New to the forum here so apologies if this has been asked already but has anyone had issues using CT 36 E HEPA for drywall dust? Primarily use it for woodworking but have some drywall work to do on my house. Primarily concerned with it clogging quickly but wanted to see if anyone else had experience with this? Thanks!
Has anyone had issues using CT 36 E HEPA for drywall dust?
- Thread starter bmacd87
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jonnyrocket
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- Jan 8, 2018
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Regardless if it’s a 26, 36, or 48, drywall dust will clog the filter bag and the HEPA filter. How quickly that happens will depend on if you’re just doing a small patch, or mudding an entire room of new drywall. Using a pre-separator, either the festool or one of the cyclone types helps this but it won’t prevent the clogging from happening.
If you’re just doing some small patches, taking out the filter bag and giving it a good shakedown after each sanding will help prolong its life.
If you’re doing a lot of surface area or planning to use a planex, a pre separator is a must to prevent getting very frustrated, but even still, that’s just a stop gap and an auto clean vac is the right tool. If that’s not an option, plan on buying a box or two of the filter bags and stop very often
If you’re just doing some small patches, taking out the filter bag and giving it a good shakedown after each sanding will help prolong its life.
If you’re doing a lot of surface area or planning to use a planex, a pre separator is a must to prevent getting very frustrated, but even still, that’s just a stop gap and an auto clean vac is the right tool. If that’s not an option, plan on buying a box or two of the filter bags and stop very often
mino
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- May 5, 2016
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- 1,998
One advice not mention as it seems obvious - do not even think about using the vac bagless, like an AC vac is used.
You would permanently clog/destroy your main filter that way, not just the bag. It is not possible to properly renew a plaster-clogged filter. Not without affecting its filtering ability.
Still, when you replace your main filter, for whatever reason. Do not throw it away. Keep it for the cases where you know to be likely to clog it.
The cooling of the motor uses a separate air intake, so the only "disadvantage" of a messed up main filter is it does not filter (that) well. That is very much acceptable for the one job in a few years. Buty a problem if you are "stuck" with such for your wood work.
If you have anything bigger to do - like more than a wall or two, it is well worth renting a Planex + vac set, or equivalent, for a weekend instead. You save yourself the time and the bags saved may cover a signifficant part of the rental cost.
Also, as mentioned, for home use cyclone helps, but only delays the inevitable a bit - the bigesst issue is the smallest dust, and cyclone will let exactly that dust through. While a cyclone would catch 90%+ of the plaster dust by volume, it will catch only 30-50% of the microdust that permanently clogs the filter bag. So not really a solution, but still helps.
You would permanently clog/destroy your main filter that way, not just the bag. It is not possible to properly renew a plaster-clogged filter. Not without affecting its filtering ability.
Still, when you replace your main filter, for whatever reason. Do not throw it away. Keep it for the cases where you know to be likely to clog it.
The cooling of the motor uses a separate air intake, so the only "disadvantage" of a messed up main filter is it does not filter (that) well. That is very much acceptable for the one job in a few years. Buty a problem if you are "stuck" with such for your wood work.
If you have anything bigger to do - like more than a wall or two, it is well worth renting a Planex + vac set, or equivalent, for a weekend instead. You save yourself the time and the bags saved may cover a signifficant part of the rental cost.
Also, as mentioned, for home use cyclone helps, but only delays the inevitable a bit - the bigesst issue is the smallest dust, and cyclone will let exactly that dust through. While a cyclone would catch 90%+ of the plaster dust by volume, it will catch only 30-50% of the microdust that permanently clogs the filter bag. So not really a solution, but still helps.
