Festool Planex 2 + CT 15 vs. CT 36 AC

[aravilare]

I have an older home (~1000sqft) in a very HCOL market and I need to do some DIY plaster/dry wall work (reinforce some walls/ceilings with FibaFuse, and skim coat everything); aiming for a level 5 finish with as much sheen as semi-gloss will allow. For that, I'm planning to get a Planex 2.

I have a CT 15 that I bought a few months ago (which has undergone some extensive use), and I'm wondering if there will be some tangible benefit to also upgrading to a CT 36 AC, whether that's cleanliness, improved adhesion/suction, or less annoyance.

Could I use the auto-clean functionality and still maintain the HEPA system?

Any point in keeping the CT 15 around or, if I do upgrade, should I just list it for resale? (I also have an ETS 125 REQ that it'd work with I guess, but no real need in my mind for 2 vacuums).

 

[aravilare]

I saw I posted in this in the wrong forum; would a mod mind moving it?

 

[squall_line]

I have 4 vacuums: CT-MIDI I in the basement for interior cleanup, CT 26 with cyclone and Workcenter in the garage rolling around, CT-MINI with cyclone and 36 mm hose in the corner of the garage for floor cleaning and Kapex use, and a CTC SYS for portable cleaning and wall drilling, so this whole "no need for 2 vacuums" part doesn't really compute for me.  [blink]

In any case...  If you're planning on skim coating the entire house or an entire room, the CT 36 AC would likely benefit you from a usability standpoint.  While you can knock the dust out of a CT 15 bag and de-clog it, it's nowhere near the same over a long period as having the vacuum do the work for you.

That said, the CT 36 and CT 48 AC are not HEPA rated in AC mode.  For a HEPA-rated auto-clean, you'd need to move to something like the Nilfisk Attix 33 or its Milwaukee or Flex clones.  The main advantage to the CT 36 AC over those is the flexible, locking, planex-specific hose, which can also be purchased separately. The Flex plus a Planex hose can be had for almost $200 less than the CT 36 AC, which would leave room to also get an adapter for the vacuum end of the Planex hose if necessary.

 

[Cheese]

I have 4 vacuums: CT-MIDI I in the basement for interior cleanup, CT 26 with cyclone and Workcenter in the garage rolling around, CT-MINI with cyclone and 36 mm hose in the corner of the garage for floor cleaning and Kapex use, and a CTC SYS for portable cleaning and wall drilling, so this whole "no need for 2 vacuums" part doesn't really compute for me.  [blink]

In any case...  If you're planning on skim coating the entire house or an entire room, the CT 36 AC would likely benefit you from a usability standpoint.  While you can knock the dust out of a CT 15 bag and de-clog it, it's nowhere near the same over a long period as having the vacuum do the work for you.

That said, the CT 36 and CT 48 AC are not HEPA rated in AC mode.  For a HEPA-rated auto-clean, you'd need to move to something like the Nilfisk Attix 33 or its Milwaukee or Flex clones.  The main advantage to the CT 36 AC over those is the flexible, locking, planex-specific hose, which can also be purchased separately. The Flex plus a Planex hose can be had for almost $200 less than the CT 36 AC, which would leave room to also get an adapter for the vacuum end of the Planex hose if necessary.

Just a thought... [smile] ...You always have some very cogent information to add to the conversation...that's good.  [thumbs up]

 

[aravilare]

I have 4 vacuums: CT-MIDI I in the basement for interior cleanup, CT 26 with cyclone and Workcenter in the garage rolling around, CT-MINI with cyclone and 36 mm hose in the corner of the garage for floor cleaning and Kapex use, and a CTC SYS for portable cleaning and wall drilling, so this whole "no need for 2 vacuums" part doesn't really compute for me.  [blink]

In any case...  If you're planning on skim coating the entire house or an entire room, the CT 36 AC would likely benefit you from a usability standpoint.  While you can knock the dust out of a CT 15 bag and de-clog it, it's nowhere near the same over a long period as having the vacuum do the work for you.

That said, the CT 36 and CT 48 AC are not HEPA rated in AC mode.  For a HEPA-rated auto-clean, you'd need to move to something like the Nilfisk Attix 33 or its Milwaukee or Flex clones.  The main advantage to the CT 36 AC over those is the flexible, locking, planex-specific hose, which can also be purchased separately. The Flex plus a Planex hose can be had for almost $200 less than the CT 36 AC, which would leave room to also get an adapter for the vacuum end of the Planex hose if necessary.

Thank you for the thorough response. You also reminded me that the Planex doesn't come with the appropriate adapter for the 27mm hose that came with the CT 15 (and with all other CTs). Guess I need to special order it online.

If I don't run the CT 36 AC in auto-clean mode at all (I assume it requires the open-top bag?), then the only real "upgrade" is having a larger HEPA filter and larger bag before having to dump it. And not having to buy the Planex hose.

 

[squall_line]

I have 4 vacuums: CT-MIDI I in the basement for interior cleanup, CT 26 with cyclone and Workcenter in the garage rolling around, CT-MINI with cyclone and 36 mm hose in the corner of the garage for floor cleaning and Kapex use, and a CTC SYS for portable cleaning and wall drilling, so this whole "no need for 2 vacuums" part doesn't really compute for me.  [blink]

In any case...  If you're planning on skim coating the entire house or an entire room, the CT 36 AC would likely benefit you from a usability standpoint.  While you can knock the dust out of a CT 15 bag and de-clog it, it's nowhere near the same over a long period as having the vacuum do the work for you.

That said, the CT 36 and CT 48 AC are not HEPA rated in AC mode.  For a HEPA-rated auto-clean, you'd need to move to something like the Nilfisk Attix 33 or its Milwaukee or Flex clones.  The main advantage to the CT 36 AC over those is the flexible, locking, planex-specific hose, which can also be purchased separately. The Flex plus a Planex hose can be had for almost $200 less than the CT 36 AC, which would leave room to also get an adapter for the vacuum end of the Planex hose if necessary.

Thank you for the thorough response. You also reminded me that the Planex doesn't come with the appropriate adapter for the 27mm hose that came with the CT 15 (and with all other CTs). Guess I need to special order it online.

If I don't run the CT 36 AC in auto-clean mode at all (I assume it requires the open-top bag?), then the only real "upgrade" is having a larger HEPA filter and larger bag before having to dump it. And not having to buy the Planex hose.

If you don't run it in auto-clean mode, you're spending a chunk of change for the feature and the hose over the base CT 36.

Keep in mind that plaster dust and the fleece bags don't necessarily get along.  Even though the CT 36 has a nominally 2.4x larger capacity bag than the CT 15, the fleece lining will clog long before either bag gets close to full, so running the CT 36 in a normal mode with a fleece bag might not actually buy that much extra time over the CT 15.  If HEPA is the main concern, I would either stick with the CT 15 and learn how long you can sand before needing to unclog and/or replace the bag (you can buy a LOT of CT 15 bags for the price of the CT 36 AC) or look into the Nilfisk Attix 33 and clones.

If the concern with a Nilfisk/Flex/Milwaukee vac is the systainer compatibility, they have an accessory for it that allows you to fit systainers on top.  I haven't done that myself, but others have to successful effect.  Use your favorite search engine for "Nilfisk Attix 33 clones" and you'll find some good information about the options on some other sites (and a few comments about them on the FOG, too).

 

[guybo]

Hi, i use the 205412 filter in my 36ac,festool said it is compatible to do so with the auto clean function on. no rips or tears or  :'(

 

[aravilare]

If you don't run it in auto-clean mode, you're spending a chunk of change for the feature and the hose over the base CT 36.

Keep in mind that plaster dust and the fleece bags don't necessarily get along.  Even though the CT 36 has a nominally 2.4x larger capacity bag than the CT 15, the fleece lining will clog long before either bag gets close to full, so running the CT 36 in a normal mode with a fleece bag might not actually buy that much extra time over the CT 15.  If HEPA is the main concern, I would either stick with the CT 15 and learn how long you can sand before needing to unclog and/or replace the bag (you can buy a LOT of CT 15 bags for the price of the CT 36 AC) or look into the Nilfisk Attix 33 and clones.

If the concern with a Nilfisk/Flex/Milwaukee vac is the systainer compatibility, they have an accessory for it that allows you to fit systainers on top.  I haven't done that myself, but others have to successful effect.  Use your favorite search engine for "Nilfisk Attix 33 clones" and you'll find some good information about the options on some other sites (and a few comments about them on the FOG, too).

Thank you again. Do you think it'd be worthwhile to pick a 36mm anti-static hose (not necessarily the Planex one)? From the manual and looking online, it seems like it would provide more suction than the 27mm CT 15 default, which should translate to performance/comfort.

 

[Cheese]

Thank you again. Do you think it'd be worthwhile to pick a 36mm anti-static hose (not necessarily the Planex one)? From the manual and looking online, it seems like it would provide more suction than the 27mm CT 15 default, which should translate to performance/comfort.

You definitely need to use a 36mm hose, the 27mm hose doesn't have enough volume. AND the Festool 577101 hose has a collar that allows it to be securely clamped to the Planex. The 577101 is also extremely flexible and extremely light in weight, I wouldn't want to use the Planex with a different hose. Festool released the 577101 for a reason.  [big grin]

The 577101 hose also has an air bypass function to allow the Planex to be used on extremely light filler materials.

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[squall_line]

One could, if one were feeling squirrelly, alternately get the Cleaning Kit that includes a 36mm antistatic hose, and get the planex hose end adapter, 577100, leaving you with a very useful set of components.

That said, the newer sleeved hoses would grab and trap a lot of drywall dust in them, which would then get transferred around with you in the future.

So, talking that through, I guess I come back to Cheese's assertion: the 577101 exists for a good reason (more flexible, planex locking end, bypass valve, and no hose sock to collect drywall dust).

 

[aravilare]

One could, if one were feeling squirrelly, alternately get the Cleaning Kit that includes a 36mm antistatic hose, and get the planex hose end adapter, 577100, leaving you with a very useful set of components.

That said, the newer sleeved hoses would grab and trap a lot of drywall dust in them, which would then get transferred around with you in the future.

So, talking that through, I guess I come back to Cheese's assertion: the 577101 exists for a good reason (more flexible, planex locking end, bypass valve, and no hose sock to collect drywall dust).

Thank you both. When I was at a store buying the hose yesterday, I just decided on a whim to buy a new CT 36 AC instead. Glad to know I made the right choice.