Cleaning dust filters

[Mark Gibney]

I clean the pleated filters on my dust collector with air now and again. It's slow, and who has enough time or patience?
I then just whack the sides of the filters with a gloved hand, and that's not very effective.

I'd like to buy or make an attachment for my air hose with several nozzles on the end so I can blow air through more pleats at once. I've attached my attempt at a drawing.

381245

Does anyone know where I can get something like this?
Or how would I go about making one? Doesn't have to be pretty.

thanks in advance, Mark

[Patrick Kane]

Ha, it looks like you drew a devil's tail!

I know it sucks and its a PITA, but i take my stack off, carry it outside, and then i proceed to leaf blow it. I blow the outside and parallel to he pleats from the inside too. 10-15 mins and the filter is reasonably clean. I never had any luck hitting it strictly from the outside with 45PSI or whatever they recommend.

[Mike Burke]

Ha, it looks like you drew a devil's tail!

Yea it does !!

Can you get filter Too Clean and knock off all of the "Break In" dust that helps it work better ?
In other words.....can you get it Too clean ?

I blew mine out really good with a large blower and it seamed that it spit out some fine dust the
first couple times after I reinstalled it.

[Dave Cav]

i take my stack off, carry it outside, and then i proceed to leaf blow it. I blow the outside and parallel to he pleats from the inside too. 10-15 mins and the filter is reasonably clean. I never had any luck hitting it strictly from the outside with 45PSI or whatever they recommend.

This.

I've blown mine out with an air gun a couple of times and it was only sort of effective. The last time I cleaned it out (because I let the chip barrel fill up and it backed up through the cyclone and into the filters) we used my neighbor's leaf blower. HUGE mess, but it worked very well. I'll be going to HD and getting a cheap line voltage leaf blower this spring for the next time I clean the filters, unless I get around to direct venting outside first.

[John K Jordan]

I clean the pleated filters on my dust collector with air now and again. It's slow, and who has enough time or patience?
I then just whack the sides of the filters with a gloved hand, and that's not very effective.
I'd like to buy or make an attachment for my air hose with several nozzles on the end so I can blow air through more pleats at once. I've attached my attempt at a drawing.

381245

Does anyone know where I can get something like this?
Or how would I go about making one? Doesn't have to be pretty.


If you're going for speed instead of stopping at three how about a ring of nozzles pointing toward the center, perhaps in two halves connected with a flexible hose. How well that would work might depend if your air compressor can keep up with multiple air nozzles.

Last year bought the best air nozzle I've ever tried, this was at the Kubota shop and marketed to people to blow dust and dirt out of radiators, a big problem if allowed to build up, especially in a diesel enging. These: https://www.amazon.com/Radiator-Genie-Cleaning-Efficiency-Radiators/dp/B01NAU8J6D I used them to clean the radiators on the tractor, bobcat, and big mower and was amazed at how strong the air stream was and how much junk was removed. It was difficult to hold on to the wand. The secret is in the area of the nozzle opening. I'm not suggesting these would be useful for pleated filters (it might even damage them) but the point is the amount of air and the nozzle size might need to be balanced for optimum use.

I saw a drawing once of another idea - someone connected a hose from the cleanout box on the bottom of the filter stack to the input of the cyclone. I was skeptical but others said it worked. Perhaps this, or at least a hose connected to a shop vac could pick up dust knocked loose with the air nozzle.

As for making a your manifold I can think of several ways. I'd be inclined to solder pieces of copper tubing to make both the manifold and the nozzles, squishing the ends of the tubing as needed to form the nozzles. A hose barb could be soldered into the end for a quick-connect.

JKJ

[Martin Wasner]

I wonder if a spinner tip for pressure washers would work with air?

I doubt the fork approach would get you anything without a big line, big hose, and a capable compressor.

[Peter Christensen]

I think a pressure washer fan nozzle might work. One for a small PW with a 25 degree angle would be a good starting point. Then if you like the nozzle can be changed for a wider/smaller angle or bigger orafice for more air if the compressor is big enough. Same basic idea as Martin’s but without the loss of energy to spin the tip.

[John K Jordan]

I think a pressure washer fan nozzle might work. One for a small PW with a 25 degree angle would be a good starting point. Then if you like the nozzle can be changed for a wider/smaller angle or bigger orafice for more air if the compressor is big enough. Same basic idea as Martin’s but without the loss of energy to spin the tip.

Would you get enough air through a pressure washer nozzle to be useful even for a test? The water nozzles I have much smaller orifices than the air nozzles I use, perhaps because the water is pressurized to 3000 psi and the air to about 90 psi. But I think it would be possible to make a serviceable air fan nozzle with a large diameter metal tube and a hammer.

[Peter Christensen]

The bigger pressure washers have bigger orifices. Whether they are big enough is something I don't know and for the OP to look at if interested. Nothing to stop him from making his "Devil's Tail" with the pressure nozzles to produce a "wall" of air.

[Mark Gibney]

Lot of good ideas here, thanks, haven't been able to get on-line for a few days to check them out 'til now.

One thing I cannot do is blow the filters out with a leaf blower. My workshop is in an industrial park and the dust would blow over my neighbor's cars and into their units. This is not the only reason I dream of being in the countryside!

[Martin Wasner]

My downdraft table uses a couple of big pleated filters that are pretty miserable to blow out. I was kicking around building a box to put the filter in that's connected to the main dust collector so I could clean them without having to go outside.

Doesn't really help your situation. I know.

[Rod Sheridan]

I clean mine with water, using the garden hose.

No blowing dust and the filter comes out very clean..............Rod.

[David Kumm]

Each particular type of filter media has to be cleaned a specific way. If with air, within a certain pressure range. Some media can be washed, others not. Find out what your specific filter recommendation is before you design the correct method. Dave

[Mike Ontko]

I know it sucks and its a PITA, but i take my stack off, carry it outside, and then i proceed to leaf blow it. I blow the outside and parallel to he pleats from the inside too. 10-15 mins and the filter is reasonably clean.

+1 - I do the same thing--and my blueberries like the added layer of hardwood dust as a mulch (increases the pH/acidity of the soil as it decomposes). After I've blown out everything I can, I take a shop vac to fully clean out in between the pleats.

[Mike Ontko]

I clean mine with water, using the garden hose.

No blowing dust and the filter comes out very clean..............Rod.

Seriously?! It sounds brilliant, but I would think this would end up creating a kind of paste with the finer dust particles that would cake up on the filter material over time.

Now I'm curious. I believe the fibers of the filter are made from a spun polyester (I bought my 0.5 micron filter from Wynn Environmental (https://wynnenv.com/woodworking-filters/) as an upgrade to a Jet DC1100A), so there should be no ill effects to the pleats themselves unless like I'm thinking--they don't get fully flushed out and are left with a kind of wood cement covering.

post script entry: I sent an email inquiry to Wynn Environmental (a great outfit to do business with!) regarding the use of water on their woodworking canister filters. The filter type that I have (C-1425C) is not cleanable with water, though there are other types with synthetic fiber filter pleats (their 35A100SBOL, for example) that can be cleaned out with water, though they need to be dried thoroughly before use.

[Peter Christensen]

Mike I would contact Wynn and ask if your filter can be washed and if so how. It could save you from needing to get another. You never know, the glue they use may be water soluble.

[Mike Ontko]

Mike I would contact Wynn and ask if your filter can be washed and if so how. It could save you from needing to get another. You never know, the glue they use may be water soluble.

Already have :) But thanks for the tip. (See my earlier post for the follow-up information I'd received.)

[Carlos Alvarez]

I have a washable Teflon HEPA filter on my shop vac. I tap off the big stuff, and blow it out every other cleaning. Then the other times I tap off the big stuff then wash it. Seems to work well for me.

The multi-spray filter cleaner idea has been done for pool and spa filters. Basically the same thing, for the filters that look like our dust filters. So I'd say that shows that the theory is valid. But just using a blow gun from the inside seems to be quick as far as I'm concerned.

[Carlos Alvarez]

Oh, and do a search for "air comb." This is what you get, which may be what you want: https://www.amazon.com/Innovative-Products-America-8051-Cleaner/dp/B005MVB4B6