How do you clean Delta Dust Collector Bags

[CabinetMaker]

I have a Delta 50-760 dust collector that I have been using for a while. I took the filter bag off, inverted it and knocked of the big shavings. There is still a lot of fine dust in the filter. Is it better to blow that out with an air compressor or can I run the bag through the washer? Its a 1 micron filter so I am a little nervous about blowing the dust out.

 

[jttheclockman]

I have a Delta 50-760 dust collector that I have been using for a while. I took the filter bag off, inverted it and knocked of the big shavings. There is still a lot of fine dust in the filter. Is it better to blow that out with an air compressor or can I run the bag through the washer? Its a 1 micron filter so I am a little nervous about blowing the dust out.

Better to leave it in there. Just shake the bag out and you are good to go.

 

[Chris Bar]

Removed my filter and plastic bag, emptied the plastic bag and turned the filter inside-out, blew clean with leaf blower then vacuumed. Seems to work better now that it's clean.

 

[KenV]

Chris -- It is the really fine dust that you want (really want) to filter out because that is the stuff that causes problems in lungs. You filter more fines out with the cloth bags or cartridge filters having some of the fine dust workng to filter also . Too much fines, block the filteration, but over cleaning lets lots more fine stuff get through. I like the fine 1 micron canister filters personally. If you have 30 micron bags, think about going to the 5 micron bags or to the canisters. You are only issued one set of lungs.

 

[Fred]

Don't worry about cleaning the bag, just gently beat on the sides of it and let the dust fall into the collection bin. Let the dust settle down and then turn on the system and proceed with business as usual.

I might add that if you were to add a pre-sort to the vacuum line, then you could let the vacuum collect the fine dust and empty it once or twice a year, and empty the larger material from the pre-sort can more often.

http://www.woodcraft.com/product.aspx?ProductID=143290&FamilyID=4310

Look at this product. Be advised that you must use a metal 32 gallon trash can (Home Depot) otherwise you stand the chance of collapsing a plastic can.

It is important IF you use one of these to actually aim the incoming air at the side - not directly at the side, but at a slight angle. This is what makes the debris fall out and the dust continue on to your dust collector.

Another advantage of these add-ons is that anything that might damage your impellers of the dust collector will fall out into the 'sorting' can and thus not cause expensive impact damage to your dust collector. These are just a great preventative maintenance type addition to your dust collection system.