CT33 is out to pasture. Suggestions for a replacement.

[fshanno]

Shop bound really.  A back wheel broke off.  It's not wheel really but the body of the vac that broke.  It would require a whole new lower body unit.  So I rigged up a carriage which works well enough in the shop but no more road trips. 

I want something smaller.  What's the smallest Festool vac that will handle the Kapex?

 

[semenza]

The Mini handles the Kapex just fine so really it depends on other factors.

Seth

 

[Cheese]

I'd probably go with the midi as it will handle twice (I think) the amount of debris as the mini. There's also not that much difference in price between them and the consumables are pretty much the same price.

 

[AlexThePalex]

Yep, if you want smaller + efficient with Kapex, Midi is about the only option.

 

[RKA]

X3 on the midi.  Mini has the same suction though, so if you wanted light and portable that could be a viable option.  But as cheese says, I think the midi has twice the capacity with the same footprint (it’s just 2-3” taller).  They both use the same bags, so no difference there.  And now you get Bluetooth built into the vac!  Just have to buy the remote or Bluetooth battery if you want to use it.

Edit:  just to clarify, the difference between the mini and midi is the bucket on the bottom of the unit.  The larger bucket when empty adds a negligible amount of weight since it's plastic.  The bulk of the weight is in the top of the unit which is identical in both units.  So the weight difference between the two really comes into play as the bag starts to fill. 

 

[huntdupl]

Had the Midi for three years, never felt it sacrificed in capacity or cfm at any function. Form factor is nice.

I did just pick up a Flex 9 gallon HEPA Vac (VCE33LAC) off Acme on sale for $300 shipped...auto start, auto-clean filter, I bought it for nastier stuff and drywall. Seems solid enough.

 

[jarbroen]

Another vote for the MIDI.
I almost bought the MINI and the helpful sales guy at Woodcraft pointed out that I'd make up the $50 cost difference after a few boxes of bags.  They both use the same bag now, but the MINI only holds half as much.  So you're burning through those bags twice as fast.
I was like 'huh, glad you pointed that out'.  lol
And the MIDI is the same weight and only 2" taller.

Kapex and MIDI is a good pairing.  Router and MIDI, maybe not.  Routers tend to fill up bags super fast.
I also like the way the new bags fit in the MIDI.  I can remove a full bag without dumping crap in the bucket.  With a full bag on my CT26 I haven't found a way to get it out without leaving a pile of dust in the vac.

 

[Coen]

Yeah, get the MIDI. The MINI is smaller, but needs a lot more diapersbags.

Somewhere in 2011/2012 they were upgraded to have the same suction power as the CT26.

 

[fshanno]

Had the Midi for three years, never felt it sacrificed in capacity or cfm at any function. Form factor is nice.

I did just pick up a Flex 9 gallon HEPA Vac (VCE33LAC) off Acme on sale for $300 shipped...auto start, auto-clean filter, I bought it for nastier stuff and drywall. Seems solid enough.

Very interesting, thanks for posting.  The price is nuts on that Flex.  Have you tried it hooked up to tools?  I've read and read and people seem to like it.

The specs for everything including the power take off are similar to Festool.  I can't think of a real reason not to buy it, other than the Midi is just a beautiful little machine with all the bells and whistles.  In a year is that extra $350 going to mean anything?  Tough choice.  Oh well, as he said in the movie, "Difficult decisions are the privilege of rank."

 

[huntdupl]

Had the Midi for three years, never felt it sacrificed in capacity or cfm at any function. Form factor is nice.

I did just pick up a Flex 9 gallon HEPA Vac (VCE33LAC) off Acme on sale for $300 shipped...auto start, auto-clean filter, I bought it for nastier stuff and drywall. Seems solid enough.

Very interesting, thanks for posting.  The price is nuts on that Flex.  Have you tried it hooked up to tools?  I've read and read and people seem to like it.

The specs for everything including the power take off are similar to Festool.  I can't think of a real reason not to buy it, other than the Midi is just a beautiful little machine with all the bells and whistles.  In a year is that extra $350 going to mean anything?  Tough choice.  Oh well, as he said in the movie, "Difficult decisions are the privilege of rank."

Its certainly louder. I have it hooked up to my jobsite table saw and works great. Like I said I bought it for more 'shop-vac' type uses and for drywall - I will say the auto filter clean did startle me at first... They have an accessory rack for mounting Bosch LBoxx to the unit; I have quite a few. No reason you couldn't fasten a Systainer lid if you're looking for that functionality.

Aside from finish sanding, I typically run the MIDI at full rabbit on other tools (why not). That being said, it operates just as effectively at half speed for most of my task. In other words I've never felt it to be under powered in any sense.

I don't clean floors with it, just dust extraction - never felt a sacrifice in performance due to the filter either. Its about how often do you want to change the bag, do you do drywall work (autoclean), and how many stairs do you have to climb? Would still like the Oneida Dust Deputy for it on larger task.

 

[Archman]

I’ve only ever used my Midi and a shopvac so I don’t have much to compare with but the Midi is great.  The Bluetooth fob button thingy is a wonderful thing.  I use it on my table saws and routers & router tables so a miter saw should be easy peasy.