CT bag options for occasional/light drywall sanding

[ear3]

I'm going to be doing some minor drywall work starting next month -- nothing huge, just patching some holes in the wall.  But there are enough holes to where I'm wondering if I need to alter my approach from the standard setup for wood sanding on my CT26 (without, obviously, going all the way for a CT36AC).  Previously I've only done some light spot sanding of drywall with my CT26, and so haven't needed to worry about it.

I'm wondering is it better to switch over from my long-life bag in my CT to one of the disposable "self-cleaning" bags?  Does anyone know which one endures longer without causing the filter to block up from the fine drywall particles?  I assume it's pointless to go with the open plastic filter bag in the vacuum housing, since this would cause the filter to clog up almost immediately.

And is it better to switch to a regular filter from the standard HEPA filter in the bag when sanding drywall?

 

[AlexThePalex]

Definitely use a disposable bag and not your longlife bag. Drywall just destroys your bag's ability to breath.

As for the filter, I don't have HEPA filter myself, but I never find any drywall dust on my filter when I sand it. I've done a lot of work on plaster in my own house the last months, and while I have used up enough bags, the filter is always spotless. The bags seem to catch it all.

 

[Brice Burrell]

I"m with Alex on this, just use the disposable bag.  Your HEPA filter will be fine.  I've used my CT vacs for small to moderate sized drywall jobs without any issue. 

 

[nclemmons]

I've used my CT26 and CTMini with drywall with the disposable bags and no issues at all.  I did a bathroom remodel from studs to finished surface with mine and the 150/3 sander and it worked great. 

You may want to run a water hose through your vac hose once you are finished as I found remnants of drywall dust lingering till I decided to rinse the hose and hang it up overnight.  But I'll say the vac and sander makes drywall much more bearable!

 

[ear3]

Thanks for the replies.

 

[gunnyr]

I used my CT-26 with a Planex Easy and ETS 150/3 to finish a 850 sqft basement recently.  I started with a new bag and would occasionally open the CT up and shake the back to loosen the dust in the bag.  The bag is less and 25% full I suppose.  I'm now done with drywall and will likely use the bag until the job is done and then toss it.  I have not noticed any drop in suction at this point.