OT. Cleanup of drywall dust with the shop VAC plugging up fast, Help?

[interrupted_cut]

I bought a lid that goes on a 5 gallon bucket I put inline before the shop vac and it intercepts most of the drywall dust before it gets to the filter. I don't have this one, but it is similar: https://www.homedepot.com/p/Dustoppe...HD12/302643445. I originally built one myself that used 1.25" hose attached to a regular bucket lid, but the one I bought takes the 2.5" hose and works a little better.
I put a couple of inches of water in the bottom and it really helps trap the drywall dust, but you have to scoop it out afterwards, as it ends up like uncured drywall compound. I also use a Cleanstream Goretex filter in my shop vac, which improves it's performance in all wet or dry vacuuming but is also washable to clean up quickly and completely.

[Mr Fixit]

Hi Group,

Those are some great suggestions. I really like the water separator in line with the Shop Vac. I think I will YouTube a few different ideas and make one for the 5gal bucket and see how that goes for the remainder of the project.

I appreciate the help !

TX
Mr fixit for the family
Chris

[chipmaker4130]

If you spend the $50 on the Dust Deputy you'll never regret it. I put one on a new Shop Vac 7 years ago and I am still using the original filter. They WORK!

[BCRider]

Everybodys jumping to the expensive options, yall missed the cheap one; shopvac filter bags are a thing. Stick one of those in there, it contains the dust and keeps is from hitting the actual filter

That would be my suggestion for a one time lower cost option. The bag plugs up too so they are not good for a LOT of work. But one or two of them will get you past the job with less overall cost and a reduction in frustration.

Without one of those fancy separators though even the bags clog up when they are not very full. Just takes longer than the small pleated filtersince the bag has a lot more surface area.

When I've worked with drywall dust I made it a point to sweep up the majority of it first. Then the final little bit was vacuumed. Move the broom slowly and don't flick it at the end of the strokes to avoid kicking it up into a dust storm. And same when emptying the pan. Another option is keep moving a tarp or plastic drop cloth around slowly and deliberately as you sand the filler and for walls a lot of it will fall down onto the cloth. You can then bundle it and take it outside to shake out and use again. Works pretty nicely for walls. But not worth a hoot for ceilings.

[old mart]

That dust is similar to cement powder, it forms a thin clogging layer in even a new bag in minutes.

[reggie_obe]

If you spend the $50 on the Dust Deputy you'll never regret it. I put one on a new Shop Vac 7 years ago and I am still using the original filter. They WORK!

If you buy the Dust Deputy, you buy it once and continue to use it long after the drywall project is over. Probably not the last project you'll ever encounter that produces a fine dust.

[portlandRon]

Built one of these and it works great.
https://www.instructables.com/Drywal...ctorSeperator/

[old mart]

I checked the price of a genuine dust deputy in the UK and wasn't surprised to find it was £264. The other six or so clones were a tenth of that.

[CarlByrns]

If you spend the $50 on the Dust Deputy you'll never regret it. I put one on a new Shop Vac 7 years ago and I am still using the original filter. They WORK!

I have a Dust Deputy in my wood shop. Gotta be going on ten years now- I've never changed the filter in my big Ridgid vac.

[BCRider]

Built one of these and it works great.
https://www.instructables.com/Drywal...ctorSeperator/

I've seen the same thing but with the longer run into the water fitted with a 90 and a short submerged piece with an end cap and a large number of smaller holes drilled in the lower half of the tube. The idea being to make a lot more smaller bubbles that aid with capturing the dust. For drywall I thought it was a brilliant idea.

I saw it some years ago and forgot about it until clicking on your link.

[DennisCA]

I rebuilt my own shopvac with an integrated separator, it's a dream to use, bigger than one of those chinese separators and bigger stuff doesn't get trapped as easily.

[Fasttrack]

Over the past 5 years, I've done A LOT of drywall and horsehair plaster work. IMO, the two best solutions for vacuuming up large quantities of drywall dust are:

1) Dust deputy - I know the $50 (or whatever it is now) seems like a lot for a plastic cone but it was some of the best money I ever spent!

2) Sweeping compound - It sounds crazy, but Rich Carlstedt's suggestion is bang on. A small amount of sweeping compound will bind up the loose dust and keep it from becoming airborne when sweeping or clogging filters as fast when vacuuming. I've never tried damp sawdust but I suppose it's the same thing.

Just my opinion, but skip the water separator. You'll spend a couple hours tinkering and then you'll end up making a very heavy sludge of dust and water that you have to dispose of. If you pour it outside, you'll have a white, crusty patch there for the next 2 years. And, if you're like me, one day you'll stop to eat lunch and then get side tracked on another project and come back to find that a) everything in the bucket has crusted over solid or b) its growing mold.