Replacing plastic bag with cloth bag.

[bigfoot]

I am using a 1hp Chiwanese DC, the cloth bag is pretty rough, maybe 30microns up. I just ordered a 5 micron to replace it. My separator is working good, I have not measured the fines though, but hardly any goes into the plastic bag.

My question, is it ok to just replace the platic bag with cloth also?  Would airflow be improved, though its just a 1hp?

[dabullseye]

the bag makes cleanup so much easier when it comes time to change bags, with the cloth bag you will need to transfer dust to another bag  (nasty job) or dump out in the back 40 acres.  Back when i used the 2 bag factory setup (delta 50-850) i would always get a puff of dust blowing thru the bags every time i started the DC  Now i use a tophat design by retired2 and a filter and in the past 5 yrs i have never had to empty my plastic bag.

[bigfoot]

Yeah, I am using the top hat so I assume I hardly need to empty the bag, cloth or plastic. Just assuming better airflow, but having a 3/4hp, maybe won't be much. :D

[tvman44]

I did not build the Top Hat yet, I built the original design in the barrel a couple of years ago and have not emptied the bag yet.  I recently eliminated the bag & vent outside since there is almost nothing after the Thein separator.  I do plan to try building a TopHat model just to do it as I love to tinker.