Best Vacuum?

[Jimbo57]

I just bought my first Festool, a Rotex 150. I'm wondering if I should get a midi or a CT 26 to go with it.

I will mostly be using it in my shop, and am considering a dust deputy to go with it. I like the CT 26 for it's bigger wheels and slightly more powerful motor. However the midi is more portable for those rare occasions when I need to use it as a HEPA vacuum cleaner,  and it's smaller profile seems better for staying out of the way.

I will mostly be sending, but figured eventually I'm getting a circle saw and a router as well.  What is your experience?

 

[bobfog]

I just bought my first Festool, a Rotex 150. I'm wondering if I should get a midi or a CT 26 to go with it.

I will mostly be using it in my shop, and am considering a dust deputy to go with it. I like the CT 26 for it's bigger wheels and slightly more powerful motor. However the midi is more portable for those rare occasions when I need to use it as a HEPA vacuum cleaner,  and it's smaller profile seems better for staying out of the way.

I will mostly be sending, but figured eventually I'm getting a circle saw and a router as well.  What is your experience?

Personally, I'd steer away from Festool for vacs. They have one thing in their favour, and that is they're a little quieter than some of the competition, but they are also more expensive and less powerful in terms of max suction and volume of air moved. I'd take a look at Bosch, Fein, Metabo/Starmix, etc.

 

[Birdhunter]

I have 3 Festool midi vacs and 1 Fein. The Festool vacs have a suction adjustment that my Fein does not have. Both brands of vacs are much quieter than the cheap brand I had before. I prefer the more compact size of the midi over the larger Festool vacs and I am not bothered by changing the bags very often. I did buy the tiny Festool Vac and wish I hadn't.

 

[McNally Family]

I just bought my first Festool, a Rotex 150. I'm wondering if I should get a midi or a CT 26 to go with it.

I will mostly be using it in my shop, and am considering a dust deputy to go with it. I like the CT 26 for it's bigger wheels and slightly more powerful motor. However the midi is more portable for those rare occasions when I need to use it as a HEPA vacuum cleaner,  and it's smaller profile seems better for staying out of the way.

I will mostly be sending, but figured eventually I'm getting a circle saw and a router as well.  What is your experience?

I have recently considered buying the Midi as a second vac, since I already have the CT26.  The reason for the smaller vac was because I have the boom arm on my CT26, which seriously limits it's portability.  After more research, I decided against the Midi and am now looking again at a second CT26.  This is because it would be nice to be able to add the Festool 497471 CT Workcenter WCR-1000, which won't fit on a Midi.

Either way, you can't go wrong.  I do think it is important to think accessories and system, which is a major consideration.  Just make sure whatever you buy has a HEPA filter, as your health is the most important consideration of all.

 

[BJM9818]

I have two Midi's a CT36 and just added a CT36AC because if the Planex. Personally if you plan on doing any work outside your shop I would get the Midi. The larger vac's are just a total PITA to move around on a job site.

 

[nickao]

If you have an RO 150 and the CT is staying in the shop get a CT 36 or even 48. I sand a lot and I am still emptying out my CT 48's at least once a week.

I don't use my CT's for clean up, for that I use a cheap shop vac that is lighter, better design for garbage and came with a larger diameter hose to start.

Buy a 75.00 shop vac for clean up and buy the largest CT you can get for the shop.

Some guys take their CT to the job site, that's a different story, even a CT 36 some consider a pain. Still, I never liked anything smaller than that, I had apprentice's and laborers so carrying a CT 36 never bothered me. My jobs did tend to last months though, I never did day jobs and we kept our tools on site. For day jobs or when someone has to take their tool off site each night I could see a guy wanting a little midi.

 

[Bob Marino]

Just another thing to consider in your choice of Vacs is that the Mini and Midi have the hose coming out of the top via an elbow, so if you needed to swap a larger hose, it would be sticking straight up out of the top, rather than directly out of the vac's front on the CT 26,36 and 48.

 

[Holmz]

I just bought my first Festool, a Rotex 150. I'm wondering if I should get a midi or a CT 26 to go with it.

...

I will mostly be sanding, but figured eventually I'm getting a circle saw and a router as well.  What is your experience?

Those two option indicate only a single manufacturer ?

I would be looks at a Bosch or Metabo/Starmix rather than the 26. For a track saw they are acceptable, but for a router or using to vacuum the shop floor they are not.

Which means for "only a sander" you can use the midi.
If you plan on two eventually then get the small one now.
... and if you plan on "only one vacuum" then you may want one with the most suction. Or get a cheap shop vac and a dust deputy for the router, which points back to the midi.

I have not used the midi, but even the CT26 not being too big compared to the 36, can still be a bit of overkill with a sander.

 

[rst]

I have three of the older Feins, the ones that had suction control, they were my first step away from the banshee Craftsmans.  I also have a midi with steel Oneida sitting on top for my cutting table, a 26 with WCR sitting on top.  Bob is correct regarding the hose outlet, however, I got around that with an anti static elbow form Oneida and I also use that elbow on my 26 to reduce the sticking out-ness of the 36mm hose.  I also keep the CTL Sys in my van.  Would not trade any, all work for my purposes.

 

[pettyconstruction]

I have the ct26 and like it a lot but I also want a smaller vac for site work. It gets heavy with just a half full bag.
If you are are staying in the shop,with the occasional trip on site, the ct26 is a good compromise between capacity and mobility.
Charlie

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

 

[waho6o9]

Get the biggest Festool vac possible.

 

[Summerson]

I would definitely go for the MIDI. I have had a CT26, 2 MIDIs and a CT-SYS.

I could not get along at all with the CT-SYS so I sold it, and that took some time. Normally Festool products goes like crazy on the second hand market but this ad people would not touch.
It felt weak, hose and cord are too short, and lost power very fast with fine dust in the bag. Overall with the buttons and everything it just felt too complicated.

All the vacs lose power as the bag gets filled with fine dust as with sanding, so i normally change bags before its full.

The 26 i would only get to connect to a CS70 or some other equipment that stays in one place. Even if you just sand in your shop i would get the MIDI and not a 26. It moves almost as much air as the 26, the bags are big enough and much cheaper.

Be aware that Festool hose garages and panels are made of some porous fragile plastic, you can find some threads about it here on the forum. "I have" broken at least 2 garages. Still prefer the Festool Midi over other brands though.

 

[Holmz]

...
... Still prefer the Festool Midi over other brands though.

Hej hej - which other brands have you tried or compared it to?
In the end just for a sander, one does not require much.

 

[PeterK]

Festool says all the current dust collectors have the same suction motor stats. The Midi and Mini show slightly less suction due to the 90 degree elbow at the hose connection.
I have the CT22 and Midi. 22 sits in tiny shop and Midi is my transportable unit as is far easier and lighter to carry. Gets used in the house frequently.
Choice depends upon usage. You say you are going to use a pre-cyclone unit so capacity of the dust collector will not matter. Midi is considerably smaller if space limited. Midi will NOT take a boom arm as a permanent work station so go with the 26-48 series if that is a future thought.
The CT-SYS is a different animal altogether as is designed to be carried around and I can think of no good use for it personally.

 

[Naildrivingman]

I would definitely go for the MIDI. I have had a CT26, 2 MIDIs and a CT-SYS.

I could not get along at all with the CT-SYS so I sold it, and that took some time. Normally Festool products goes like crazy on the second hand market but this ad people would not touch.
It felt weak, hose and cord are too short, and lost power very fast with fine dust in the bag. Overall with the buttons and everything it just felt too complicated.

All the vacs lose power as the bag gets filled with fine dust as with sanding, so i normally change bags before its full.

The 26 i would only get to connect to a CS70 or some other equipment that stays in one place. Even if you just sand in your shop i would get the MIDI and not a 26. It moves almost as much air as the 26, the bags are big enough and much cheaper.

Be aware that Festool hose garages and panels are made of some porous fragile plastic, you can find some threads about it here on the forum. "I have" broken at least 2 garages. Still prefer the Festool Midi over other brands though.

Glad you wrote about your dissatisfaction with the CT Sys.  I have been saving for one, but I think I will keep going toward another CT26.  I have one now and figure that I don't mind toting it around and I would rather have consumables for one machine instead of two.

 

[LJD]

I have a CTL 26E . Its great . Does the job etc . But I also have a Nilfisk Alto that I got from Screwfix for less than £90.00

the Nilfisk is better in many ways. It has more power , so much cheaper .Blows  and can do water. Its just as quiet .  ok...does not look as trick as the festool when its wheeled onto site with a stack of systainers on top. But a real man does not become a brand junky

 

[Summerson]

Holmz - G'day mate! Have not really put to mind what brands i have tried, but remember that i borrowed a plumbers Bosch one time. Nothing wrong with it. And some strange machines like Dust Control that some/too many people like to move around (just cant understand why).

But for me, the hose garage although it breaks easy, and having the ability to stow away the pipe and some bags in a systainer and store it connected to the vacuum, is exactly what im looking for. Its all about the system.

PeterK - I can think of one good use for the CT-SYS. If i worked in say a hospital and put up shelves in endless rooms and corridors, or worked as an electrician, i would get the CT-SYS for that. Its great to move it to one place from the other on the cart. But vacuuming a large room with it on the cart, it rolls too easy and hits everything. And without wheels it feels inflexible.

 

[rdr]

I have a Midi and think its great compared to my previous Vacs.

I'm about to pull the trigger on a Rotex and in my research on sanders I have noted suction power is not necessarily a good thing. Having the ability to dial the suction down like on the Festool Vacs can help stop the sander sucking itself towards the work piece helping it flow smoothly over the work piece.