BadBob Posted April 15 Report Share Posted April 15 Since so many of us seem to be fixated on dust, some might find this interesting. I noticed that the dust collector wasn't blowing air like it should, so I climbed up there and pulled the filter. I didn't change it for a new one, but I carefully took it outdoors and blew the dust off with my battery-powered blower. The blower is gentler than using my air compressor. I reinstalled the filter, and all is well. The fine secondary filters looked good, so I didn't touch them. They were still white. OCtoolguy and barb.j.enders 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flarud Posted April 15 Report Share Posted April 15 I have the Wen also. I place a piece of blue tape on the bottom of the housing with the date of when I last cleaned the filter. I try to do it every month. I've had the Wen for about 2-3 years and have only replaced the outside filters once. The inside filter always looks pretty good. But I do lightly blow it when I clean the outside filter too. OCtoolguy 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BadBob Posted April 15 Author Report Share Posted April 15 I have a piece of yarn hanging on the exit. As long as it blows straight out, I don't do anything. OCtoolguy and MarieC 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blondewood Posted April 16 Report Share Posted April 16 I trim the inner cardboard 'frame' that is in a diamond shape. gives more area to collect dust and lets me get the vacuum nozzle in there to clean it when it's full to extend the life of the filter. MarieC and OCtoolguy 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sycamore67 Posted April 16 Report Share Posted April 16 I change the filter routinely in my shop on a Jet air filter. OCtoolguy and MarieC 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
barb.j.enders Posted April 16 Report Share Posted April 16 That looks like mine. Thanks for the reminder to clean mine. The replacement cost (in dollars) is $90 for 2. I know the replacement cost (for health) is priceless. MarieC 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scrollerpete Posted April 16 Report Share Posted April 16 17 minutes ago, barb.j.enders said: That looks like mine. Thanks for the reminder to clean mine. The replacement cost (in dollars) is $90 for 2. I know the replacement cost (for health) is priceless. Barb, go to Amazon only $44.00 shipped to your door MarieC and barb.j.enders 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kmmcrafts Posted April 16 Report Share Posted April 16 You can also just tap them on the clothesline post to knock off the big stuff.. just don't do it when there is clean cloths on the line.. Don't ask how I found that one out.. I now go over to the neighbors and tap the dust out of it inside his car on the steering wheel.. Just kidding.. I never thought about using the leaf blower, I've used the air compressor to blow off the dust.. this works a few times but over time it gets too much build up and makes it not as efficient as is should / could be.. so it is best to change it every few times of blowing it out. You'd be surprised at how much better it works with a brand new filter. Something I find odd is.. no matter the brand name.. they all seem to be the same machine with a different price and color, LOL.. I have the Grizzly one.. bought it on sale for about the price of the WEN model one, but that was before WEN came out with one so there is that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TAIrving Posted April 16 Report Share Posted April 16 Similar experience here. I also go outside to knock the dust off the outer filter and I do replace it occasionally. For those who might be curious: The outer filter catches dust 5-micron and larger in size while the inner filter catches dust that passes the outer filter down to 1-micron in size and I note that the inner filter seems to stay clean. The conclusion is that the dust we create with our various woodworking is mostly 5-micron and larger. BadBob 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BadBob Posted April 16 Author Report Share Posted April 16 1 hour ago, kmmcrafts said: I never thought about using the leaf blower I'm not using a leaf blower. I have a Dewalt DCE100 that I use in the shop. I don't think this one is available in the US. I bought mine from someone on eBay. Today, the only places I can find them are all outside the US. Dewalt has a DCE100B on their website. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kmmcrafts Posted April 16 Report Share Posted April 16 (edited) 7 minutes ago, BadBob said: I'm not using a leaf blower. I have a Dewalt DCE100 that I use in the shop. I don't think this one is available in the US. I bought mine from someone on eBay. Today, the only places I can find them are all outside the US. Dewalt has a DCE100B on their website. ahh, okay.. makes a bit more sense to me now, I was wondering how the heck you might hold the filter while also handling the leaf blower.. I figured I'd try to get the wife to hold the filter while I blow the dust out of it.. If nothing else it might get some views on instagram, tiktok and youtube.. Edited April 16 by kmmcrafts Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BadBob Posted April 16 Author Report Share Posted April 16 As a filter clogs, it removes finer particles, but the airflow decreases. At some point, the airflow decreases enough that there is not enough air to draw the dust in. That is why I have a piece of yarn hanging in the outflow. If the yarn is waving around straight out. The filter is working. If it begins to droop, filter maintenance is in order. I worked on equipment that had several 100 air filters. These were designed to be reusable indefinitely. Cleaning these filters was a major chore until someone discovered filter paper. We started using filter paper outside the filters and rarely had to clean them. kmmcrafts and OCtoolguy 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sycamore67 Posted April 17 Report Share Posted April 17 I do not know what filters the Wen uses. My Jet uses 12 x 24 x 1 filters and they are $7.78 each. They work well for me. HomeDepot has them for less. In case people are wondering, the chart shows what size particles each MERV rating captures. You could use a higher MERV rating filter at higher cost but probably will not result in a better result. OCtoolguy 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
barb.j.enders Posted April 17 Report Share Posted April 17 On 4/16/2024 at 7:16 AM, scrollerpete said: Barb, go to Amazon only $44.00 shipped to your door My mistake. I misremembered the pricing. OCtoolguy 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
barb.j.enders Posted April 18 Report Share Posted April 18 (edited) On 4/17/2024 at 7:54 AM, barb.j.enders said: My mistake. I misremembered the pricing. @OCtoolguyA lady never admits she is wrong!!! Or says a guy is right!! Edited April 18 by barb.j.enders OCtoolguy 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OCtoolguy Posted April 18 Report Share Posted April 18 4 hours ago, barb.j.enders said: @OCtoolguyA lady never admits she is wrong!!! Or says a guy is right!! Huh? What'd I say? I can't find my post. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
barb.j.enders Posted April 18 Report Share Posted April 18 1 hour ago, OCtoolguy said: Huh? What'd I say? I can't find my post. You put a confused emoji on my comment! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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