# Dust Collector Canister Filter Upgrade For Less $$



## cstrang (Sep 22, 2009)

I was thinking about a canister filter for some time now and started a forum topic and got a few good ideas, first  lew  suggested car air filters, I had thought about that before but thought it my be too much trouble to do it then Paul suggested a similar idea that he did himself before… Big rig air filters! I thought to myself where am I going to get some of these, then I took a look around me one morning while standing outside of work, I have shipping and freight companies all around me, asked them were to buy them and presto, right around the corner.. literally lol.









This is what I ended up with, the closest size to what i needed that they had in stock a Donaldson P181099 air filter, approx 14" OD. I got one at first and then opted to get a second one to improve airflow even more ans the one only produced airflow comparable to the bag that originally came on the DC.

























As showen above, when I got the second filter I couldnt get a open both end configuration so I broke out the grinder and cut a rather neat hole if I do say so myself… not a bad free hand cut in metal for a woodworker, can you tell I was surprised?









In order to make the smaller canister fit I took a scrap piece of melamine, cut it into a circle the same size as the DC and put some weather stripping around it for a gasket seal, put some threaded rod in there to hold down the filers and presto!









New canister filter for the DC for just over $100.00 and I did notice an improvement in suction. Ever since I expanded my shop and added more duct i noticed a drop in suction, especially in picking up shavings from the planer and I moved the table saw from closest to the DC to furthest away, now I have better suction across the board!

Some of you may have noticed that I have the hose from the duct going straight down into the DC but in the third pic the motor was switched around, this is because I attempted to make a chip seperator but I noticed a drop in suction with it so I deleted hat portion of the upgrade for now anyway, may try to revisit that down the road sometime.

So all in all money well spent and thanks guys for the ideas on my forum topic, if you have any questions or think I may have left something out let me know. Thanks for looking guys and gals.


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## Dusty56 (Apr 20, 2008)

That's one thing about dust collectors , they have to be able to exhale more than they inhale to work properly.
What do you think your micron rating is ?
Is that the small Delta collector ?


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## OnlyJustME (Nov 22, 2011)

Curious about the Merv rating too.


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## WoodWorkWarrior (Sep 21, 2012)

Impressive upgrade. Great idea to use big rig filters. I'd love to see a separator in there if you figure on out that doesn't reduce the suction too much.


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## djg (Jun 24, 2012)

It's an interesting work around for a canister. You should get the rating on the filter from the manufacturer and the efficiency. If you don' t have the rating you have no idea how much and what size of dust you are pumping back into your workspace. Something to keep in mind because using this setup could be potentially dangerous with prolonged exposure. The mod is a great idea, and resourceful but you should get that information for safety.


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## cstrang (Sep 22, 2009)

Filtration is 99.99% at .5 microns donaldson are apparently known for good filtration, so I was told by the truckers I was talkin to and the guy I was talking to when I purchased it from had the spec sheet too. I also have my DC on a separate room on its own so if any dust did get out its in a sealed room, big room but separate from the shop.


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## toolie (Mar 16, 2011)

nice innovative idea and installation. i'm going to guess those filters cost less than a comparable capacity wynne? what's the strategy for cleaning the inside pleats of the filter as they cake with fine dust.


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## cstrang (Sep 22, 2009)

I looked at a Wynn originally but they don't ship to Canada anymore and to get one custom made here would be $300.00+ two of these plus the threaded rod cost around $120.00. As for cleaning I use compressed air blown in at the filter @60psi, works good and doesn't seem to damage the filter.


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## HorizontalMike (Jun 3, 2010)

I guess, with the "NOT shipped to Canada" constraint, then you probably have the best deal you can at your location. For us south of the border, IMO, Wynn filters still seem to be the best solution and with the minimum of alteration required. When I can, I will be moving up to a Wynn on my HF DC unit, though with my 3yr old 5.0micron cloth bag thoroughly broken in (caked and beaten a number of times), I do have to say that it performs on a much higher plain than it did in the past.

And besides, even a 5.0micron bag will eventually reach a 99.99% filter capacity with use. ALL filters do this as they filter until completely clogged and in need of cleaning. That being said, it would be interesting if someone had the ability/facilities to test *USED* filters and DC bags for filtration rates. My thoughts on this would be that we might find that even the 5.0micron bags will reach that higher level of filtration much quicker than anyone knows/predicts. FWIW, I would think lengthening bag-type filters would be the cheapest and possibly most cost effective solution for better DC. That probably does not set well with high-tech filter companies and they probably have a vested interest in NOT pursuing such testing.

One thing to note is that even Wynn Environmental admits that filtration testing is dependent upon dust accumulation/caking and that filtration improves with usage. I won't re-post the entire quote here, however here is the Wynn link on Filter Efficiency


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## longgone (May 5, 2009)

Good idea …I just spoke to Dave Wynne a few days ago since I am considering adding two nano filters in parallel to my cyclone system to decrease back pressure/increase efficiency. I would definitely like to learn more about these truck air filters and determine if they are a more affordable but just as effective alternative.

I generate so much fine dust that I take my filter outside and blow it out with compressed air each time I empty my 35 gallon canister. It is amazing how much the pleats clog up and how air flow is improved when cleaned.

There needs to be a better way to keep filters from clogging so much.


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## RobertsPlace (Aug 19, 2012)

Excellent mod, though I agree with HorizontalMike regarding "south of the border".


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## shipwright (Sep 27, 2010)

Donaldson filters are 99.9% @merv 15… Just like Wynn.

Bags may reach better than rated efficiency when they start to cake up but the drop in volume is noticable.

The difference when you change to canisters whether you go the expensive route or the (just as efficient) cheap route is absolutely amazing. I don't think quadrupling the bag size would accomplish that.

I'm sold and I'm glad I was able to help and that you are happy with the setup.


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## HorizontalMike (Jun 3, 2010)

Paul,
I agree with you. All I am trying to say is that for those starting out with "5.0micorn bag" stock filters, is that they truly are not as "dangerous" a practical health hazard as so many talking heads are insinuating on here. Use improves all of these filters' filtration rates, and it appears to do so quickly(even by Wynn's own testing).

Upgrade when you can, but don't feel left out if you have to postpone the upgrade for a bit. For me, I compensate by using ONE hose and moving it from machine-to-machine. I still get plenty of suction for the task at hand, at the cost of a loss of some convenience. IMO, well worth the trade off.


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## shipwright (Sep 27, 2010)

No problem Mike.

My big incentive to change was the mess and hassle of cleaning the bag about once a year.

I agree that bags do work….....but man, is it impressive when you switch on for the first time with the canister.


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## HorizontalMike (Jun 3, 2010)

Mine will have to wait for my discretionary $$$ whenever that happens… I look forward to it. Until then I "beat the bag" in place about every couple of months.

In the mean time we had to replace one of our furnace/AC units this past Spring, so I kept the squirrel cage fan to eventually build a DIY fine air filter for the shop. I have been lazy on this since 99% of my time in the shop, I have the 9ftx16ft garage door open. I am finding that just pointing a fan out the door keeps things rather clean. But then again, I live in South Texas and only get ~3weeks of freezing temps a year.


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## DocSavage45 (Aug 14, 2010)

Seems there are two issues. clean air and no money. At least those are mine and Not having to additionally clean up due to reduced suction. I have large filter boxes in both furnaces. To reduce costs I duct taped 4 cheap filters in front of a fine filter. I also put washable filters in cold air returns.

I f This prefiltration could be accomplished in wood dust collection I'm thinking less time beating the bag? And the pre filters could be blown out?

Maybe????


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## HorizontalMike (Jun 3, 2010)

The best thing I have found for decreasing the frequency of "bag beating" was the addition of a Thien cyclonic separator before the DC. Mine was DIY and ugly, but it works like a champ. In lieu of doing the DIY route, I also found that the Grizzly separator works nearly as well, though when it gets near-full you have less of an indication than with the DIY. And that means more crap in the bag before you can shut it off and empty. Both utilize a 30gal can.

My DIY Thien Separator









Grizzly Separator


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## cstrang (Sep 22, 2009)

Mike, did you notice a drop in suction when you added your separator? I tried adding a separator to my set up but the loss in suction was too great for my liking, if I could figure a way to add one to my system it would help me not to have to clean the filters too often.


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## rg33 (Dec 1, 2012)

Saw some references on another forum referencing some of the stuff discussed here…Shipwright, Cstrang can you tell us where you found the micron/merv ratings for these donaldson truck filters? I cant find it on their website.

thanks in advance


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## shipwright (Sep 27, 2010)

I got the ratings from the filter supplier, the local truck parts place. I think I did find it on Donaldson's website as well though.
You can see my setup here.


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## djg (Jun 24, 2012)

I am wondering about the performance of these filters now that you have used them for some time? Are they OK? Also, where in St. John's did you get them?


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## buildingmonkey (Mar 1, 2014)

Did you check with Wynn Environmental before you decided to go the truck filter route? He is located in the US, but ships all over. When I needed a new filter, just googled Wynn Environmental.


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## cstrang (Sep 22, 2009)

djg, I ended up switching back to the bag, the filters worked out good at first but they gunked up quick with dust which resulted in a loss of suction… I ended up having to clean them more than i wanted. I am Thinking with a good dust separator before the dust collector it should help the clogging issue but by the time I realized it wasnt working out they were too full of dust to salvage so I decided to cut my loses and go back to old faithful.

Jim, I contacted wynn, they were having trouble with shipments being damaged when unpacked going through customs and not being repacked properly so they dont ship to Canada anymore, I even looked into shipping it to a friend I have in the US and them shipping it to me but the shipping cost would have been too much as they are in Arizona and I'm on the east coast.


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