Disaster in the shop

[DR Buck]

I've been working to get my new shop done by the end of the year.  Tonight I was sanding drywall.   Not one of my favorite things at all.   I was using a power sander with a built in vacuum hose like the pro's use.  It uses a rotating 10" sanding disk on the end of a motorized  pole.   It's a Chinese knockoff but it works OK.   Anyway I was just having a grand time sanding the last section of the ceiling when I noticed a lot of dust in the room.  When I turned around to look, the shop vac was spewing white clouds in all directions.    By the time I got to it to shut it off visibility was down to 6".     

Turns out the high efficiency filter bag I put in to capture the drywall dust had busted wide open and everything going in on the suction side was coming out on the exhaust side along with the 20 lbs or so of dust already in the bag.  It took me almost an hour to cleanup the vacuum and filters so I could start cleaning up the mess in the shop.

Good thing my schedule is self imposed.  That way when I slip the completion date I can yell at myself.  ;D   I have 4 days to go and it's going to be real close.  I might miss it by  a day or two depending if any more surprises pop up.  :

[LeeB]

Whew, if thats all it was, I won't worry too much. I was afeared it was a sure nuff desaster. What a bummer though. Glad it wasn't any thing real bad.

[DanG]

 :D :D :D  I was picturing something like a gas explosion!  Just mix all that stuff with water and paint the walls with it. ;)

I would have liked to have been a fly on the wall, except they don't make dust masks for flies.  Hope you had your's on.

[Don_Papenburg]

Take the bag out and hook a hose to the exhaust and stick that out the window .

[Brad_S.]

Time to open the door and windows and get out the leaf blower!

[Chris Burchfield]

Glad it was not a dangerous situation. Two days after Christmas, eldest son was cleaning out the fireplace at his grandmother's. Used a vacuum to get the rest? A few minutes later the vacuum started smoking. I'm just glad he had not put the vacuum away before he noticed the smoke. Being a retired Fire Marshal, I know coals can stay hot in a fireplace three to four days later. The fan action in the vacuum would have been like the fan on a forge.

[Chuck White]

That situation could have been fatal, had you been sanding without a face-mask! 
Always pays to be safe.  ;)
The mess is small stuff! 

[IMERC]

that mess will be there a year from no matter how often he cleans.....

[ErikC]

  I have done the vaccum thing, but I never suck out the stove itself,just around it. I guess a small coal was on the shelf in front or something. I didn't put the vacuum away, I was still using it when I saw it belching brown/green smoke
  Mostly what was in the bag was carpet fibers, hair and lint I guess. Took days to get the horrible smell out of the house, and for months it would come back when the vacuum was running. I changed the filters in the thing, but it still remained. Could have been worse I guess.

[Jasperfield]

I'm inclined to agree with Brad S. but maybe with an air hose.

It'll be that last 5% or so of the dust that'll be stubborn.

Somebody here'll come up with an effective way to help and I'm anxious to hear what it is.

[Warbird]

Once you have cleaned up the vast majority of the dust, a HEPA air filter left on high for a day or two will take care of anything else that is still airborne.  It is what I used when we were doing the house renovations while still living in the house. 

[Dan_Shade]

That's not a disaster.  If it had happened in the house, that would have been a disaster!

Your better half would have made sure your posting days on the forum were over!

:D :D :D

[Chuck White]

Place a large "exhaust/box fan" in the door way and with either a leaf blower or air hose start at the far end of the room and pretty soon all of the dust will be gone!

[DR Buck]

I got most of it cleaned up.  There's still a layer of white dust on everything out there but I'll take care of it when I start final move-in and re arranging.   I'll run the shop vac and by the end of the weekend  I'll have the new dust collector and ceiling mounted air filter up and running.