Taytools114970 2-1/2" Dust Collection Shop Vac Cyclone Separator Lid for 18.9l Pails Buckets Trash Cans

The value is good given that so many of the other doofuses out there are charging $100+ for a cone glued to a lid; so at least it is cheaper and basically works.On the down side,(1) it tips over easily; so needs to be secured, because if it tips over everything goes to the vacuum anyway.(2) the "ports" are symmetric size top and bottom; so there is no tapered male connection, and the ports are sized to fit a standard vacuum elbow (that comes with it). So basically they inserted two pipes into the top of a lid. The top ports look male but are actually 2-1/4" MD (that is MD, Mean Diameter or middle with a 1/8" wall thickness) this means if you want to use it you need one, maybe two, 2-1/8" female/OD or 2-3/8" male/ID couplers or adapters, to connect and then adapt to standard male or female.

Sucks in debris...BUT, having posting that it has 2-1/2" in/out let, it literally took me many attempts to homedepot/lowes/menards to get the fittings. Finally, I figured out to use 2"x2" rubber couplings to connect between in/out and my RIDGIT vac.

Let ne start off by stating that I was aware that the inlet/outlet tube sizes were not standard based upon other reviews, Nonetheless it ended up costing a lot more to adapt this thing lid to standard hose fittings than the cost of the lid. Initially I set it up per the printed instructions on the box. It trapped less than 10% of the sawdust and PVC pipe cuttings (dust) in the 5 gal. bucket. I decided to make a curved, downward inlet pipe that followed the contour of the buckets wall I initially extended it down about 1/3 of the way hoping to increase the cyclone effect. Not much improvement with this configuration. Using 23 degree elbows and 2" PVC pipe I tried multiple lengths of the curved inlet configuration. The dust collection improved lightly but was nothing to get excited about. I also tried straight inlets and played with different configurations of the outlet side as well without much success, What I did note however, is that most of the dust particles ended up on the bottom of the shop vac rather than the air filter. For reference I have a pro model, stainless steel shop vac with 6.5 HP. I believe that it simply has too much suction and it simply sucks up a most of the dust particles from the bottom of the dust collector bucket. From what I can tell, the lower priced shop vacs seem to work O.K. with this lid/bucket combo. For reference, I used 2" PVC pipe, 45 deg and 23 deg elbows and 2 1/2" rubber pipe connectors with steel screw clamps to connect everything together. I needed an extra hose section so I purchase a 2 1/2" poly-vinyl flex hose from a big box store for $18. I did not use PVC glue, just friction fitting everything together. I initially did use hot melt glue to attach a piece of pipe to the underside of the lid, but I later had to remove it and it was really hard to get off. After that I stuck with friction fitting the parts or the hose tube/clamps where needed. It was an interesting but unsuccessful experiment in dust collection.

Reviewers that talk about there not being a second elbow or that it doesn't seem to be effective (which comprise the bulk of the bad reviews) probably put theirs together incorrectly -- the elbow goes INSIDE the bucket on the port where the dust is coming from (i.e., NOT the one connected to the vacuum). The idea is that the elbow is pointed towards the inside wall of the bucket so the incoming air & dust creates a small cyclone to separate out the dust and let it drop to the bottom of the bucket, leaving only the air to exit through the vacuum. My unit works fine.

I popped this on to a 5 gallon bucket with low expectations. I emptied the contents of my shop vac onto the floor, blew off the filter outside with the air compressor. I did need to take a trip to the Lowes for another hose kit with adapters. Unfortunately the ports at the top are not standard PVC size, so I found a rubber reducer with hose clamps in the plumbing department to adapt my Ridgid shop vac. It took a little effort, but after all the parts were attached......this thing worked. I sucked up all the dust and chips off the floor, and I would say 98% of the debris was in the bucket and barely noticeable in the shop vac.