New CT 26/36/48 Refresh

[Cheese]

In terms of design, I really like the hose garage (and also the previous internal power cord storage too) but I do like the solid, flat tops of the Bosch extractors; a place to sit or rest things on. If this was possible or offered as a Systainer-compatible accessory I’d be interested.

Well then today's your lucky day.  [smile]

Here's a nice solid flat top produced by Tanos I believe, I've had it for the last 8 years or so. If you're looking for a nice flat surface for resting things on this could be your dinner winner.

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However, if you're looking for a more functional top, just put one of these on top of your Festool vac of choice. I have one of these mounted on the top of a MIDI, a MIDI I & a CT 22. The long narrow hole/slot down the middle acts as a convenient handle for me to easily move it inside or outside, while the hand screw clamp on the top surface acts as a guide to help retain the hose and any cords that are attached.

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[lloydh]

Let's all remember our online manners [wink]

Well then today's your lucky day.  [smile]

Here's a nice solid flat top produced by Tanos I believe, I've had it for the last 8 years or so. If you're looking for a nice flat surface for resting things on this could be your dinner winner.

Not bad, and two options!
I presume neither hinge open like the plastic MIDI top for quick access to the garage. The handle looks a bit uncomfortable — maybe it's better in person.

OF2200 and a Midi combo is what justified picking up a second one in my case.  Absolutely no issues at all, at least in Europe.

I was really pleased to see this and expected the UK model to be the same (at least the 240V I'm interested in) so why does Festool UK list the "Max. appliance socket connected load" as 1610 W, when Festool DE shows 2200 W  [sad]

 

[Cheese]

Not bad, and two options!
I presume neither hinge open like the plastic MIDI top for quick access to the garage. The handle looks a bit uncomfortable — maybe it's better in person.

For the plain Tanos top, the North & South green connections need to be undone and for the Festool SYS-MFT the T-Loc has to be rotated.

The elongated slot works well to carry it short distances like outside or up a set of stairs.

I should add, the Tanos plain top is only that...a plain, flat top on the MIDI I because of the hinged cover on the hose garage, however on the CT 22 and MIDI, there is no cover and the hose garage is open so the Tanos item becomes more functional.

 

[Chainring]

Finally, a picture of the SYS-MFT on a CT and the underside of the lid. I've been thinking about doing the same thing with having it on the CT for storage of random stuff related to the current task/project and it's looking great for that usage.

 

[Cheese]

Finally, a picture of the SYS-MFT on a CT and the underside of the lid. I've been thinking about doing the same thing with having it on the CT for storage of random stuff related to the current task/project and it's looking great for that usage.

And if you need more room than that, take a Sys 2 or Sys 3 and swap out covers.

 

[Dr. P. Venkman]

[member=44099]Cheese[/member]

LOL @ the Hillshire Farm plastic containers inside that systainer.  I have tons of those and use them all the time.

 

[Paul_HKI]

OF2200 and a Midi combo is what justified picking up a second one in my case.  Absolutely no issues at all, at least in Europe.

I was really pleased to see this and expected the UK model to be the same (at least the 240V I'm interested in) so why does Festool UK list the "Max. appliance socket connected load" as 1610 W, when Festool DE shows 2200 W  [sad]

To understand the limitation imposed by your location in the UK, apply Ohm's law.

The Midi power rating varies from 350-1200W.  Take the upper.  Add 2200W for power take off for the EU market gives 3400W.  Divide that by the nominal voltage, say 220V (pick the lower end of the 220-240V nominal range in this case for the correct safety margin), gives the Ampere rating. 

That example works out at 14.78 amps.  On a UK 3 pin 13A plug and socket combination, that could be a bad thing, if the supply wiring to the socket were not adequately sized and protected.  Not only in theory but in practice, a fire in a wall or ceiling cavity could be the end result.

On the UK market CT's, the manufacturer of ANY power tools need to consider the limitation imposed by a 13A as opposed to 16A rated plug/socket.  Therefore, running the same calculation for the UK works out at 12.78A taking the 1200W for the CT and 1610W for the power take off, at 220V. 

Suffice to say, the limitation in this case is all down to the UK plug and socket.  A bigger CT won't help. 

In order to safely power a 2200W power tool in the UK via the PTO socket on the 1200W CT, even one imported from the continent with a Schuko plug, one would need to have a rock solid 16A protected feed from a suitable bus bar in the consumer unit, feeding a 16A rated socket, into which a 16A rated plug would fit to feed the CT with its go-go juice. 

Again, no suggestion you should modify a UK market CT.  Just explaining what's different about your current setup compared to your European brethren.  Were I to move 'home' and fit a 13A plug to my CT, a reasonable and common enough thing to do, I'd have to reduce my PTO connected power tool to something with no more than 1610W power rating to maintain that .22A margin.  Unless I had a 16A Schuko socket, 2.5mm2 cabling and a suitable trip on the CU so it was being fed the same way it would have been here in the euro-norm-land. 

 

[FestitaMakool]

Not knowing the UK system, I believe Paul is right.

My CTM 26AC has its origin as a DK (Denmark) spec vac. I bought it unused and found that it had a Danish socket, where the lid said max 1100W.. In my country we’re almost shifted entirely to Schuko grounded sockets, and wiring that handles 16Ah. I checked the part no’ for the main board of the exact same CT, but with my native specs, and they were the same.
So i solved this by buying the Schuko socket and changed the label appropriately to match the max 3600W total draw from our native sockets to a label with max 2400W (Label of choice was supplied with the original Festool part)

In Denmark they have 3 different sockets, where Schuko is at top with the same as here, (3680W), but the lowest Ah is one of the most common sockets in Denmark, and the total of these are rated at 10Ah (2300W max) So if one withdraw the CT’s 1200W, there’s only 1100W left for the socket on the CT.

I have some old sockets in my old house, rated at 10Ah, and I don’t use these for heavy loads.
There where mandatory to exchange sockets in kitchen, bathrooms and outside use (ie; garage) to grounded 16Ah (10Ah too) sockets, wiring and circuit brakers some years ago. And these are intended for technical and grounded equipment, and that’s where the heavy loads go.

 

[FestitaMakool]

Cheese, nice old W-Top!  [wink]

 

[Cheese]

Hey Festita…just curious what a W top is.

 

[Doug S]

I was really pleased to see this and expected the UK model to be the same (at least the 240V I'm interested in) so why does Festool UK list the "Max. appliance socket connected load" as 1610 W, when Festool DE shows 2200 W  [sad]

This comes up all the time and I'm sure that Festool UK say you can use any Festool tool with any Festool vac (that's what I was always told anyway), the max load is a guide for if you use other makes of tool with your Festool vac.

This isn't UK but kind of explains it.
https://www.festoolownersgroup.com/...n-festool-dust-extractor-vacuum-outlet-65827/

Why not contact Festool UK to get a definitive answer for us, I would be interested to know what their current view is  [smile]

 

[FestitaMakool]

Hey Festita…just curious what a W top is.

.. Soft-top, Hard-top, Sun-top, Bimini-top, T-top ..I figured Wood-top..  [big grin]
(Maybe it’s because I’m all into boats these days.. refurbishing, rigging outboard and so on  [smile] - I’ll make a new seat with waterproof plywood as a base before transferring the teak from the old battered base, that’ll be fun. Nothing I’ve done before anyway, at least some woodworking  [smile])

 

[sladen]

…it would be great to see powertool manufacturers adopt a common Bluetooth protocol for tools to switch dust extraction on/off — even just the German manufacturers…

Yes, definitely.  The good news is that the Festool kit (BT Battery/Remote/CT Receiver) have DFU support for updating firmware.  The Makita Bluetooth modules (WUT01) appear to have this too—so there is some hope for patching to support a common standard.

…Such a Bluetooth BLE protocol could be extremely simple: a hypothetical "VAC: Vacuums are Connected" protocol could be done by BLE advertisements (beaconing), a single registered 16-bit UUID and a single byte for tool run-status; (total = +5 bytes) which should fit in with the BLE packet size, along with the existing manufacturer data.  Light traffic lights, needs four states: PRERUN/RUN/PRESTOP/STOP corresponding to actions: 1. LED on, 2. Motor on, 3. Motor off (but clear hose), 4. Remote MAN = immediate off.

However, the mean-time, a workable solution is a mobile phone (with Bluetooth), or a Linux-based Raspberry Pi Zero W (with Bluetooth), acting as a hub and translating the vendor specific on/off protocols.  So far have Makita AWS documented, and Festool/Tooltech partially reverse-engineered ... waiting on access to more hardware.  Can also receive/decode the DeWalt WTC 433.92 MHz on/off signal, but only have one tool obtained as an example.

(PS. If there is anyone near Frankfurt/Heidelberg, with multiple pieces of Bluetooth-capable powertools [including Festool], please let me know!).

 

[Coen]

It hasn't stolen my heart, that's for sure. Suddenly it has this little computer on-board, that all the time, for no reason says: "Suck it up yourself". My old Mini just worked, all the time.

Ha, yeah.

But at least it 'filter clean handle' actually does something. If you suck up drywall / concrete dust, the 26 will just loose suction gradually while the new Midi allows it to be restored for 90%+.

However, when sucking up larger debris, it does not fill the bag. It launches everything forward, up to clogging the hose while there is a ton of free space directly below where the filter sits on top of the bag.

 

[ntlord]

So if the firmware is updatable. And it seems someone else reverse engineered the serial protocol, why not just write some custom firmware from scratch. Festool uses Nordic chips, so it shouldn’t be too difficult. From what I’ve seen from the remotes, they send advertisements whether paired or not. I bet the batteries work similar. So you could do what I did to make the relay adapter and just capture the advertisements.

As you’ve said elsewhere reversing the festool protocol is a little more difficult because it is encrypted. It’s too bad I just saw this, as I just got back from Frankfurt. Although I think I’ll be back in a couple of weeks (2nd week of Feb). I would have loved to meet up and swap knowledge

 

[mino]

... a blower port ...

Strongly, strongly against a blower port. A blower port means the vac is spewing all kinds of dust around itself by the wind it creates.

This is not a feature I want to se in a shop-use vac like the 26/36/48 series. If someone needs a blower port of off-shop use, there are the Mini/Midi series for that.

Secondly, a blower port does not allow a "muffed" air out, one of the things making the bigger vac series so quiet.

Onto what would be nice to see:
- Do not change the bottom mechanical parts. So the same filters, the same bags and the same other accessories work. IMO there is nothing to really improve there.
- Re-introduce the non-garage model option as a "cut-down/basic-offer" design for shop use. Like a "big CT15" of sorts. Or use the CT22/33 approach where the garage was optional.
- design the garage so it can be pulled by it - a proper handle on the front (and back ?) would be ideal

Rest was already said.

 

[Coen]

This is not a feature I want to se in a shop-use vac like the 26/36/48 series. If someone needs a blower port of off-shop use, there are the Mini/Midi series for that.

Not true. You can make it in such a way that the blower port is only activated when... in actual use. Like on the CT 22.

 

[mino]

This is not a feature I want to se in a shop-use vac like the 26/36/48 series. If someone needs a blower port of off-shop use, there are the Mini/Midi series for that.

Not true. You can make it in such a way that the blower port is only activated when... in actual use. Like on the CT 22.

Not seen that, how does it work? Is there some lever that redirects the air output to the blower port ? How good is it at not losing pressure ?

 

[Coen]

This is not a feature I want to se in a shop-use vac like the 26/36/48 series. If someone needs a blower port of off-shop use, there are the Mini/Midi series for that.

Not true. You can make it in such a way that the blower port is only activated when... in actual use. Like on the CT 22.

Not seen that, how does it work? Is there some lever that redirects the air output to the blower port ? How good is it at not losing pressure ?

Yes, when you stick the hose in there it pushes a lever up, cutting off some other air outlets and opening the blowerport.