This Device KEEPS 99% OF DEBRIS Out Of Your Shop Vac!! (Dust Stopper/Dust Deputy/Dust Collector)

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Ridgid HEPA Replacement Cartridge Filter:

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This Device KEEPS 99% OF DEBRIS Out Of Your Shop Vac!! (Dust Stopper/Dust Deputy/Dust Collector)

Shop vacs and filter bags fill up quick with both large and small debris. This leads to tedious filter cleaning, or expensive filter replacement. This short video from The Honest Carpenter will show you a great tool that solves this problem!

CYCLONIC or CYCLONE DUST SEPARATORS are simple devices that plug into the suction pipeline of your shop vac or dust collector to separate and catch larger debris before it reaches the dust collector.

DUST STOPPER and DUST DEPUTY are two of the most common cyclone separators on the market. (This video features THE DUST STOPPER.)

Most cyclone separators attach to a 5-gallon bucket, or possibly a large trash can or collection bag.

When a shop vac or dust collector is turned on, suction draws dust and debris through a hose, into an inlet port on the cyclone dust separator. Here, spinning force separates large debris from very small particles.

Heavier, larger dust and debris are flung towards the outer wall of the cyclone, where they are channeled, or allowed to fall, into a collection basin. Lighter, much smaller particles stay near the center of the cyclone, due to their inertia, where they are sucked up through an outlet port.

Typically, only particles that are less than 10 microns in size will pass onto the dust collector filters.

Up to +99% of particles are caught by the cyclone separator!

This DRASTICALLY reduces dust collector filter maintenance. Anywhere from 5x to 100x less maintenance is required.

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[Dr.CandanEsin]

I really like your shares. About Ridgit vacuum cleaner, the outer cover plastic is a magnet for dust. How do you manage to get rid of all the dust out of this? Paper towel or vacuuming itself does not solve its dirt. Thanks.

[JeffreySJonas]

THANK YOU for summarizing the video in the description, with full descriptions of the cyclones to choose. You are more than fair with showing the ones you did NOT choose instead of just glorifying your "best choice" (too common with youtube videos). After getting frustrated with clickbait titles and descriptions, it is refreshing to see your integrity and honesty.

[Bill-YellowDogWelding]

I use similar. I also use "Pool Skimmer Socks" over the vacuum filter. You get 30 of them for next to nothing and they help prolong the life of the vacuum filter. I use the same "socks" over the filters in my hot tub to keep the bigger stuff out of it and prolong it's life too. Handy little buggers!!

[waguchan]

I have this exact same set-up and built a stand with pvc, abs, and a scrap of plywood. Dust extraction on my table saw works amazing. But I need to build some sort of dust hood for my miter saw because it only vacuums up about 1/2 or 3/4 of the dust. The suction when vacuuming the floor is very slow. I tried attaching a small Rockler vacuum fitting to the end of the hose for vacuuming in tight spaces, and the bucket did implode. So next time, I'll try the double bucket idea posted by other viewers here.

[karodora]

I’m an elderly woman who has only a few tools and very limited woodworking skills. For many years I have attached—using screws—an inexpensive wheeled flower-pot caddy (preferably round, but square will also work) to the bottom of each 5-gallon bucket I use for storage in my garage. I can easily move them around without difficulty. For buckets that are used for liquids I just add a few shims to the caddy on the outside of the bucket so I can easily move it. I know experienced carpenters will laugh at my system, but it has worked very well for me. My late father was a skilled carpenter and woodworker, so I enjoy watching these videos.

[jscw]

Thanks for introducing the 2 1/2 inch collector. Most of other videos are for old Ridigt models which use 1 1/2 or 2 inch hose.

[shubinternet]

If you do build a custom cart, I’d suggest making it so that you could use regular plumbing PVC pipe as the connector between the Rigid vacuum and the cyclonic separator, because those flexible hoses really do greatly reduce the quality and quantity of airflow in the system. All the good fixed dust collection systems use large diameter hard plastic tubing to connect everything, and they do so for really good reasons.

[MysticWanderer]

I have the dust deputy and built a cart to keep it on top of the vacuum works phenomenally

[nathanbuck]

Thanks for the review. Mentioning the microns was a great detail that you included. The only thing I am yet to understand about cyclone separators is whether an air handler would work. I have a squirrel cage fan in a box from a home A/C system which moves a LOT of air, but does not produce high vacuum. I will experiment.

[Hornsfan]

Don’t need it, but can’t live without it. YouTube is expensive!

[photobuf]

I considered building one and Home Depot put the Dust Collector on sale for 39.95 so I bought it. I am amazed at how well it works. I trimmed the lip of the 5 gallon bucket where it clips on to one side so now all I have to do is line up the trimmed part with the clip on the Dust Collector on one side, slip it on the bucket and give it a twist to lock it in place. A lot easier to get on and off. I wasn't sure how long the clips would last snapping them on and off so I modified the bucket.

[jefferyhaws]

I totally love my Dustopper. I added a couple more things to enhance it. I put metal tape around the top edge around the intake nozzle and then down the side and added a grounding chain to eliminate all the static I was getting on the tubing and the unit. I'm not sure if it was important for any spark issues but I didn't want to chance it.

[danalaniz]

This is great! I'm a beginning DIY woodworker and have recently seen the need to deal with all the sawdust in my limited work space. I'm looking forward to adding a unit to my Rigid vacuum. I appreciate your considering size of the space to hold both units and I'm looking forward to seeing the solution you build to make both units portable without the tangled hoses. Thanks for posting. As a beginner, I have learned more from you than from anyone else on the Internet and your channel was the first woodworking site that I subscribed to.

[chanel]

Ethan, as always, excellent. Don't think I've seen a vid of yours yet that didn't help get me thinking. I was an aero engineer in college, but I don't know anything about simple, practical stuff that's available. My current thinking . . . ? For my planned 16x24 shop, do the cyclone, 5 gal pail as mobile front end, patched into fixed station 5 to 10 horsepower suction in roof are at gable end, likely with simple diy sound enclosure. Simply vent anything that makes it past cyclone outside. No filter or secondary catchment. Just thinking, as an idea. Need to work through connection points, if I need some controllable blast gates, etc.

[kenerickson]

I just got the new Dustopper with the clear top and longer sweep 90s. This is replacing my homemade bucket with a Thein baffel. Fun to watch to dust swirl in the top. Have not evaluated the effectiveness of the system yet but seems better. I also have a washable bag over my filter.

[garymittelstadt]

After using the Dustopper for several years, I have to applaud your vid on it. About the only time I need to clean my vac filter immediately is after using it while cleaning my woodstove pipe. The rest of the time it collects at least 99% of what it vacuums up to include cottonwood cotton that makes it's way into the shop. For the price Dustopper can't be beat. I made a cart/holder for mine, added larger diameter casters to the setup and it's perfect!

[twopoolpeople]

Hello everyone. I've had this for a few years and it seemed to work good in my garage. Now the story! My front yard is all river rock with some shrubs and a large Chinese Fan Palm. The palm tree grows these large stems that have a ton of seeds on them. I used to cut them down, but the tree is too high now even with my pole saw. Anyway, these seeds (the size of olives) now fall onto and into the rocks. After a recent storm, so many fell the ground was green with seeds. You couldn't see the river rock there were so many. And they got mixed in with the rocks. This looked like a big back breaking job to get the seeds out. Then I thought that I would try my shop vac with the cyclone top. It worked super great. I used a tapered nozzle. I emptied the bucket when it was full the first time and checked to see if it sucked up any rocks. I raked my hand through the seeds and dirt it sucked up on top of the weed block for the few light rocks. The second time I emptied the bucket when it was half full. I filled 2 mulch bags half full before it got too hot outside. I dragged the vac back into the garage and decided to check the vac bag. IT WAS EMPTY! No dirt or seeds. When it gets cooler I will rake the rocks back away for the tree and mulch it so the seed can fall and stay in place. I had made a cart for the Ridgit 14 Gal vac with the cyclone bucket on the top when I first bought it.

[LordPadriac]

The problem with those short squat ones is they force the cyclone down into the collection bin. That means that it needs to be emptied of chips more often. More importantly it also means that the efficiency of both the suction and separation are nerfed as the thing fills up. The taller ones like the Dust Deputy and the Chinese knock off versions keep all of the cyclone out of the collection bin. I paired the more expensive $200.00 10 gallon Dust Deputy Deluxe version with a $99.00 Harbor Freight 16 Gallon 6.5 HP shop vac. $300.00 all in and this system works better in my tiny shop than the single stage dust collector I paid almost $800.00 for. Even my luchbox planer and my jointer which used to clog the single stage dust collector don't clog this setup. I admit that originally I bought into the hype that you NEEDED a big dust collector but having had one and "stepped down" to this setup I can't imagine ever going back.

[prozack]

I used this type of separator for a long time, but I finally tried the dust deputy and the difference was night and day. It did require a taller cart, but it honestly made a huge difference in the amount of debris collected as well as an increase in suction. I can’t recommend enough that people try the dust deputy instead of this bucket attachment style.

[danielpittman]

Most of the Ridgid vacs have little round slots on top of the wheel mounts, as a place to store the accessories.
Conveniently, PVC pipe also fits into the round slots, making it fairly simple to build a holder for the bucket right above the vacuum. It can be a little top-heavy, so I put a couple of bricks in the bottom of my shop vac.