Pat Barber wrote:

One of the new "features" is a cloth covered SNAP RING
that replaces the older cam over locking bands.

Pat,

I looked up the Delta manual to see if I understood what you described.
I think this snap ring is identical to the one used on my Jet dust
collector. The main difference between mine and yours is that I have a
canister filter on top instead of a bag.

I'll relate my experience of dealing with the ring and hope it helps
you. They key to getting the ring to release is that you must "fold"
it inward. Don't even think about trying to slide it up or pull the
bag loose from it.

The easiest access to the ring for getting it loose is to remove the
upper bag (canister in my case) and then grab the ring and pull it
toward the center. Once it "gives" the bag will come loose easily.

This is difficult to describe in words. All I can say is that it
requires holding your mouth right and you can get it done without
having to resort to cutting anything off.

Bob