CTL-15 or CTM-Midi

[Deelirium]

Hi All,

I am looking for a nudge in the right direction here,
i use to work in a field that used alot of festool equipment, so know a fair bit about alot of tools. This was a few years ago however.

I am now a hobbiest/casual joiner and looking at upgrading my mobile dust extraction. I plan to use it for indoor sanding and planing as well as outside tablesaw/routing applications with a dust deputy seperator, as well as job cleanup.
Back when i previously use to work we use to use CTM26 and 36 units, although the painters use to have midi and mini units. I loved the midi units, having to lug around the bigger units in tiny stairwells and from place to place constantly was always a pain.

Now i see there are two options now, the new CTL15 and CTM midi. As far as i can tell the CTM midi is the same as  the CTL15 but with a suction alarm, bluetooth, hose garage and come with an anti static hose.
Here in Australia the CTL15 is $599 and Midi $950.
I dont really care about a suction alarm, its not required by legistation here for the work i do and its not a big concern for me.

The dont have any other festool gear atm, and i only plan on maybe in the future getting a plane and rotex sander, as they where my favorite of the festool lineup, im happy with all my other equipment of various brands otherwise. The bluetooth battery system isnt usful to me, however i do like the idea of being able to have a remote for it.
Although by the sounds of it i would have to buy the remote for an extra $90 bucks.
I also dont use systainers, i have my own box system i use and prefer.

Back when i worked with festool gear, i never even knew about anti static hoses, however we did have plenty of festool hoses and cheapskate hose the bosses would buy. I have never got a static shock from any of them, is there any other benifts to anti static hoses? I also plan on getting a 37mm hose regaurdless for my purposes.

So is there any reason why i should invest the extra $350 for the Midi over the CTL-15? seems like ill be spending that amount plus another $90 for a remote, just to have on/off at a the end of the hose? Also i am told by the Festool rep that the CTL-15 comes with the better Hepa filter install as standard over the Midi, which seems strange to me.

I am happy to spend the extra if if its benificial, but if not ill utalise that money to go towards a rotex.

Cheers,
Deelirium.

 

[CeeJay]

The Midi has a higher rated filter. M class is rated at 99.9% vs HEPA at 99.5% on the CTL 15.

I believe that’s the main difference. I bought the new Midi in January and am very impressed by it.

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[Deelirium]

Hi CeeJay,

Good to hear its working out,
Interestingly enough when i talked to the festool rep they said the CTL-15 was supplyed with the HEPA filterhttps://www.festool.com.au/ct-mini-midi-2-hepa-extractor-main-filter.html
And Midi with a CT Main filterhttps://www.festool.com.au/ct-midi-2-extractor-main-filter.html

As you can see from the links the Hepa filter is actualy the more expensive of the two, with the more detailed specs. so the Midi is actualy supplied with the cheaper filter, which seems strange? Is this correct?

 

[CeeJay]

No idea! I’ll need someone smarter than me to explain that one.

Does beg the question why bother with the Midi.

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[ctvader]

I was in the same boat and I couldn’t justify the extra $$$ for the midi. 

 

[Euclid]

I *think* the new CT15 lacks Systainer docking ability on the top and the kick down foot (to resist it rolling about).

There's a round up the extractors in a recent Festool Live episode here:


(warning: it's a bit OTT on the theatrics - I do like Sedge, but I think he had one too many coffees before this one...!)

 

[mrboult]

I imagine the price difference is somehow related to the HEPA classification? I feel like this is fairly US specific. Over here we have L an M class etc. HEPA doesn’t make much of an appearance this side of the pond as far as I’m aware.

 

[FestitaMakool]

Hi,
I had to check the aus site.. it seems strange that they only offer 1 variant of the CT mini/midi, namely the M version - which is by far the most expensive. In Europe it comes in CTL - Mini and Midi - and CTM Midi. CTL Mini is by far the best buy and only minor less bin capacity. The bag they use are the same. I bought the CTL Mini and special ordered the undercarriage from the Midi complete with latches and wheels. This way I can convert to a smallest possible size when needed. (I have the optional handle mounted on one of the undercarriages)
I don’t get that the CTL 15 has a better filter, I suspect that they are all the same. Only difference is that the M version beeps when suction is obstructed under a set value, the filters are the same.

Could you ask for a quote for a special order on the CTL Mini? Long term you could buy a larger bin/undercarriage and I think you wold be more pleased with the features of the Mini/Midi regardless of versions.

In Europe the price difference between a CT 15 and a CTL Mini is approximately AUD $277,- (Dealers may individually have even lower differences)

 

[CeeJay]

Ok this was driving me a bit bats.

I spoke to the Occ Hygiene guys at work who run our asbestos labs.

L and M class are UK/ European standards. They don’t apply in Australia.

H class for asbestos does apply in Australia.

HEPA is an American standard. It doesn’t apply in Australia.

L and M are different dust standards (99% vs 99.9%) but most manufactures use the same filter (M class 99.9%) on both and the only difference is alarm/ no alarm. Appears Festool is the same.

HEPA filters are finer than M class but are more delicate and don’t withstand the autoclean functions well. They also clog quicker and need replacing more often.

This explains why when I worked in underground coal in the UK everyone took silicosis risks super seriously and when I came to Australia 15 years ago no one gave a stuff about silicosis (except me). Now it seems the Aussie standards are likely to change soon, not because of coal mining ironically but because of corian benchtops!

So I think Festita is correct regarding the Aussie price difference being in the chassis and ‘M-beep plus some accessories.

I would have been better off with the CT15 but it wasn’t on the market when I was buying. I do like the beep letting me know the bag is full tho.

So I think you’ve got your answer - CT 15 is the go!

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[Deelirium]

Indeed it does seem i have my answer that the CTL15 is the best choice.

My heart still wants to get the Midi but just doesnt seem worth the extra money.

Regaurding the different Australian models, i have never seen a midi mini here in australia, however the CTL midi was avalible until just recently, and still avalible from some retailers. However its only $50 less than the CTM Midi, so not really worth while.

Thanks for hunting out the information on the different classes Ceejay,

Cheers.

 

[BarrySumpter]

https://www.festool.com.au/news/ct-15-vs-ctm-midi-how-do-they-compare/

 

[mino]

https://www.festool.com.au/news/ct-15-vs-ctm-midi-how-do-they-compare/

A nice bit of are ressurrect.

I would advise people to not get guided (too much) by the Festool comparison though. Is more mis-information than information when taken alone. Which is OK, for a marketing page designed to up-sell ...

Nowhere makes it clear that the filters /and thus the filtration ability/ are exactly the same between a CT 15/25 and CT MINI/MIDI series. CeeJay's post above is way better informatively.

I still think the CT MINI/MIDI series are the way to go for a go-to vac. The hose, garage and the Bluetooth are just worth it. And that the M class alarm is useful as well. But filtration just does not enter that discussion. As it should not.