File this one under "never again"

[Tim M Tuttle]

So last night I made the ultimate dust collector mistake and let mine get full. It filled up the filter. I have a Mini Gorilla with a small canister filter. What's the best way to get these clean and how can I tell if it is clean? I shook it, banged on it and blew it out with an air hose but it still appears to have quite a bit of dust on it. Is it just a matter of time doing those three things to get it clean?

[John Lanciani]

I use a leaf blower when my filter gets that bad.

[Jebediah Eckert]

+1 on Leaf blower. Chase it around the yard and hit it from all angles. It eventually is clean enough, although it takes longer then expected. The “fine” seemed to keep going and going but will mostly be gone if you keep at it.

[Jim Becker]

Every one of us says "never again"...each time it happens. :) :D

I had a similar incident a few weeks ago, myself, and a few bad words ensued. After I extracted the filter from where it hangs in the cyclone closet, I used a stick of scrap wood to gradually push out the impacted material from the filter and once that was done, worked it over with compressed air and some good whacking up-side its head. And then I got to clean myself off.. ;)

Never again. Yea, right..."stuff happens" ;)

[Bill Dufour]

Shop vac:D then another shop vac to clean the filter on the first shop vac

[David Justice]

Read this thread on how to make an alarm to tell you when your bin is getting full. I did it for $40 and it's very easy(read the last post in the thread).

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?242096-Building-Your-Own-And-Improving-Upon-The-Oneida-Dust-Sentry-Bin-Level-Sensor

[Travis Porter]

I use a leaf blower when my filter gets that bad.


Ditto. Works very well. Wear a dust mask for sure.

[Jim Becker]

Read this thread on how to make an alarm to tell you when your bin is getting full. I did it for $40 and it's very easy(read the last post in the thread).
Not a terrible idea, although all but one time that I've had an "impacted filter canister", it was because of blow-by rather than a full bin. IE, the bin wasn't sealed correctly ('cause I wasn't paying attention enough after dumping it) or something "fluffy" disrupted the cyclone effect. (I had some pine that did that not long ago)

[Tim M Tuttle]

Thanks for the tips, everyone. It was a dusty, dirty night in the shop. Not only did I have my DC snafu but I accidentally caught a nose and mouthful of MDF dust off the table saw because I wasnt paying attention.

[Edwin Santos]

Is there any problem with hosing out the canister filter on a hot day and leave it to dry completely before reinstalling?

[John C Bush]

Just unplugged mine this morning.

[Bill Dufour]

The gore tex hepa filters for shop vacs recommend hosing out to clean them.

[Lane Hardy]

The gore tex hepa filters for shop vacs recommend hosing out to clean them.
Bill are you a pilot?

Beechtalk?

[Lane Hardy]

Ops Tim are you an airplane driver? The "Never Again"

[Curt Harms]

Is there any problem with hosing out the canister filter on a hot day and leave it to dry completely before reinstalling?

I think you need the correct filter media to use water. I have a "spun bond" filter from Wynn which can be washed out and it works well. It does take a while to dry though - at least a full day of warm & breezy and longer probably wouldn't hurt.

[Lane Hardy]

I think you need the correct filter media to use water. I have a "spun bond" filter from Wynn which can be washed out and it works well. It does take a while to dry though - at least a full day of warm & breezy and longer probably wouldn't hurt.
What Wynn filter do you have? Mine is the Wynn 35A I have washed shop vac filters with mixed results even high dollar filters that stated they were washable.

[Jay Larson]

I don't think I would say Never Again, but I will try to remember this in a year or so.

I had been wondering why my dust collector wasn't sucking up the chips from my jointer. I had just converted the table saw trunk to a hard duct instead of the flex tubing. So I thought it might have been leaking. So I took a look at that. Nope nothing loose, all working. Maybe something in the impeller, so I took the connector off an looked there. Looks fine. The bag was full, so I emptied that, and during that time I bumped the filter bag at the top... Yeah, it was caked with fine dust. I emptied what I could into the bag and took it outside. It was a nice windy night, so I turned it inside out and beat it up pretty good.

Turned it right side out and put it back on. Amazingly, it even sounded better. And yeah, no more chips in the jointer chute.

[Julie Moriarty]

My cyclone ejects the fine dust outside. A few weeks ago I was doing a lot of planing and neglected to check the drum. When I finally did I saw it was topped off. Then I took a look outside and saw sawdust everywhere! Seems I've got an overflow preventer. :rolleyes: