1 Micron Dust Extractors

[Sir Stinkalot]

Hot off the presses at Carbatec (www.carbatec.com.au)

.....1 Micron Dust Extractors
The common dust extractor is an absolute essential in most workshops these days. A standard drawback found in most standard machines is that their standard canvas extraction and collection bags, with their 30 micron rating, are good for trapping chips and larger wood particles but are useless for trapping the fine dust that poses the most significant health risk to your respiratory system.

Why not start with the ideal setup?

Our new Carba-Tec dust extractors start at a price you're already familiar with and include standard 1 micron bags that will trap even the finest particles. These machines will be arriving in Carba-Tec stores throughout Australia and New Zealand in the next couple of weeks. They will also be featured at the first of this year's Working with Wood Shows in Auckland.

[burn]

Just checked out their site ... had to navigate by hand ... they should check their site more often so bad links are discovered ... never the less, you can see the pic's of their 1 micron DC's, but I hope to god the process of filter cleaning is NOT hang inside out on the clothes line and hitting them with a tennis racquet!!

I'd hope that they'd use the drum filters which have a handle on top which does the beating for you BUT INSIDE THE FILTER.

I've e-mailed them the question ... I'm hopeing for a non-carcinogenic answer.

As an aside, it appears DC is getting serious in our favoured stores ... just got a 2004 Jet catalog (from Gregory's) and Jet have a 2micron dust canistor as well as a range of separater lids (poor-man's cyclone).

I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the Carbatec filters is a canister based one and hence we can safely clean it.


Burn

[soundman]

I look at micron filtration claims with interest.
How many of the dust bags & filter cartriges advertised have certified ratings.

from my investigation The micron rating is not that simple, all the serious boys are qualifying their micron ratings.

one of the spec sheets I have states the filtration "micron size" as 1 to 5 microns. depending on the air speed.

bill penz has a lot to say about the matter on his site & I have found that it rings true.

that said it has to be better than 30 microns, thats not a filter its a strainer.???

[outback]

After checking the website, (the link on the front page seems to work OK now) it would seem that one does indeed require a tennis racqet to clean the bags.

One interesting point, especially "in the times in which we now live" these bags are advertised as 1 micron, the website has no fine print to point out that they are eally 1-5 micron, or they arn't actually certified, or they were tested after building up a nice caking of dust.
Does this mean they are liable if in fact they don't filter particles larger than 1 micron?

[burn]

Well, yes, they have fixed their web pages, but I am still waiting on a answer to the e-mail I sent regarding whether or not I clean the filter in a carcinogenic manner (tennis racquet).

I am hoping they just don't have the pictures of their new filters (hence the bags) and really use a canister filter (ie with the handle to internally beat the filter planes).

Out of curiosity, does anyone know the best Carbatec store to call for info (Sydney, Brisbane?) ... do they have a headquarters?

I'll call them tomorrow to see if I can elicit an answer on the type of filter.

Burn

[Grunt]

The head office is Brisbane

[Wayne Davy]

After having a look at the pics on Carbatec of these new D/C's, they are just fitted with "1 micron" top filter bags with plastic bottom collection bags. As Soundman has pointed out, this 1 micron rating would not be certified and would probably be obtained using a "Caked" bag. Personally, I don't believe the claim for a minute.

[burn]

Just spoke to Carbatec, the new "1 micron" bags are just pleated filters and you clean them using the carcinogenic bashing method.

Oh well, perhaps one day someone will come out with an inexpensive 1 micron cannister filter with clearning handle


:-(

[outback]

Thanks Burn for making the enquiry and posting the reply. As you say, maybe one day.

Perhaps Wayne could enlighten us further re the torit filters he has spoken about. I saw them mentioned on Bill's website as well, but have not run across any info in ty catalogues or on the web from a distributer.

[soundman]

I have done the ring arround on filters.

the torit filters are available in australia BUT they aint cheap.

the best option for a decent pleated cartridge filter is the ones for the standard dust collectors.

however buying them from filtration fabrics seems to be the go.

they are all made to order and they don't seem to be worried about onesies & twosies.

on the cheep filters line, not certified not 1 micron. the eqavalent to the truck filters on the penz site.

toyota land cruser filters seem to be the closest. about $27 each probably 30 micron ish but 4 or 6 of those would probably flow better than a clogged bag.

new truck air filters are very expensive.

comments???

[bitingmidge]

Reading this thread I am reminded of an old advert for motorcycle helmets...$10.00 helmets are ok, if you have a $10.00 head.

Obviously if one has the time it is possible to create a one micron filter, but when I was researching this two years ago, there was very little saving to be had, and a LOT of uncertainty about the end result.

Having seen my carpenter brother-in-law die as a result of asbestos-related lung cancer, and my father from asthma-related nasty stuff which he contracted in his late 50's, it's probably no surprise that I have this "if you can't afford to filter the air, you shouldn't be doing it" approach to wood work! Hence my belts and braces approach.

I have a Gregory Machinery pleated filter fitted to the 2hp dust extractor - (claimed only to take dust to 3 microns by the way) as well as a Jet Air filter system which mops up the rest. (claims 85% of 1 micron particles from my recollection, and 95% of 5 micron - all of which is sort of believable; at least there are no claims of getting everything!

The reality is that I can play all day and have no dust on my car parked 2 metres away the next morning, which is a great indicator that there is no microscopic stuff floating around. My workshop is directly connected to my office/library with a 1.8m opening and I have yet to notice a problem with air-borne dust.

When I have the time, I will build a cyclone because I want to, but don't expect any difference in performance, and I will be adapting the same filter/bag arrangement.

If one was to try a "cheaper" alternative, would it be logical to use the furnace filter and 1micron sock in a set up like the room extractors? Probably couldn't handle the volume of air, but may be worth a look.

For those who will instantly react with "it's ok for those who can afford it"....., during the 25 years I spent saving for this stuff, I used a good old bog-standard replacable cartridge respirator, and almost always worked outdoors (didn't have a shed. :))

Unsolicited endorsement follows:-

I have purchased by stuff from the very helpful Ian at Maleny Touchwood on the Sunshine Coast Hinterland (http://www.touchwoodaustralia.com/) who is an agent for Gregory Machinery (http://www.gregmach.com).

[dale]

Originally posted by bitingmidge
I have a Gregory Machinery pleated filter fitted to the 2hp dust extractor .

Do you have the Teflon coated fabric, or just the normal fabric. I'm curious as to how well dust brushes off, and how it attaches to the collector...

[bitingmidge]

Suspect that because the words "TEFLON" is not anywhere to be seen in big red letters, that the filter is "normal".

The brush is an internal one, with an external handle, so cleaning is done in the sealed environment, and seems to work OK. It is amazing how much dust one can brush out of the thing after use, so I guess it is mostly clean at the end of the day.

The canister attaches in the same location as the bag, on a flanged adaptor, with a set of clips as per picture.

Hope this is self explanitory,

Cheers,

P

[soundman]

looks like a gregory machinery cartridge by the clips used.

you will find most australian made cartridge filters and needle felt bags are made by filtration fabrics. they seem to be friendl folks.

gregorys also have the imported JET 2 micron cartriges at about $275 which is very competitive.

[bitingmidge]

Soundman,

Yep, Gregory Machinery Filter it is! ;)

Mine is on a Jet DC 1200 machine, and the current Gregory Web price is $722.00 for the "kit".

I assume that you are referring to a smaller size, and perhaps just the replacement filter at $275 ?

At the time I bought mine, Jet had not released theirs in Oz, and I gather Greg Mach had something to do with the development.

Cheers,

P

[soundman]

that price was just the cartrige.

I think you will find it was developed for a larger market than greg' mach'

[Wayne Davy]

As soundman mentioned, Torit type filters are a shocking price in Oz especially compared to how much the Yanks pay ($70 USD or less). I emailed a few companies in Oz that are the agents for the ones that Bill Pentz mentions on his site and got back the following price for one:


From: [email protected]

The filter you are looking for is:

BAC-TD503 Filter Cartridge $160.00 ea

The above products are available ex Brisbane warehouse. The price does not include GST or freight Charges.

If you require further information, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Regards,


Melanie Edwards
CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE
Ph: 03 9308 7399
Fx: 03 9308 7933


Adding in GST and freight Charges (which are still payable if you pick up!!!), I got to near enough $200. I got a price on a FARR one Bill mentions and it was $260!

Now, considering you need two of these for the best result giving you the same surface area of the Jet/Greg Mach Filter, you may as well go for Jet/Greg Mach instead.