well i ordered a vac relief valve to heed the collapsing. guess i'm goin with the 2 1/2in as well. i ordered the angled dust ports from rockler but waitin for those to come in to see what the bottom opening is for the inlet and outlet size pipe and elbow, as well as what size that relief valve is. got that from cent. vac. factory, says it can be installed vertical or horizontal, wonder about diagonally since those dust ports are angled. unless i put that valve right off the shopvac. and just read about the gap under the elbow and bottom baffle plate. didn't know about that. much appreciation for this forum!