Oneida Vac System and Shop Vac question

Happy pre heating to all! Three questions....1) Does anyone use this Oneida system. There are some neat You Tube videos showing the system in use and my first thought is, Wow...it really works! At up to $99 bucks though it's expensive....but if your not replacing bags and pre-filters as much, maybe it's worth it???
2) My main concern (as hard as vacuuming ash has always been,) what dust particles are exiting the exhaust on my shop vac? Unless I don't understand exactly how a shop vac works, I assume that some fine ash will always make it through to the exhaust and that is why I have attached a hepa Filter to my exhaust port....I have from time to time checked the inside of this Filter and I see no black areas........I still have a Power Smith vac but, I have found the bags very hard to clean and to keep ash from getting to the clean side of the filter.......Also I have notice black soot on the rim of the PS where the seal is suppose to be tight...
3) Back to my Ridgid Shop Vac. Like most Shop Vac's the top always sits loose...Does air blow out around the edges or does it get sucked in?

 

Greetings,

And Happy pre-heating season to you also Bostonfan49,


1) No, don't have it, although my father-in-law used a cyclone separator for woodworking, and it worked excellent. I dunno about the filtration rate for fine ash dust, but the one he had caught 98%+ of everything in the cyclone filter container.

Ash dust kills shop vac motors, so anything you can do to eliminate it before the vac is an excellent thing.

I've read that folks who do hobby sand-blasting use & recommend these cyclone filters in-line before their Shop Vac, so they must work well.

Ash dust killed our small 5 gallon 2 HP shop vac here last season, I ended up gutting that vac and converted it to a 'filter canister' to use in-line, before the new Shop Vac.

* If I had to guess w/ time and materials, it cost at least $100 to do this, for comparison vs. buying something pre-built.


2) If you are not running a filter bag, or HEPA cartridge inside the Shop Vac (before the motor), it may be a good idea to do so, that will extend the life of the Shop Vac considerably. * The HEPA exhaust cartridge is also an excellent idea for keeping the room clean.


3) On the smaller plastic shell Shop Vacs, when the motor is on, it is pulling vacuum and seals the top to the bottom canister - that's how they're designed to work.

If the vac is old, or the seal is imperfect, it can leak air in, or blow ash out, depending on where and how imperfect the seal is.

You can purchase some 3/8" EPDM weatherstripping from a local hardware or box store, and line that channel on the top (where it sits on the bottom canister) to get a better seal: this is what I did to the old converted 'filter canister' shop vac here, the top was pretty loose on the bottom canister due to age / wear. This fixed it, and works excellent here.

* My only concern when I was looking at the cyclone separators last season (before converting the trashed shop vac) was using a 'contractor bucket' as the storage container for ash - so if I was going to purchase one for stove cleaning, I'd probably consider getting the metal bottom canister version for the extra $$$ - would be worth it for me here.


Best answer I can give is Yes, I'd buy it.

 

Here's a link to Q & A and reviews on Amazon hope this helps

https://www.amazon.com/Oneida-AXD00...1474121066&sr=8-2&keywords=oneida+dust+deputy

 

Thanks CleanFire and imacman...
I do run a bag and a Rigid blue filter. My add-on HEPA filter's inside is pure white so I'm not sure it's needed??? The inside wall of my shop vac does get a bit of "side wall" black ash over the season, the bags rubber seal is seated correctly between the two black ridges. I think I might try to seal the top channel.
Thanks, Bill

 

how did you like those vermont queston pellets in your signature??

 

Skeeter....I burned about 3 tons last winter and thought that they were almost comparable to the VT Softies except that the pellets seemed a bit shorter in length. Now I may be wrong on this...but Vermont Renewable Energy Co. bought or took over the old Queston plant, refurbished it and started producing a newer version of the old pellet. This is what I received last fall. Now they appear ( I think ) to be selling two brands of softwood pellets, the 802 pellets and (unless I'm wrong) Green Mountain Pellets both Super Premium....if that really has any meaning anymore, but again comparable to the Vermont Softwood Pellets that I had previously burned. Thanks for asking because I have a bulk fill order for October and I probably need to tube them a note and find out what choice I have.
Bill

 

ok thanks,i got a couple bags of the green mtn to try here soon.....

 

Hi
Building a cyclonic separator in 20 mins for next to nothing in cost is the way to go!
This one is slick and 98% efficient for sawdust pickup! Amazing! ! !
You have to watch this video!

 

BF, I do have and use a dust deputy for woodworking. I bought it @ my local Ace hardware for $50. Having a large supply of 5 gallon buckets, I attached it to the lid of one. I did reinforce the lid with a piece of plywood on the underside. Very easy to do and worth the extra $50 they charge you for their "kit". I use it with my crapsman shop vac and it does a wonderful job collecting dust/shavings from my band saw/table saw/jointer etc. I will eventually get a larger bucket, but for now the 5 gal gets it done. I want to build a dolly cart for the whole kitten caboodle though. Like these

I like this one because it uses the shop vacs larger tub -


It keeps my shop vac filter totally clean!

 

I used to sift pellets when I first started, but now I never vac my pellets. Never an issue. Poor slowly and directly in the hopper with the bag touching the pellets in the hopper. I used a shop vac to clean out the ash in the stove. Never an issue with the motor. However, I have only been at it 8 yrs. This year I bought a rigid ash vac. cheap at $80. does a good job. Need to stop and go bang the filter against a tree to get the ash out of the filter. Cleans up well. I don't think an ash vac is necessary but it gives a little more protection. It has the right filter in it. Just remember that the ash vac is only a dry vac. It is small and easily fits beside the stove. The black color makes it fairly inconspicuous.