CT Mini questions

[woodvkk]

I saw a mini on Craigslist and bought it. It appears I was a bit hasty and realized when I got it home that it was an older one that worked for the old size systainer although it looks pretty new and in great shape. I only have newer systainers. I ended up ordering the newer hose garage thereby making it not such a great deal and should have just bought a new one. Oh well, live and learn.

Main reason for getting it is because I now have my first FS sander with the pro5 and the variable speed is desirable.

Anyways, until now I've used a regular shop vac with a dust deputy cyclone I crafted myself with the cyclone top affixed to a bucket. I remember reading somewhere that there are issues using a cyclone with FS vacs. Can I use mine or are there caveats?

I notice amazon sells non FS bags that are half the price of FS bags. Are these good enough?

 

[RKA]

1.  Older hose garages are compatible with the newer TLoc systainers.  You'll notice the 4 latches do clip onto the bottom of the systainer, so you didn't need to replace it, but the newer hose garage is a little easier to work with than the old style latches.

2.  The regular cyclone was not made with a conductive resin, the one specifically made for Festool vacs is, which will prevent sudden static discharges.  Earlier versions of the dust deputy made for the Festool vacs weren't maintaining a proper conductive path, they have corrected those issues. 

3.  The festool bags are quite good and prevent all but the finest debris from getting past them.  That reduces the amount of stuff that clogs the hepa filters.  Buying a cheaper bag could result in faster loading of the hepa filters, which are expensive.  Since it's impractical to test the bags side by side, I would rather buy the bags Festool supplies and not risk loading up the hepa filters prematurely. 

 

[woodvkk]

Thank you!  You saved me 70$ - I was able to cancel the garage order.  Feel rather dumb now but didn't realize those clips slid up that far and clipped onto the new systainer.  Feel better about the deal now - and I keep living and learning

The new cyclone is selling at festool prices. I may just use the mini for sanding and use my older setup for other work.

Given what you said, The difference isn't that much and I will just get the Festool bags as replacements.

1.  Older hose garages are compatible with the newer TLoc systainers.  You'll notice the 4 latches do clip onto the bottom of the systainer, so you didn't need to replace it, but the newer hose garage is a little easier to work with than the old style latches.

2.  The regular cyclone was not made with a conductive resin, the one specifically made for Festool vacs is, which will prevent sudden static discharges.  Earlier versions of the dust deputy made for the Festool vacs weren't maintaining a proper conductive path, they have corrected those issues. 

3.  The festool bags are quite good and prevent all but the finest debris from getting past them.  That reduces the amount of stuff that clogs the hepa filters.  Buying a cheaper bag could result in faster loading of the hepa filters, which are expensive.  Since it's impractical to test the bags side by side, I would rather buy the bags Festool supplies and not risk loading up the hepa filters prematurely.

 

[PeterK]

Not sure if they still sell it but Oneida has/had a metal version of the DustDeputy. I have one. No issues with conductivity and no chance of it wearing through.

I use my Midi all the time with a plain non-conductive hose with no issues. My thoughts are that if this was an issue that Festool would NOT sell non conductive accessories for their dust collectors. I really question if all the talk about damage to the dust collectors was truly a static problem.