Delta Dust Collector Losing Suction Power

[Mark Patoka]

I have a Delta 50-760 dust collector that suddenly lost suction power after at least 4 years of use. I had just emptied the lower bag and each time take the upper bag, turn it inside out and shake/beat as much dust out as I can. When I hooked it back up to my planer, it had maybe half the suction power and the planer chips were all clogged in the Y tube before reaching the impeller. The upper bag was only half inflated.

I only have the one 4" hose running off the Y, the other Y outlet is capped. Motor sounds like it's running the same and I can't detect holes in the hose, etc. I took the upper bag off twice, beat as much dust out of it as I could and finally did enough improvement in suction that I can use my planer and router. It appears to be almost at previous power but the upper bag still isn't as inflated as it used to be.

Is the upper bag just so saturated with fine dust that it needs to be replaced? Is airflow through the upper bag the culprit?

[Matt Day]

It might not be your problem, but I had been hearing some ticking noises from my motor on my 50-760 for a couple days. I took the motor and impellor off and found heaps of long shavings that had built up on the impellor, causing it to be out of balance and loose power. Have you pulled your motor?

[James Baker SD]

not an expert, but it seems to me that reduced air flow out of the upper bag would keep it super inflated (a toy balloon has very little air flow through it and stay inflated). Would seem you have a leak somewhere (maybe you can move your hand around and try to feel an air flow where there should not be one) or an obstruction reducing the suction at the impeller.

[Anthony Whitesell]

Have you checked the flow path between the suction inlet and the bag outlet? There may be another clog.

[david brum]

Those DCs are notorious for clogging at the inlet port. There is screen which many users have clipped off after finding that it collects debris. That is the inlet port where you connect your hose, before the impeller housing.

[Jeff Monson]

Those DCs are notorious for clogging at the inlet port. There is screen which many users have clipped off after finding that it collects debris. That is the inlet port where you connect your hose, before the impeller housing.

That happened to the Delta DC I had. There is a metal "x" in the inlet that can get full and reduce suction.

[Bruce Wrenn]

That happened to the Delta DC I had. There is a metal "x" in the inlet that can get full and reduce suction.

That "X" is to keep your hand out of the impeller. Take it out, but remember to keep hands out.

[Mark Patoka]

I've considered cutting that "X" out of there. It has stopped the occassional shop rag and larger scrap that gets sucked up but I don't think that's my problem. The suction was already so low that it couldn't pull the chips past it. As far as I can tell, the impeller is not impeded and appears to be nothing clogged around the impeller. I'll have to give it a closer look this weekend and maybe spend some time doing some disassembly work.

[Anthony Whitesell]

If you take the hose off and turn the DC on, does the bag fill? If not, the problem must lie between the impeller inlet and the outlet to the bags.