Shop-vac with Thien separator

[Stan Mitchell]

The one big flaw in most shop-vacs is that the pleated filter sits right down in the tub that collects all the debris which plugs-up long before the tub is full. There are a lot of add-on separators out there, but they're usually a separate unit that make the whole shop-vac clumsy in my opinion - with extra hoses and 5-gallon buckets and such.

I've always wanted a dust separator that integrates into the vacuum itself and have seen a couple of examples of Phil Thien's separator used for a shop-vac, so I based mine on his top-hat design.

The separator that I came up with is inserted between the top and bottom half of my Sears shop-vac and made from MDF, an 18" piece of 12" Sonotube, and some PVC pipe to add some strength.

I didn't take any pics of the build, but the thing works so well that I felt that I should post some pics. Now I have 12 gallons of usable Shop-vac.

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In hind sight, the separator unit probably could have been made a bit more compact, but I kind of like having the handle and power switch up where I can get to them.

I also discovered that the vacuum hose will slide right into a 2.5" dust port flange - no modification needed!

Now here's the $63 question - why can't all shop-vacs have some kind of separator built-in? the vacuum for the carpet in my house has one for crying out loud.:eek:

[Mark P. Miller]

Awesome looking design. I have that same vac, and that looks like it would be a really useful way to take care of things while still minimizing the amount of extra floor space.

I have also asked the same question...why can't the shop vac people also put separators in their designs? Something like this could easily be sold as an optional accessory for may of the major brands.

[Dan Keeling]

It's in the best interest of the vac manufacturers to sell as many filters/vacs as possible. An effective seperator prolongs the life of both.

[Aleks Hunter]

Cyclone tech has been around a long time. I think the answer to your question is it is analogous to the razor blade situation. the razor handle itself is sold at low cost, and they get you on the blades. To a manufacturer, eliminating the need to replace filters is kind of killing a golden goose.

[David Masters]

LOL! That is outstanding!

[Aaron Berk]

This is awesome!
So stupid question time.....

Do you still use a filter?
And if so, how does it fit into the equation?

[Stan Mitchell]

This is awesome!
So stupid question time.....

Do you still use a filter?
And if so, how does it fit into the equation?

The separator only takes up the bottom 6" or so of the tube. The top portion houses the filter which hangs down about 9" into the tube. In hind sight I could have easily shortened the tube a couple of inches - but hey, I built it with a mental picture in my head. ;)

This photo shows the factory filter arrangement and the 3 carriage bolts that I used to secure the top to the separator using some wing-nuts.
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The final product actual cracks me up a bit. All I can think of now is the scene from Star Wars "these are not the droids you're looking for" :D

[Phil Thien]

The final product actual cracks me up a bit. All I can think of now is the scene from Star Wars "these are not the droids you're looking for" :D

LOL, you're right!