Thread: The evils of shop vacs

My clamp multimeter arrived today. Removed a section of the sheath on an extension cord to allow access to the hot wire with the multimeter.

With filters out, I am drawing 5.7 Amps. Given that the vac has a 1,600 W motor, it should be OK up to 1,600/240=6.67 Amps. I look like I am in good shape, with an Amp up my sleeve. Even then, the motor has an overload and cuts itself of if it gets too hot.

If Clear Vue ever put the CV06 Mini back on the market, I might try one of those.

I empty the vac canister by sucking it up with the Clear Vue. No mess, no dust in the air.

Been over a week since I moved the shop vac outside, ditched the filters and ran some 50mm PVC pipe into the shed. I still have the original 6m of flexy hooked up as well.

Once I got rid of the filters, all the issues went away. I am getting good suction and the lack of filters is creating far less mess outside than was anticipated.

The cyclone in my Hoover Garage Vac is pretty crude, but it collects a lot more of fine material such as sanding sealer that I initially guessed

All in all I am a happy chappie. The vac works fine and I no longer need to clean filters.

Originally Posted by John Samuel

Been over a week since I moved the shop vac outside, ditched the filters and ran some 50mm PVC pipe into the shed. I still have the original 6m of flexy hooked up as well.

Once I got rid of the filters, all the issues went away. I am getting good suction and the lack of filters is creating far less mess outside than was anticipated.

The cyclone in my Hoover Garage Vac is pretty crude, but it collects a lot more of fine material such as sanding sealer that I initially guessed

All in all I am a happy chappie. The vac works fine and I no longer need to clean filters.

good to hear it's working well.

Bob,

When I first started getting serious about dust collection I read one of your posts which suggested getting dust collection gear outside if possible, or to vent them outside.

It was good advice. Thanks. The Clear Vue is vented outside, and it works like a charm, but that left me with all the fine dust the shop vac spewed out. I was surprised at just how much of that invisible dust the vac produced, but all around it a thick coat of super fine dust built up much faster than I had anticipated. Moving the vac outside and removing the filters was always the better option in terms of control of invisible dust.

I hooked the vac up to an RF controlled GPO, so I can turn it on or off from anywhere in the shed. It uses the same controller the Clear Vue uses, which can control 3 GPO's. Thinking of hooking the third up to my table saw to eliminate the need to reach under the table to turn it off.

It seems that the suction loss caused by the PVC ducting is pretty well balanced by the removal of filters. So, if anyone else wants to eliminate the fine dust produced by the vac, it is well worth considering moving the beast outside and running some 50mm PVC pipe into the shed.

Originally Posted by John Samuel

It seems that the suction loss caused by the PVC ducting is pretty well balanced by the removal of filters. So, if anyone else wants to eliminate the fine dust produced by the vac, it is well worth considering moving the beast outside and running some 50mm PVC pipe into the shed.

Just a note of caution that not all VCs can handle having their filters removed as this could cause the motor to draw too much current and could damage the motor.

Mine looks OK (see earlier post about check on Amps). Have run it for periods of 30 minutes ... maybe a little more ... no problems and the motor has not cut out on overload/overheat. But other vacs may not have an auto cut out function.

Over a month has gone by since I moved the shop vac outside under a hood.

Apart from installing the cyclone, its the best move made so far in my attempts to keep the shop air clean. The difference is quite remarkable. Many surfaces, right across the shop, that once collected noticeable dust now stay much cleaner. Most of the surface dust found now is grey, not brown or red, another good sign.

When I first read BobL's comments about how excellent shop vacs were at creating superfine dust I was unsure about how significant the shop vac's contribution to my air quality problem was. The answer, as matters transpire, is very significant. Thanks BobL.

Originally Posted by John Samuel

. . . . Many surfaces, right across the shop, that once collected noticeable dust now stay much cleaner. Most of the surface dust found now is grey, not brown or red, another good sign.

That grey dust is classic urban dust that contains stuff like combustion products and ground up car tyres from motor vehicle, organics and ammonia that humans excrete (White) and ground up soil and sand. You might notice a but more than usual because your CLearvue and VC both suck in a lot of air from outside the shed.