[OP]
Member
After trying out both the Dustopper and Dust Deputy, I've settled on the Dust Deputy. I use it with a 6.5HP Ridgid vacuum and it will primarily be used with power hand tools.
I'm curious, for those of you who use the Dust Deputy, what's inside your Shop Vac? Filter, bag, both, neither? I'm thinking about picking up the Ridgid Hepa filter for this setup. Anyone have experience with that? Thanks!
Contributor
I have had 3 DD's one on a 2hp harbor freight DC which I have sold, 1 on festool ct26 which has the standard festool bags which Im not sure if they are hepa or not, and my final one is on a ridgid 6.5 with a hepa filter and a bag. The ridgid also has a silencer on it
My rigid is in the basement for winter/nighttime sanding(have little kids 1 of which is above garage)
It gets used for general cleanup in basement as well as ammo reloading as well.
Contributor
David, I have the exact setup you mentioned and use a regular cartridge filter in it. Before the ridgid, I had a 6 HP screamer (ShopVac), that had the DD on a 20 gal. drum. That setup lasted 5 years before the ShopVac gave up the ghost. It was over 20 years old at that point. Back to your question though. I contemplated on a hepa filter but never could get over the price of it, so continued with the regular cartridge filter. Whenever I inspected the vacuum tank, there was hardly any dust inside, which leads me to believe the DD is doing a superb job of filtering not only chips, but dust also. My vote and budget goes toward just the regular cartridge filter.
My Dad always told me "Can't Never Could".
SWE
The cyclone separators are less efficient at getting the really fine particles out of the air stream. Those are the most harmful and aren't visible in the air. If you use a standard cartridge filter on the vacuum, your getting the big stuff but just stirring the fines back up into the air you're breathing. You need to be wearing a respirator while using the vacuum and for a good while after until the fines all settle out of the air.
Just go spend the money on the HEPA filter. Your lungs will thank you and they last a very long time if you're careful with cleaning. I've been using the same filter for a few years & it's still good.
Moderator
I use a hepa. I’m with Frank.
Contributor
I have a dust deputy on a wall mount Shop Vac unit, and it works great. The wall mount has no bag, but there is almost nothing in the vac's canister after a cleaning session - pretty much all of it ends up in the dust deputy's collection bin. I have the dual 5 gallon buckets that came with the Dust Deputy, and they work well.
I have a HF dust collector I bought pre-pandemic that I will be setting up, and will likely get a Super Dust Deputy XL for that. I'm going to try and run a 5" main line with either 4" or 5" drops to my tools. So far, I only have about 4 tools that I'll need it for, but that may change. Also, if I end up getting a jointer/planer, I'll likely get a bigger dust collector and go with a 6" or larger main line. At least the SDD XL should resell well.
Member
I have used the Clearvue cyclone with a Hepa Fein Turbo II vacuum and it worked great. I haven't used it much but I filled two buckets of sawdust in the cyclone before I checked the bag in the shop vac and I couldn't see anything in there. I think if you go Hepa it'll last you a very long time. Almost nothing big gets past a good cyclone unless you let it fill up, at which point it just bypasses the cyclone since it's plugged.
Member
I have the same Ridgid 6.5 HP vac and Dust Deputy. I have to be standard filter but have to agree that the HEPA would be better for air quality. I have noticed that the DD something sometimes traps larger piece in infinite cycle near the top of the cyclone. This suggests maybe that the 6.5 vac is at the top of the design flow for the Dust Deputy. Adding a better filter (and a muffler) would still give adequate suction.
As for performance, the cyclone works very well for separating except for sanding with a 16/32 drum sander. I blow out the filters and re-use them when clogged. I would do the same if I had a HEPA.
Member
+1 on the HEPA filter. I think you have to use a filter bag for it to really work.
There is a difference b/t a "dust extractor" and a Shop Vac. There are also "certified" HEPA vacs.
If I really wanted to best setup I would be looking at a true HEPA dust extractor, the only issue is money.
Contributor
Originally Posted by David Shoemaker
Rigid Hepa with dust bag. Lost track of how many times I have emptied the bucket and still can't see any signs of dirt in the Rigid vac. Really like this setup and wish I would have done this sooner
Ron
Last edited by Ron Selzer; 02-08-2022 at 9:32 AM. Reason: spelling
I have 2 Dust Deputies and 2 6.5 HP Ridgid vacs so a mirror of what you are using. After finding that almost nothing goes into the vac barrel I ditched it in favor of a filter box. I have one of these on opposite ends of the shop.
DD-Idea-ver-3 (32).jpg . DD-Idea-ver-3 (31).jpg
I have only been running the rectangular spoil boxes for about 6 months and it is nice to have that spoil capacity.
I empty a couple of tablespoons of superfine spoil out of the filter box and "clean" the filter about twice a year. Here's the filter box on one after about 6 months but, I am just starting up again so the minimal spoil that gets past the DD is even more minimal.
DD-Idea-ver-3 (26).jpg
That is a nylon stocking stretched over the filter left over from when that filter was in a standard vac. Not really necessary here. Long ago I bought Clean Stream filters when I didn't run a Dust Deputy. It was great just being able to run them under the faucet to clean them. I'm still running the same filters 10 years later.
"A hen is only an egg's way of making another egg".
– Samuel Butler
Member
I have 2 Dust Deputy's. One is used with my shop vac. The other is in the line going to a re-purposed central vacuum cleaner that I connect to the finer dust producers in my shop, like the sanders, drill presses, and scroll saws. It is mounted on top of a re-purposed 20 gallon grease barrel. The exhaust from this central vacuum goes out through my shop wall just under the roof eave, so nothing that gets collected ever gets a chance to get into my lungs, but the Dust Deputy has been doing such a great job that I have removed the fabric filter from the Central Vacuum. In about 5 years, nothing but some micro fine dust has ever accumulated in the dust container under the vacuum anyway.
It's in the attic of my shop and I have inlet ports in several places in the shop, one in the shop attic, and one by the entry door for vacuuming the cars and trucks. I have several different length hoses for it, including the original 25' hose and attachments, and have installed ceiling hooks to allow me to route the hoses to the machine in use without them being on the floor.
Charley
Contributor
I have tried a bunch of stuff over the years. I settled on a Dust Deputy on a 55 gallon drum. The lid clamps tight with a bolt that taes a 1" socket wrench.
For suction, I use an Ultra Clean SC200 central vac that pulls 121 CFM, at 125" of static lift. The barrel, DD, and vac are all out behind the shop. Hardly any dust makes it into the vac filter. I have no idea what comes out of the exhaust, it's aimed at the sawdust trailer. I blow the cloth filter out with an air hose.
Th vac has a green light on its side so I can tell if it's running, because I can't hear it. I use a Long Ranger remote to run it.
I use the vac on sanders, cleaning the floor, and on top of the blade on the rip saw.
Contributor
I recently setup the wall-mount dust deputy that has a catch bag underneath.
I like this setup because it eliminates having to transfer material (a messy/dusty task), and I can easily see when the bag is full. It takes quite a while to fill a bag (I only use this setup for hand power tools.. everything else is through the main cyclone setup).
The ridigid vac that I drive this with has a filter bag inside. My thought here is that I again can avoid material transfer by swapping out the bag someday... I think it will take years to fill up.
Note: I do wear respirator during many tasks, and usually run the air filter full-time while in the shop.
- Bob R.
Collegeville PA (30 minutes west of Philly)
Contributor
Festool vac with bag and HEPA filter……Regards, Rod
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