Nothing is working!!

[vacuumman206]

I'm having a hard time finding a vacuum that is working for what I need to do. I am doing a paint and patch job with a fair amount of drywall sanding involved. every shop vac that I've used has had more dust on the machine rather than in it. I was thinking about using my rainbow but I don't know how good they would be with drywall dust. And I don't want to end up taking it apart and cleaning out because it's full of drywall dust. Any body ever use a rainbow for fine dust?? I can't think of any other machine i own besides possibly my electrolux tank that would work good as a continual air cleaner. And the Riccar I just got for the place takes a fair amount of passes before the carpet comes clean.

 

[dustin]

NO! Do not use your Rainbow to pick up drywall dust! Drywall dust is not wettable, meaning it will just float on the water and be pulled through the motor..

 

[rugsucker]

DO NOT-

-use a Rainbow for sheetrock type dust(probably the worst example of fine dust).As official Rainbow literature has stated some fine dust is non wettable and will bounce off water,either passing back into the room air or clogging filter on newer models.Some commercials with proper bags/filters may work well but it is hard to beat the Electrolux 4 ply self sealing bag for many remodeling jobs.One hint would be to vacuum another area first and line Elux bag with a layer of lint,etc that will help filter the fine dust.And,yes,you will use a few extra 4 ply bags but other vacs on the same job might require filters that would cost much more than the bags.(There was actually a letter to Consumer Reports in the 60s of a lady saying the Elux(G)sounded nice but she was concerned with the then ten cent or so cost of the bags!)

 

[nycwriter]

Keeping in mind, of course ...

... that ten cents back in the '60s, adjusted for inflation, is like a DOLLAR today ...

 

[thekirbylover]

buy a Numatic Henry

http://www.govacuum.com/10655-Numatic-Henry-HVR200A-Auto-Save-Vacuum-Cleaner.aspx

 

[ralph123]

sounds like a job for a disposable vacuum...

Don't do hundreds of dollars of damage to a Rainbow or other expensive vacuum. If you have nice vacuums, you might want to consider the purchase of a used/disposable vacuum. go to goodwill or similar place and buy as cheap a vacuum as possible. If you're cleaning up a lot of drywall dust, there's a good chance that the vacuum will have a short life. If on the other hand you are cleaning up drywall on a regular basis long term, then consider a vacuum made to deal with drywall dust.

 

[bvac6]

Shop Vac

Have you tried using a shop vac with the high filtration paper bag inserts and the "blue" colored cylinder filter? My cousin, who was in construction, had this type of set up on a shop vac and had great success with it.

 

[kenkart]

If you knew..

Someone with a commercial furnace vacuum, they have a silk filter and soot etc wont stick to it, so therefore it doesent stop up.

 

[dysonman1]

Vacuum made to clean oil furnace dust

Hans has a great story about a vacuum designed to clean out people's oil-powered furnaces. I can't tell it as well as he can. Hope he posts the story so we can all get a good laugh.

Hepa Cloth Disposable Bags are great for picking up very fine powdery dirt. I might suggest you get a pack of Type C Electrolux Cloth Hepa Disposable Bags, and use that. Any Simplicity or Riccar dealer can order them for you. Part number HCH-6. They're Filtrete cloth Electrolux bags that hold back every particle of dirt, yet 'breath' so they can get full.

 

[vacuumman206]

I ended up using the shop vac, but routed the exhaust outside so it wasn't blowing the dust around while the suction side was trying to suck it in. I am about done with the sanding, but I am going to break down and buy a good filtration filter for the shop vac, because I'm sure other jobs like this will pop up.

 

[marks_here]

This is easy

borrow someone's vacuum you don't like, use it then return it to them & say "why did you give me something that was gonna blow up in my house! What the hell did you vacuum up?"

 

[baglessball]

Tristar......?

 

[beerad]

Karcher

Check out Karcher website.

There is an industrial vacuum specifically made for dry wall dust pick up .
It has an automatic filter pounding feature.
I even think there may be a video of this vacuum on their website.

 

[tolivac]

"TriStar"-at one vacuum place a couple of drywall contractors stopped by regularly looking for Compact-TriStars and Filter Queens for drywall cleanup-these did do well for that nasty job.You just "double up" on bags and filters to keep drywall dust out of the motor.

 

[floor-a-matic]

When I use a Compact/TriStar I use micro-lined paper bags. Or my Ridgid shop vacuum with micro-lined paper bags & Cleanstream HEPA cartridge filter