# Cleaning pleated filters



## Ken Johnson (Nov 8, 2007)

Have a Grizzly 3 hp dust collector that has two pleated filters. They are clogged and I was wondering if they can be cleaned and what is the best method. Also, does anyone make replacement filters that are less than $187 each? Dang these are expensive. For a few more bucks I could buy a whole new dust collector! The entire thing sells for $625. Any suggestions?


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## Dave Paine (May 30, 2012)

I use a brush on the inside to remove most of the debris, then a shop vac on the inside with a brush fitting, and finally clean out with compressed air from the outside to the inside. You want the filter on the floor or do this outside to minimize dust.

I hated doing this to finally installed a Thien baffle, now only fine dust gets trapped and I can go many months before cleaning, and when I do need to clean the shop vac and compressed air work well.


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## Ken Johnson (Nov 8, 2007)

Dave Paine said:


> I use a brush on the inside to remove most of the debris, then a shop vac on the inside with a brush fitting, and finally clean out with compressed air from the outside to the inside. You want the filter on the floor or do this outside to minimize dust. I hated doing this to finally installed a Thien baffle, now only fine dust gets trapped and I can go many months before cleaning, and when I do need to clean the shop vac and compressed air work well.


What is a thief baffle?


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## Bob Willing (Jul 4, 2008)

I use a leaf blower first I blow from the outside than the inside after a couple of times everything is clean again. I do this out side of my shop and let the wind blow away the dust.


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## Ken Johnson (Nov 8, 2007)

Bob Willing said:


> I use a leaf blower first I blow from the outside than the inside after a couple of times everything is clean again. I do this out side of my shop and let the wind blow away the dust.


I like that idea! Thanks.


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## toolguy1000 (Oct 4, 2012)

Ken Johnson said:


> I like that idea! Thanks.


a thien baffle is a plate that affects the performance of DCs in two ways, both positive. i suggest you check out phil's site:

http://www.jpthien.com/

lots of info and great ideas.

i applied the baffle/jet "vortex cone" principle to a delta 50-850 using a discarded frying pan. others have used woks. the baffle is easy to fabricate and can be used in the drum ring of a single stage collector or in a pre-separator to capture upwards of 95% of the collected debris before it gets to the filter. 

here's how i did mine:

http://lumberjocks.com/topics/40189

dramatically increased the debris going to the collection bag instead of my pleated filter, keeping the filter cleaner longer thereby maintaining suction for a longer period of time than operating without a baffle in the drum ring.


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## mobilepaul (Nov 8, 2012)

Ken Johnson said:


> Have a Grizzly 3 hp dust collector that has two pleated filters. They are clogged and I was wondering if they can be cleaned and what is the best method. Also, does anyone make replacement filters that are less than $187 each? Dang these are expensive. For a few more bucks I could buy a whole new dust collector! The entire thing sells for $625. Any suggestions?



According to Bill Pentz, you should never scrape them or brush them. Use air to blow them out. That is compressed air from the outside of the filter blowing into the inside of the filter. All done, of course, outside the shop! 

http://billpentz.com/woodworking/cyclone/index.cfm

You can call the people at Wynn Environmental and they will hook you up...

http://wynnenv.com/woodworking-filters/

the ones from them will be 0.5 micron and that gets most of the superfine dust.

Better still, if you could put the DC to exhaust outside, you could use canvas bags and forgo the expensive filters.


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## MT Stringer (Jul 21, 2009)

My baffle works great for the larger pieces but the fine dust from the drum sander winds up in the filter pleats! UGH! Gotta stop and clean it.


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## rrich (Jun 24, 2009)

I have a couple of shop vacuum with pleated filters. About every other time these are emptied, I clean between the pleats with the other shop vacuum. Five minutes beats buying another filter for about $45. (HEPA filters)

I think that you have just explained the advantage to using bags on a large dust collector. I have a long stick that I use to beat the top bag. 

With the Thein baffle system all your dust collector will get is the wood flour. All the chips are trapped below the Thein baffle. I'm told that it seems to work better than a cyclone system.

I use one of those trash can separators. The plastic top fits on a galvanized 30 gallon trash can. (Woodcraft and Rockler) All that I see in the bottom bag of the dust collector is wood flour. I'm assuming that just wood flour in the DC I good.


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## Chezbu (Jun 11, 2014)

*Cleaning your Cartidge Filters*

Hi Ken, I use a tool called "Power Pic Pro" to clean the cartridge filter in my shop vac..... Hope this helps...



Ken Johnson said:


> Have a Grizzly 3 hp dust collector that has two pleated filters. They are clogged and I was wondering if they can be cleaned and what is the best method. Also, does anyone make replacement filters that are less than $187 each? Dang these are expensive. For a few more bucks I could buy a whole new dust collector! The entire thing sells for $625. Any suggestions?


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## fire65 (Apr 27, 2013)

Ken Johnson said:


> What is a thief baffle?


Always one guy that is the English major. If you knew anything about dust collectors you would know what he meant. 
A THEIN or THIEN, google will take either, baffle.


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## ORBlackFZ1 (Dec 25, 2013)

Ken:

I have been using a leaf blower for many years to clean my filter. I also have a Thien Top Hat pre-separator that keeps the filter clean. 

Eric


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## TomC (Oct 27, 2008)

I also use a leaf blower and it works great. It does make a very large dust cloud. Use a dust mask and do it in an open are outside.
Tom


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## ORBlackFZ1 (Dec 25, 2013)

*A very large dust cloud?*



TomC said:


> I also use a leaf blower and it works great. It does make a very large dust cloud. Use a dust mask and do it in an open are outside.
> Tom


:huh: I must be missing something.... When I use my leaf blower on my filter, I get very little dust outside of the fine dust collection bag. The only dust that comes out is through the DC inlet. If I cap it, I get no dust. All the dust from the filter falls into the fines dust bag. I get more "dust cloud" when I change the fines bag then when I use the leaf blower on the filter.

Tom, help me understand how you are getting such a dust cloud? Are you removing the filter from the DC before you use the leaf blower?

Eric


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## Bob Willing (Jul 4, 2008)

rrich said:


> I have a couple of shop vacuum with pleated filters. About every other time these are emptied, I clean between the pleats with the other shop vacuum. Five minutes beats buying another filter for about $45. (HEPA filters)
> 
> I think that you have just explained the advantage to using bags on a large dust collector. I have a long stick that I use to beat the top bag.
> 
> ...


I realize this is an old post but:

I made two different Thein baffles and over time I would end up with wood flour in the plastic collection bag beneath the Wynn filter. 
After I made and used the cyclone system I no longer get wood flour in the plastic bag beneath the Wynn pleated filter. I did get some fine dust when I forgot to empty the garbage can and it was over filled. http://www.woodworkingtalk.com/f32/cyclone-dc-51167/

I made the cyclone filter back in May of 2013 and 3 weeks ago I removed the Wynn filter and blew out the fine wood flour. Before I made the cyclone DC I would get a big buildup of fine dust within the Wynn filter. I no longer get that build up. I use to clean the Wynn filter every three months. I use a wind velocity gauge at one of my dust collection ports to determine when to clean the Wynn filter. When the wind velocity gets below 13 mph I clean the filter.

By the way with the Thein separator I could never get more than 11 mph.

The cyclone DC from my point of view is far superior the Thein.


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## Bob Willing (Jul 4, 2008)

ORBlackFZ1 said:


> :huh: I must be missing something.... When I use my leaf blower on my filter, I get very little dust outside of the fine dust collection bag. The only dust that comes out is through the DC inlet. If I cap it, I get no dust. All the dust from the filter falls into the fines dust bag. I get more "dust cloud" when I change the fines bag then when I use the leaf blower on the filter.
> 
> Tom, help me understand how you are getting such a dust cloud? Are you removing the filter from the DC before you use the leaf blower?
> 
> Eric


 Are you using a Thein separator or cyclone DC? Are you using a plastic or filter bag below your Wynn pleated filter? Are you using two filter bags?


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## ORBlackFZ1 (Dec 25, 2013)

Bob Willing said:


> Are you using a Thein separator or cyclone DC? Are you using a plastic or filter bag below your Wynn pleated filter? Are you using two filter bags?


Jet DC-1100 with the original Jet canister

Thien Top Hat Pre-Separator (with 6" ports). 

Original Plastic bag below the Jet Canister.

See attached photo.


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## TomC (Oct 27, 2008)

ORBlackFZ1 said:


> :huh: I must be missing something.... When I use my leaf blower on my filter, I get very little dust outside of the fine dust collection bag. The only dust that comes out is through the DC inlet. If I cap it, I get no dust. All the dust from the filter falls into the fines dust bag. I get more "dust cloud" when I change the fines bag then when I use the leaf blower on the filter. Tom, help me understand how you are getting such a dust cloud? Are you removing the filter from the DC before you use the leaf blower? Eric


I completely remove the filter from the dust collector. I take it outside. I set it so it's off the ground and allows air flow to exit the bottom. I will sit it on a three blocks. I blow from the outside and the dust comes off the filter and out the bottom thru the opening between the blocks and the ground.
Tom


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## Bob Willing (Jul 4, 2008)

ORBLACKF21

I would follow TomC advice. 

I also noticed by your pics you have wood flour in the bottom of your plastic bag. Why do you have clamps holding the baffle in place. Do you use the paddles inside your filter. I understand that is a good idea, but it shortens the life of the filter pleats.


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## ORBlackFZ1 (Dec 25, 2013)

*Thanks for the details.*



TomC said:


> I completely remove the filter from the dust collector. I take it outside. I set it so it's off the ground and allows air flow to exit the bottom. I will sit it on a three blocks. I blow from the outside and the dust comes off the filter and out the bottom thru the opening between the blocks and the ground.
> Tom


Thanks for the details. I get your process now. 

So the big question is: Do you find that the filter gets cleaner this way? As opposed to leaving the filter on the DC and blowing it out? 

The couple of times I have removed my filter, and then blew it out with the leaf blower, I didn't find the filter any cleaner than just leaving it on the DC and blowing it out with the leaf blower. 

Leaving the filter on the DC produced a lot less mess, because all the fines that I blew out ended up in the plastic bag. After I finished blowing the filter out on the DC, I take the filter off and blow it again with the leaf blower and very few fines would come out, so I assumed that blowing the filter out while it was on the DC, cleaned it just as good as removing the filter. Does that make sense?

Thanks again for your detailed process. Sometimes I think that I am using a good process, but then I find out about someone else's process and wonder if that process is better. That is one of my favorite things about woodworking: ask ten (10) different woodworkers how to accomplish a task and you may get ten (10) different answers. All the answers may work, but they may also vary in speed, cost and quality.


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## ORBlackFZ1 (Dec 25, 2013)

Bob Willing said:


> ORBLACKF21
> 
> I also noticed by your pics you have wood flour in the bottom of your plastic bag.


Hey Bob, sorry, but I don't get your point here. Isn't the plastic bag for collecting the fines? Are you saying the bag should be empty? Please help me understand your comment, so I can learn...



Bob Willing said:


> Why do you have clamps holding the baffle in place.


Are you referring to the clamps holding the Thien Top Hat Pre-Separator to the wood chip collection barrel? If so, I would have thought the clamps were obvious. They are keeping the Pre-Separator on top of the barrel. Did I miss your point?



Bob Willing said:


> Do you use the paddles inside your filter. I understand that is a good idea, but it shortens the life of the filter pleats.


Yes, I use to use the paddles a lot before I added the Thein Top Hat Pre-Separator. Now I don't have to, because after I added the Thein Top Hat Pre-Separator, very little fines get past the Pre-Separator.

Do you have any test data that supports your understanding? I would love to see the results. One of my favorite woodworkers, publishes a lot of very interesting information at https://woodgears.ca/. 

Here are a couple of links to some of the testing that he has done:

Dylos Air Particle counter - (http://woodgears.ca/dust/dylos.html)

Joint Strength - (http://woodgears.ca/joint_strength/)

Dovetail Strength - (http://woodgears.ca/dovetail/strength.html)

Anyways, thanks for your comments. I love learning about woodworking.


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## Bob Willing (Jul 4, 2008)

Fines in plastic bag:

With the Thein Separator (TS) there should be no fines in the plastic bag.

Clamps:

My point is the TS should have enough weight to form a good seal, maybe your seal is bad.

Paddles:

My point is after reading many authors opinions over a year ago that the paddles decrease the life of the filter by damaging the filter.

At one time I had thought of making my own paddles but decided against that plan.

My point over all:

The cyclone dust collector is far superior to the TS.


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## ORBlackFZ1 (Dec 25, 2013)

Bob Willing said:


> Fines in plastic bag:
> With the Thein Separator (TS) there should be no fines in the plastic bag.


Yes, you are correct. Since I switched to the Thien Top Hat Pre-Separator, I have only gotten the amount you see in the bag after about 12 full barrels of saw dust. Most of the fines in the bag were from when my barrel overflowed.

I have checked my filter every time I emptied the barrel and it hasn't needed to be cleaned yet. I am really amazed at how well the Thien Top Hat works.



Bob Willing said:


> Clamps:
> My point is the TS should have enough weight to form a good seal, maybe your seal is bad.


My Thien Top Hat is actually pretty light. The clamps were only on to test it. The clamps have been replaced with catches. There is weather stripping seal between the Top Hat and the barrel. There is no vacuum leak that I can find.



Bob Willing said:


> Paddles:
> My point is after reading many authors opinions over a year ago that the paddles decrease the life of the filter by damaging the filter.
> 
> At one time I had thought of making my own paddles but decided against that plan.


With the Thien Top Hat, the paddles will get very little use.



Bob Willing said:


> My point over all:
> 
> The cyclone dust collector is far superior to the TS.


Can't disagree with that point. Now, if I could only win the lottery......even just a small amount, like $2k!

Thanks again for helping out a newbie!


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## TomC (Oct 27, 2008)

ORBlackFZ1 said:


> Thanks for the details. I get your process now. So the big question is: Do you find that the filter gets cleaner this way? As opposed to leaving the filter on the DC and blowing it out? The couple of times I have removed my filter, and then blew it out with the leaf blower, I didn't find the filter any cleaner than just leaving it on the DC and blowing it out with the leaf blower. Leaving the filter on the DC produced a lot less mess, because all the fines that I blew out ended up in the plastic bag. After I finished blowing the filter out on the DC, I take the filter off and blow it again with the leaf blower and very few fines would come out, so I assumed that blowing the filter out while it was on the DC, cleaned it just as good as removing the filter. Does that make sense? Thanks again for your detailed process. Sometimes I think that I am using a good process, but then I find out about someone else's process and wonder if that process is better. That is one of my favorite things about woodworking: ask ten (10) different woodworkers how to accomplish a task and you may get ten (10) different answers. All the answers may work, but they may also vary in speed, cost and quality.


I have a Jet D/C and it has a plastic bag under the filter to collect the dust. If I don't remove the filter from the D/C I would not get good air flow out of the filter. It is very important to have the filter elevated so you have a good size opening on the bottom for the air flow and dust to exit the filter. I use a backpack leaf blower and it does a great job on cleaning the filter. I have to be careful and not cause the filter to fall over.
Tom


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## Bob Willing (Jul 4, 2008)

Can't disagree with that point. Now, if I could only win the lottery......even just a small amount, like $2k!

Thanks again for helping out a newbie![/QUOTE]\

Follow my link it only cost $130.00 to build http://www.woodworkingtalk.com/f32/cyclone-dc-51167/ I bought the sheet metal from a HVAC contractor and had him cut it into manageable sheets. Also at the beginning of the post there is a pdf file with plans.


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