Thread: Carbatec vs Hafco

Ring them both and ask if they have it in stock and available for immediate pickup. Go with the one that has it available for immediate pickup.

Based on other recent posts I would guess that you would go with the Hafco.

Peter.

Strongly consider the pleated cartridge to replace the top bag.

It greatly improves the "suck", also cut/remove the grill on the intake of the DE.

Check if Hafco have it on special during their 3 day sale that starts thursday and ends saturday.

Originally Posted by _fly_

Check if Hafco have it on special during their 3 day sale that starts thursday and ends saturday.

Hafco is on special @ $299, hence the impetus.

Originally Posted by Bob38S

Strongly consider the pleated cartridge to replace the top bag.
It greatly improves the "suck", also cut/remove the grill on the intake of the DE.

When filters are clean the measurements I have made suggest an 8-10% improvement in maximum flow of the pleated filter over the regular filter.
An additional benefit comes more from the increased time between cleaning of filters, however they still need to be cleaned (and much more often than I have seen)

Those DCs are capable of pulling considerably more air than the deliver in the stock form.
In case you have not seen this, this thread shows how to modify these DCs to get >50% more air flow, https://www.woodworkforums.com/f200/generic-2hp-dc-171247

Ive got the Hafco, never missed a beat (not that too much could really go wrong). I have it plumbed all through my workshop, the biggest maching would be my under and over (Scheppach HMS2600) which it services well. as per Bob38s's suggestion, one day I will go to a pleated filter, though in the meantime, it does the job just nice. I wouldn't hesitate to recomend it. I have no Idea how it would compare against the Carbatec one.

Best of luck

Sorry I forgot to add that the ones I tested of these were identical except for the filter bags where the Carbatec bag was definitely thicker.
Both are rated at 5 microns but that is MEANINGLESS unless a % filtration (at 5 microns) is given.
The Carbatech the Sherwood 2HP equivalent bags appear to be thicker which is probably why they were better at filtering the fine stuff straight out of the box.
The ultimate level of filtration is determined by the layers of fine sawdust that adheres to the inside of these filters after running for some hours.
This means every time after the filters are cleaned the H&F bags let more fine dust thru until the are "reasoned".

My recommendation is to locate DCs outside since it don't matter if they release some fine dust in the process.
If not then definitely put a bucket of sawdust in the DC and run it outside for a couple of hours so the bags season.
This will reduce the levels of fine dust in the shed.

The same applies to the stock pleated filters. Straight out of the box the standard H&F filters are poorer at filtering fine stuff that the CT and Sherwood filter bags. As they take long to season they take a lot long rot clog. Goo for air flow but poor for retaining fine dust .

I've got the Hafco (Hare & Forbes / Machinery House - whatever you want to call them) 2HP. I bought it with the pleated filter. (I've never used the felt filter that came with it.) It works OK. So far I'm using it with five meters of flexible 100mm plastic ducting, and that much flexible ducting is restricting it's performance. As I'm sick of having to move the dust collection hose between machines, I'll soon be plumbing the dusty in permanently, running overhead 100mm PVC storm water pipe and fittings. Moving to overhead piping will also remove the trip hazard caused by the 100mm flexible hose running across the floor.

I have a few observations regarding the Hafco Dust Extractor:

1. It is challenging to get an air tight seal between the pleated filter and the dust collector housing on the Hafco 2HP Dusty. I'm still trying to think of an alternative seal arrangement that will be easy to get an air tight seal, and that will stay that way. With the seal being less than airtight, there is some fine dust leakage from the seal area.
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2. Although a Dust Extractor will not usually be the noisiest tool or piece of machinery in most woodwork workshops, for some reason many people perceive the noise from an unenclosed Dust Extractor to be very loud and annoying. Non-woodworking people often perceive the dust extractor to be the loudest thing in the workshop - possibly (maybe) because we often run the dust extractor for a longer period of time than other machinery, or maybe because of the dust extractor generates a relatively high pitched noise.
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   To reduce the Dust Extractor generated noise in my workshop, I built a simple enclosure (constructed from a pine frame with 12mm ply cladding on the workshop facing walls and on the ceiling - no other sound insulation material) in the corner of the workshop to house the Dust Extractor. The enclosure is vented to the outside of the building via an existing louvre window. The enclosure reduced the Dust Extractor generated noise level in the workshop from 85 to 90 dB, down to about 65dB (which is a low enough to be able to talk over easily without shouting). (CAUTION: The actual sound levels that I measured are indicative for comparison purposes only, as I used an app on my Android mobile phone as the sound level meter.) If your workshop is also your garage and is attached to your house, as my workshop is - then your family members will be appreciative if you build a noise dampening enclosure for the dusty. If you have neighbours close by, be aware that the external facing vent for the dust extractor enclosure seems to focus / funnel / amplify the dust extractor noise outwards from the vent, and would annoy the hell out of the neighbours if they are close by in that direction. Fortunately, I'm on 20 acres, so it's not a problem for me.
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3. A Men's Shed near where I used to live had a 2HP Hafco dusty. They decided that they wanted to buy a pleated filter for it. Unfortunately, Machinery House were out of stock at the time, so they bought the equivalent Pleated Filter from Carbatec - "because the Hafco and Carbatec 2HP dust collectors look almost identical, so the Carbatec filter should fit - shouldn't it....?" No the Carbatec pleated filter was not a direct fit on the Hafco dusty, although with some Heath Robinson work with different seals it could be made to fit. (The Men's Shed managed to sell the Carbatec filter to a member who had a Carbatec dusty, and bought a Hafco filter when they were back in stock.)

Hope that info's useful.

Regards,

Roy

Thanks all. I value all your advices' and decided to go with the Carbatec dust extractor.

Carbatec price matched the Hafco price of $299, plus their hoses had a 20% off special. All up $340.60 including clamps.

What swayed me was Bob's note that the Carbatec bag may be thicker than the Hafco model, and hence slightly better filtration. This may be a moot point, as the intent is to eventually locate the dust extractor outside whenever I am using it.