New from Festool for Europe - September 2018: CT pre separator with cyclone tech

There is no official response that I was given as to why it is not listed as compatible with the SYS/MINI/MIDI. The only reason I can see it not working as well due to the lower suction of the smaller collectors. So far my testing of it is with the 26 and we have been putting it through its paces. We are quite impressed with it but are yet to see much interest from our contractors.
 
Thanks for that. An official reason would be good. Although, having put the SYS through its paces today with great results, I do wonder whether it's to sell pricier extractors. The TS55, RO 90 and Kapex all did their thing today with 20mm oak and there was not a drop (OK, maybe a puff) of dust in the SYS bag at the end of the day.

It's early days but a small vac with comparible small cyclone in a small shop has made me smile several times today :D
 
Windsor Plywood Calgary West said:
We are quite impressed with it but are yet to see much interest from our contractors.

The thing (together with a pack of bins and the power extension that you need when you have a sleeved hose) cost about the same as a CTL MIDI - and takes about same space as one. Space is premium for quite many contractor vans I would suspect.

I also guess the same is true about money, you can buy plenty of bags (and they'll take less room) for the price of one pre separator - bags that you'll bill your customer for anyway.
 
The official news from my supplier is "The reason the CT Pre-Separator is not recommended for the small collectors is that Festool has not done substantial enough testing to know for sure if there could be any negative outcomes in the long term. Once the testing has been done to their liking, they will release new information on the unit."

Hope this helps guys!
 
Thanks for taking the time to ask and passing it on. I'd call it good news... in a glass half full way ;)
 
You are most welcome. We are still new to the world of Festool so asking the questions you guys have helps us gain more knowledge as well.
 
Seem like more than once I've seen pics of the cyclone hooked up to the SYS.... Seems like a great combo. Small extractor for on the job, but if you need to plane down a door or two put the cyclone on it so the bag doesn't fill up..... I upgraded from a Midi to CT26 because I'd heard the cyclone won't work with it... My sales guy thought different. Didn't think there was any reason it shouldn't. 
 
Farming_Sawyer said:
Seem like more than once I've seen pics of the cyclone hooked up to the SYS.... Seems like a great combo.

It may look like its hooked up to a SYS because the Cyclone its self minus the clear plastic container is the same size as the SYS, top and bottom together.

The Cyclone will work with the SYS, MIDI and MINI but Festool does not know if prolonged use could have negative effects on the smaller units.
 
Received the CT cyclone today. As others have posted it does reduce suction but that was expected. A few personal complaints. The short hose connecting the cyclone to the CT is 27mm and with two 90 bends reduces air flow. Why not a 50mm hose?  The top part of the cyclone is not secure in it’s location and installing or removing the hose moves the outlet out of position. On a positive note the unit works well and after 1 hour of mdf vcarving only a few specs of mdf are in the bag. Also if you place the unit next to the CT it fits under the cms.
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Price made me chuckle and design is frankly unimpressive.
For the price of a cyclone (about 35€), and some change for plywood, you can make a unit (with your other Festools tools) that will fit your exact ideal vision of how it should be, all this for a fraction of the cost. Without putting much time into it either. Festool has gone insane on the accessories prices, reminds me of Apple now.
 
I know I could not make one of these, to this standard in 3 hours. However that is the great part. You can decide how you wish to do this or even if you want to do it.
 
Windsor Plywood Calgary West said:
The Cyclone will work with the SYS, MIDI and MINI but Festool does not know if prolonged use could have negative effects on the smaller units.

Spent a few days thinking about this.  If there is any concern about prolonged “negative effects”, then that likely means damage (can’t see what else that would mean).  Midi is not significantly different than a 26 so why would they not be concerned about prolonged damage to all of the vacs?
 
infer said:
Received the CT cyclone today. As others have posted it does reduce suction but that was expected. A few personal complaints. The short hose connecting the cyclone to the CT is 27mm and with two 90 bends reduces air flow. Why not a 50mm hose?  The top part of the cyclone is not secure in it’s location and installing or removing the hose moves the outlet out of position. On a positive note the unit works well and after 1 hour of mdf vcarving only a few specs of mdf are in the bag. Also if you place the unit next to the CT it fits under the cms.
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Just tried mine out .  Far from scientific but using the 50mm instead of the supplied hose.  Hand test shows significant reduction in suck (maybe 25-30%) when switching the main hose (attached to the boom arm) between the collector and the main unit.  It’ll work for operations where big suck isn’t needed but things like the Kapex, no way.

Was originally thinking about getting one for every machine.  Now thinking I’ll try one out for a while and wait and see. 
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I have a short length of D36 I'm going to put on mine tonight to see if a difference exists too. We'll see! Either way, I'm just excited I can optimize the floor print of my shop more so with this thing. The DD was great, of course, but now the foot print that took up can be used for more stacking.
 
Scorpion said:
...Hand test shows significant reduction in suck (maybe 25-30%)...
If you have a brand new bag I'd suggest swapping it in and see if that makes any odds. I noticed a similar drop in suckage when using the CT-SYS and a new bag all but eliminated it.
 
I haven't had a chance to try mine yet, am waiting for the right angle connectors I ordered from Oneida.  I'm going to use a short piece of 50mm hose for the junction hose.
 
Upon closer inspection, I don't think adding a larger diameter inlet hose will matter since the inlet to the cyclone itself is 27mm.
 
bwehman said:
Upon closer inspection, I don't think adding a larger diameter inlet hose will matter since the inlet to the cyclone itself is 27mm.
It still matters, but not much. The cyclone might be a bottleneck, but loads are additive.
On a separate note, a 27 mm inlet to the cyclone is ridiculous. Simply poor design.
 
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