters and collection bags which are heavy clear plastic. There are no holes in the bags and I have installed them multiple times. PM technical support did not have any ideas other than to install the bags according to the manual. I must be doing something wrong installing the bags or these units leak fine dust by design. I can see traces of dust leaking where the bags are secured to the steel housing by the fabric covered spring steel rings. Any ideas how I can eliminate the leak?

[John Lifer]

I think any of these type of collectors leak at the bag. My cheapy HF unit doesn't have fabric covered ring, but will still leak if I don't have the bag perfect with no wrinkles or creases under the ring. I think that is the key. If it was that critical to you, you might try adding a thin foam insulation strip around the collector that would maybe help seal bag.

[Mike Zilis]

I've got the same collector. While I haven't had any leakage I guess it's possible that the cloth covered spring ring could lose some of its spring tension after being compressed for a long time. I like the prior suggestion of adding a thin rubber gasket all the way around the ring area. This effectively reduces the needed diameter of the spring ring and may provide a tighter seal with the ring you have.

[Dan Hintz]

you might try adding a thin foam insulation strip around the collector that would maybe help seal bag.

This...

Also, seal all of the square flange connection points with some silicone... those tend to leak, and you can verify that with the fine layer of dust that builds up along them over time.

[Phil Thien]

Can you eliminate that spring steel ring by attaching the plastic bags AROUND the DC? If they fit, you could source a couple of larger band clamps and forgo the spring rings altogether.

The stock method of attaching the bag is the Achilles heel of that DC, and the Jet, IMHO.

[Lance Mirrer]

I modified my HF dust collector to use clear plastic bags & a canister filter. To complete the seal I wrap blue tape over the top of the bags (above the spring steel clamp).