Un-clog my Shop Vac hose!

I frequently get to deal with plugged vac hose.

Mostly they jam at the coupling between the vac and the hose.

Swap the ends around. Suction to the "in" end. Squeeze the obstruction a bit to work it. Drop a section of 1 inch round bar down the hose and work it against the obstruction. Broom handles and other long objects make decent tools for working the jam loose.

It'll clear with a little work.

Make yourself a hook (like a fireplace poker) to hook out the curly swarf from the machine bed. Use the vacuum for fines.

Cheers Trevor Jones

Plumbers snake?

Great ideas Trevor and Wes -

I have a Plumbers snake - I'll try running that little turd chaser down both ends. May work if the clog is not in the middle ( I was wrong - it's a 30' hose! ) If that doesn't work I'll try all ideas.

I hope I'm not hosed! [Pardon the pun]

Ed

Another thought is to see if you can find/adapt hoses in removable 10" sections like th' Shop Vac line carries. Mine's never clogged up with swarf... yet, but it'd be pretty easy to remove th' offending section and clear it.

Snarl

We use a straight-walled poly tubing, it won't clog.

I would like to make my own straight-walled hoses in 10' sections. Ten feet is perfect for the lathe, then I can add sections when I vac the car.

I assume I will need to make up fittings using rigid couplings and hose clamps. Where can I get smooth poly hose in 1.5" diameter?

Ed

Snake a running garden hose through it? Mouse

I wouldn't use a hose any longer than the broom handle I use to clear it.

PVC pipe with a cap on one end with a 1/8" hole drilled in the cap makes for a very good water drill... It works well for tunneling underneath a driveway, so it should be able to handle whatever clog you might have in a shop vac hose... Might even be able to clear it without running water through it if you just attach a few pieces of the PVC pipe together...

Ed

Get some 20" lengths of 1" PVC conduit. Couple as needed. Remove the hose from the vac and have at it.

Bob AZ

Go to a wood working store and get the 'cyclone' seperator top for a five gallon bucket. Keep the seperator near the lathe( with in a broom handles length). now all the swarf will drop into the bucket and not go into the rest of the hose. Of course you'll have to empty the bucket now and again.

GeneK

near the lathe( with in a broom

Thanks - I think I'll get one of these:

and run a smooth-wall hose to the lathe.

Ed

Plumbers helper - you are cleaning a long drain pipe... Roto... :-)

Martin

Mart> After owning a couple of small Shop Vacs, I decided to research and

Yes

1. Rare earth magnet attached to non-magnetic rod that will reach the swarf. Magnet should be firmly attached so you aren't trying to fish out the magnet later. Remove as much as you can from both ends and then go to 2.

1. Degrease with water soap solution and then add muriatic acid. Keep blockage at the bottom of a "U" shape and serge the acid back and forth for stirring. You might be able to speed the process a bit by bubbling air at the blockage. If HCl concentration is below 6 molar the evaporated vapor will be predominately water. But don't test by sniffing. If you post the concentration of the muriatic acid I can provide dilution directions.

Above suggestions assume swarf is a ferromagnetic material and/or is soluble in hydrochloric acid.

This sounds to me like a solution that is way too complex.

Long chunk of conduit or pipe with a hook fashioned to the end should work out all of the chips that are stuck.

All of these are way too complex (and difficult). The simplest solution to getting a wad of curls out is to disconnect the fittings from the ends and massage the pipe until the pieces start to move again. It only takes a few moments, and takes no tools but the ten (?) you were born with.

LLoyd

Ed, That poor pun may be your salvation. Could you use your garden hose as a snake? Or hoook your compresser up to it and make a fine mess : )

LLB

I'm convinced that half the suggestions are from folks who have never dealt with the problem...

My big vac has a spiral spring type hose and it plugs fairly regularly. The solution is to take a piece of round steel about 3 feet in length and about

3/4 the inside diameter of the hose. Drop it in one end and work it through. When it hits the clog, "bounce" the hose so the piece of steel hammers its way through. When it comes out the other end, you will have a little pile of "stuff" on the shop floor and a clear hose. On rare occasions, you will have to dump the round out and drop it in from the other end. But this technique works every time and doesn't take very long, once you get the hang of it.

Jerry

toss a ping pong ball in and turn the vacuum on or any othe ball close to thehose diameter

your clog is happening because air is passing through the swarf with not a lot of resistance so the air flow cant "grab" it

a ball close to the pipe diameter like a ping pong ball is the opposite since it almost will fill the entire hose the vacuum will grab it with a lot of force and it should force itself right through the swarf clog.

Part of the trick though is that the ball has to be close to the inside diameter but still less than it so it coulg get powered through the knot of the clog ahead of the loose swarf