Changed my other mind.

[RCOX]

Since my loss of suction appears to be because of the pre-separator, I decided to do the baffle in the dc rings thing.

I tore apart my dc today. Cleaned the filters, installed the baffles and reinstalled the catch containers and filters. I sucked up about 15-17 gallons of mixed saw dust and chips. The fine dust is what came out of the filters after using the drum-sander for about 2 hours straight. Lots of fine dust. Probably about 1/3 rd fine dust to 2/3 rds chips in this test today. I never dropped the suction line into the bucket of dust. I kept it moving about 2" above the level of the dust in the can.

I cleaned 1 filter after my test, (ran the flappers around 5-6 turns 1 way then 5-6 turns the other direction.) There was probably between 1 1/2 - 2 cups of fine dust from the 1 filter.(sitting on the cone, don't know how much went in the container)

I wanted to see how much difference the outlet pipes will make. I only have 4" between the baffle and the lower edge of the cone in the dc ring. I have made some reducer rings to hold the outlet pipes and will install them tomorrow. My thought is to split the difference of the space. 2". I know that Phil says to insert the outlet pipe 1/2 the diameter but with only 4", I don't think that would leave enough room if I insert it 3". The outlet in the cone is 9 1/4". I have 6" pipe to make the outlet pipes. Will this be too much restriction or not? I know I am only pulling air in through a 6" line and this will be 2 6" outlet pipes, 1 in each filter. Just not sure what the outcome will be. Time will tell.

I hope these pictures will help explain what I am trying to describe.

Any thoughts or suggestions will be appreciated.

Raymond

[galerdude]

Hi Raymond, I hope your busy making projects and benefiting from your new DC arrangement  ;D. I'm curious how things worked out for you.
Also, the idea of a DIY filter cleaner, as you mentioned in your post is getting higher on my 'to do' list. Would like to know your thoughts on the advantage of spinning that crank vs blowing one out w/air. That's my current option and kind of a PITA with the system being outside and all. I understood yours to be designed in to the unit and not a DIY. Just curious if its function warrants it being there.

Thanks for your time on this!
Gale

[RCOX]

Galerdude: My hand got very infected after the surgery, so haven't been in the shop quite as often as I would like. All is better now and have done a couple of "projects" for the wife. Building some storage shelves and such.

The internal baffle didn't do the trick for me, so I went back to the tophat on top of the trash can setup. So far it is doing decent. I got too wrapped up in the lost suction thing and decided to just use this setup for a while and see what happens. I will give credit to everyone that said check for leaks. I had sealed my separator but when Phil said to check the trash can I was very surprised at the results. The can had a leak at the bottom seam. I caulked all seams and it made a major improvement. Never would have thought about that.

Now, to answer your question. The filters on my dc came with the flapper cleaners, and they are the cats meow. My old dc didn't have them and I can say either make a set or buy filters that have them from the factory.

My filters have a hole through the top and a support across the bottom, then a shaft goes top to bottom into that support. Attached to that shaft are 2 "flappers"  that go side to side. I do not recall what material they are made from.

Instead of trying to describe them, later today I will take a filter off my dc and take some pictures. They say a picture is worth a thousand words. Don't know about that, but I do know it will beat my description. I will post the pictures later today and then answer any questions I can.

In a normal day of use, I will spin the flappers at the end of the day and that usually does a good job. If I am doing a lot of sanding, I will spin the flappers every hour or so. You can really hear a difference when the filters are caking over. You will have to work out your own system depending on your use. I do not have as much problem during normal use, since adding the Thien Baffle but still get a significant amount of fine dust when sanding. I will say that there has been a reduction in how often I have to spin the flappers to clear the fine dust, since adding the separator, but I still do it every hour or so.

Hope this rambling answers your question. YES add the flappers. Hope the pictures, when I post them will help you with your design.

Raymond

[galerdude]

Sorry to hear about your post surgery issues. Very glad that it is now getting better. Appreciate the info and hands on review of the flappers  ;D. Will check back tonite or tomorrow for pix.

Thanks so much, Raymond!
Gale