DC300: shooting dust out the rear louvers?

[sawdust271]

Just noticed that when my DC300 dust collector is running, it sends a plume of dust out the rear louvers! The bag is nowhere near full.

Must be something simple, but need to know what it might be before I disassemble the beast - a messy job under any circumstances.

TIA for your collective wisdom!

[letterk]

Just noticed that when my DC300 dust collector is running, it sends a plume of dust out the rear louvers! The bag is nowhere near full.

Must be something simple, but need to know what it might be before I disassemble the beast - a messy job under any circumstances.

TIA for your collective wisdom!

You'll need to disassemble it, which isn't too hard. I think there are a couple of screws on the bottom back and a few inside.

You probably need to replace the seals, which are available from Shopsmith. There is a front seal around the cone that goes into the manifold and a real seal that is sold in two pieces around the back that keeps sawdust out of those louvers.

Otherwise, a visit to the hardware store to buy 1/4" to 1/2" weatherstripping works fine. Give some that you can compress tight to fit the gaps. It will cost less than $5 and you'll have some extra weather stripping left. The SS gasket will probably crumble under the lightest touch.

Give the collector a good cleaning while you are at it. Also run the motor while blowing air through the vent holes. It might be a urban legend, but everyone always says to may sure the motor is running while you blow it out.

[letterk]

Here is a link to another thread (the only one I've started) about the DC3300 and fixing the gasket.

https://forum.shopsmith.com/viewtopic.php?t=10448

[wlhayesmfs]

Mine did the same thing and the old gasket fell all apart. I went to Ace and picked up some foam gasket and it now works good as new. I agree on the good cleaning while it is apart. You won't have it apart again for a long time.

[pennview]

You might want to work on it outside as well as there is a lot of dust hiding inside the upper part of the collector.

[letterk]

Oh, and do your work outside in fresh air. When you take the thing apart you'll have sawdust all over. It cakes on the hood and gets everywhere in the machine.

[beeg]

It cakes on the hood and gets everywhere in the machine.

Turn the DC3300 on and tap the hood to dislodge the cake buildup. Mine gets a buildup of INCHES of dust on the front left hand side.

[sawdust271]

Thanks to all - I'm going to haul the thing out to the backyard this weekend and take it apart...