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10K views 36 replies 21 participants last post by  AdMarkGuy 
#1 ·
The need for change

For some reason I have had a problem lately with the bags on my dust collector (DC) coming off during use.
Needless to say it made quite a mess. It seemed that I couldn't get the cloth belts that held the bags
on any tighter. My first thought was to get a canister as a retrofit, but about 10 years ago the DC I
bought was a generic brand. A Reliant. So nothing I found would fit it.

Here's my current system:



So I figured that I needed to look into a better system for attaching the bags. I e-mailed Grizzly (since I had heard on this site that they had great customer service) and gave them the specs (Diameter and Circumfrence of my DC's middle section) and asked them if their metal band they use for theirs would fit mind and if it were available separately. I got a yes on both accounts, so for $13.99 US I bought 2.

Well, it turns out they were too big. I ended up cutting them in half and pop-riviting it back together to
the correct size. It worked perfectly. It was a good temporary solution, because I still wanted a canister type
filter. I have heard that they work so much better.

So I started looking for a new DC system. I wanted a 2HP system like I already had since it worked
perfectly for my size shop. They all seemed to go for between $450 and $500 US with shipping. A little
more then I wanted to spend. Then I found exactly what I was looking for. A retfro-fit kit that included
the metal middle section with the canister so I knew for a fact theat they will fit. $258 US delivered.

This is the canister section:


I should take delivery later next week so I will post more pictures and show the installation.
 
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#3 ·
I too will be interested in your evalutation. The bags on my Delta have not popped off yet; I am using the internal cloth covered bands. Are yours internal? Are you able to run it in that little room with the door closed?
 
#4 ·
Steve - If you look in the lower right hand corner of that picture you will see a filter to catch all the dust
that escapes the bag. So the small room is a perfect size. Whatever air that get's sucked in has an easy way
out.

Yes, the bags did have the internal cloth covered bands. I cut the stiching and pulled them out to replace
them with the steel bands.

You don't want to wait for the bags to pop off. Quite a mess!
 
#5 ·
Gary, I have the whole Jet system that can be purchased with that canister. I can speak to performance of both. As my shop is so compact, I just move the hose from machine to machine. Thus, I don't have any degradation of suction and I'm only using a 10 foot hose. I don't know if that applies to your shop or not. This being said, I like my canister system. It's very easy to clean by just running the paddles around a few times after each heavy dust generating session in the shop. There is no issue with dust going everywhere if you accidentally run yourself or some object into a bag. The canister is also lightweight. Best of all, it's a total breeze to remove and reattach to the DC unit when I have to change the receptacle bag.

Just remember to rotate the paddles often because the folds of the filter element really do their job well.

If I had to find a gripe it would be that Jet's canisters filter only down to 2 microns. Most other systems are 1 micron and some are .5 mics. This may seem like splitting hairs buts it's the really tiny particles that do the most damage to your lungs. Yours being in a closet should reduce some of that concern though.
 
#6 ·
Okay, this is beyond a dumb question, but I've never seen this before - you replace the cloth bag with the cannister?? Brilliant. I also recently saw advertised (no idea where) a sleeve that would connect a 30 gal. metal trash can to the collector in place of the bag. Anyone heard how those work?
 
#7 ·
I went out this morning and bought a .1 micron felt top bag. I installed it and began to work. My DC is hooked up only to my sander and all i sand is maple…makes a very fine dust, a lot like flour. After about five minutes the new bag looked like it was going to explode. It was pretty hard to the touch. I didn't know if this was normal but my spidey-senses told me to shut her down. So here i am enquiring whether this is normal or not. BTW, i have a 2HP DC a lot like the one pictured above. Any thoughts/comments would be appreciated.
 
#8 ·
Lakey - I think you are talking about a separartor. Here is an updated picture of my current system.
The trachcan collects all the larger pieces and some od the larger chips. All the fine stuff ends up in the lower
bag. The top bag acts as a filter. That is the part I am replacing.

You may also be thinking of a cyclone DC which has a can to collect the dust.



Maple - Sounds like your bag is getting plugged up. That is one of the problems I am having in addition to the
bag popping off. You would have probably had the same thing happen if you didn't shut it off.
With the canister you can, as Jeff suggests, rotate the paddles via the handles on top to knock off the dust
in the canister filter into the bottom bag.
 
#9 ·
I'm waiting for the final solution, Gary. I have a Grizzly Vac and was wanting to find out if their canister fits the model that I have.
 
#10 ·
Hey Gary - nope, I'm not thinking of a separator - got one of those. This was designed to actually replace the bottom bag. My question is, does the cannister you've pictured do that? Replace the bottom bag? Thanks for the extra picture.

Lakey
 
#12 ·
Lakey - No, just the top. I have no idea what you are talking about then. I guess if you had some sort of gasket you could use a trashcan instead of a bag.

Maple - Look at the picture of the canister above. See the handle on the top? Well, you rotate that and it will
move things (paddles) against the inside ribs of the canister to knock off the dust that is stuck to it.

It's easier than beating on the sides to knock it off.
 
#14 ·
The final solution - completed.

Well, this is the second and final part of my dust collector retro-fit.

Here you can see the two boxed as I recieved them:
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Here they are unpacked and stacked. I removed the Dust Dog label. I figured that it didn't do anything but restrict air flow. It came off easily
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Here you can see the handle that created some confusion in the first part of this blog.
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As the handle is rotated it makes these "paddles" brush against the pleats of the filter
knocking off the dust into the bottom bag.

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There is a difference in the middle section. First of all it's a larger diameter, plus it doesn't have the corkscrew like the old one.
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Since this is not a Jet dust collector I am retro-fitting I had to add 2 new holes on each side

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Here it is completed minus the lower bag and canister mounted. Took a total of about 1/2 an hour to get to this point. The green tape is on the inside and outside to seal up the unused holes.

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Here it is all completed and in place
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There were a few other issues. The old lower bag could not be used since the diameter is larger and it doesn't have the lip (in the lower part of the middle drum) to to retain it using the strap.

It came with 5 heavy gauge plastic bags and a band that fits on the inside on the drum instead of the outside. Interesting design and kind of a pain to install the bag but I guess I'll get used to it.
I hate the idea of having to keep buying expensive plastic bags so I will work something out to eliminate that need.

My cloth bag does fit on the inside diameter so I'll figure out something.

All in all it was a simple and less expensive way to move up to a canister filter vs buying an entire new system.
 
#15 ·
I'm curious why you didn't consider a stand alone cyclone separator?
It's possible that space is limited but in all honesty, they really work slick.
I made this one in a morning and elimnated the bag cleaning fiasco as nothing much gets by the cyclone.
Bob
 
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