What happens if you run the CT26 without the HEPA filter?

[Woody Knotsensplintahs]

Hi,
I have been doing some DIY home remodeling in the kitchen that required cutting and demo'ing drywall. I indulged myself by pulling my CT26 out of the wood work garage and bringing it inside to help manage dust.  I used a variety of adapters to collect dust with a cheap 3-1/4" mini saw, and a Oscillating cutoff tool. The dust collection was remarkably effective.

When I purchased my CT26 I mated it to an Ultimate Dust Deputy and have found it to be incredibly effective at capturing nearly all the wood particles I extract. I was surprised to learn that the dust deputy is only partially effective with the diversion of the fine drywall dust. It captured a lot of dust, but and equal amount made it past the intervention and now resides within my Festool CT26 bag.

I have to say, I do not think I would have used a HEPA filter system for my small DIY project if I had known how the dust deputy handled the drywall dust.

Nevertheless, I am now in the stages of finishing the drywall mud coating, and am considering using my Festool sanders to help with the job.

Can I run the CT26 without a HEPA filter without damaging or clogging up the system?

I think the combined ability of the Dust Deputy and the CT26 bag will be a tremendous help, but I'd like to enjoy the help while not ruining an expensive HEPA filter.

What do you think?

 

[Michael Kellough]

What do you think the HEPA filter is for?

It’s to prevent the particles that are too small for you to see (the ones that easily penetrate your lungs) from being re-distributed throughout the room where you and anyone around are breathing.

Drywall compound includes silica, you don’t want to breath it. And those paper masks are inadequate. Use the HEPA filter.

The only time you (maybe) don’t need it is when sawing and planing (some species) natural wood.

 

[AlexThePalex]

Never use a vac without a filter. Dirt gets spewed out as quickly as you suck it in, especially the bad smallest particles like Micheal said.

And besides that, you will not ruin your filter by sucking up drywall dust. The drywall dust will be caught by the bag. How do I know that? I've sanded miles and miles of the stuff and all my filters remain spotless. The bag will catch it all but will clog quickly though. Like when it's only 1/4 full you'll see a considerable loss in suction. I just bought a cyclone myself to see if this will help to get more use out of my bags, but I still have to use for the first time. Probably tommorow.

 

[Woody Knotsensplintahs]

This is the first vacuum I have owned that has a HEPA filter. At my old age, the thought of being exposed to some microscopic dust for a few extra minutes hardly seems like it is going to make or break my prospects for a long happy life.

I probably swallowed as much toxic particulates during the two decades that I daily spent bicycle commuting and sports training along fume sodden roadways, when I thought that I was keeping myself in tip top shape.

In any event I am not here asking a philosophical question about the use of excellent filtration technology, but rather curious to learn about the vacuum mechanism.

The anecdote indicating that the filter will not clog with drywall dust is reassuring. Thank you for sharing your experience.

Thank you.

 

[Kanuka]

You should just wet sand the drywall. Makes about as much sense as anything else you're likely to think of.

 

[xedos]

At your age why are you concerned about the HEPA filter ? 

It will survive hours and hours of exposure to dust that manages to pass thorough the Festool bags.  Running a UDD you've more than doubled its life.  Use it , it's a tool.

FWIW, I'm still on an original filter on a CT22 + UDD after at least 10 years of shop use. It's prob more.  A DIY drywall project isn't going to kill it.

 

[usernumber1]

seriously, whats the point of having a hepa filter if you're not going to use it

 

[FestitaMakool]

I probably swallowed as much toxic particulates during the two decades that I daily spent bicycle commuting and sports training along fume sodden roadways, when I thought that I was keeping myself in tip top shape.

[member=5277]Alex[/member] here has the competence, and I think if you have a HEPA fitted vac in the first place, you should use it under circumstances given when sanding such as dry wall, paint etc. For more “safe” applications such as certain wood types I wouldn’t worry as much.

.. And for bicycling in traffic, commuting or training, I have never been confident that it is healthy. But I know lot of cyclists do. I’m glad you do realise that it might be harmful. Better put on your trainers and have a run in the woods, or at least some place where the air is more “filtered” [blink]

 

[AlexThePalex]

This is the first vacuum I have owned that has a HEPA filter. At my old age, the thought of being exposed to some microscopic dust for a few extra minutes hardly seems like it is going to make or break my prospects for a long happy life.

It is not about a few small particles you will not notice anyway. If you use a vac without filter, you will notice very quickly how your room turns into a place you don't want to be in. Unfiltered exhaust air is dirty. Really dirty.

 

[kevinculle]

Until I was about 13 none of the cars I rode in had seat belts, then for 5 or so years it was lap belts only, then lap and shoulder belts for the next 20 or so years and ever since a growing array of ACRS modules (airbags) supplemented by seat belt pretensioners, more sophisticated chassis structures that absorb collision energy, etc.  I am thinking about disconnecting all of those airbags because they are very expensive to replace after a collision and after all, I'm an old geezer and if I survived all those years without them why do I need them now?

 

[Michael Kellough]

“ I am thinking about disconnecting all of those airbags”

[member=60975]kevinculle[/member]  I suppose you’re speaking tongue in check but what if you did that and later had a fatal collision. What would the life insurance company say?

 

[kevinculle]

Michael,

I was attempting to construct a tongue-in-cheek analogy to illustrate the folly of bypassing proven safety features that you have already paid for...I neglected to mention my personal experience at about age 20 of having my little airbag-less BMW impacted head-on by a drunk in a full size station wagon.  I ended up with about 140 stitches in my mouth whereas if I had been in a modern airbagged car I probably would have gotten off with an airbag brushburn to the cheek.  The OP was considering trading the cost of a HEPA filter ($150??) for his health and well being after having bought the HEPA filter just to avoid the risk.  Rectal-cranial inversion in my personal perspective.

 

[Michael Kellough]

[member=60975]kevinculle[/member]  Yikes! Glad it wasn’t worse. That’s what I thought you were implying but in the OP’s defense I think he was just unfamiliar with the HEPA thing. He bought a new vac and it included this pricey filter. He was just wondering if it made sense to save it for something more exotic than sanding drywall compound, not knowing that drywall dust was precisely the kind of potentially hazardous stuff the filter is intended to catch.

 

[Tinker]

I have a CT 33 and CT22. The 22, does not get used much. The 33 I use every time i am working with dust manufacturing tools from the finest grit sander to my 1400 router. I don't know how other workers get away with working for years without clogging-their HEPA filters. I have emptied/cleaned my HEPA filters, sometimes as often as once or twice per season. When the suction slowdown on my CT either 33 or 22, I just investigate the HEPA filters. All it takes is to take them outside and tap lightly to clean the packed dust out of the filter and reinstall. I even have a dust deputy type collector in my line from tool to CT. The deputy does a good job of collecting the large particles and most of the fine dust particles, but the fines that do not remainin the collection bucket do find their way into the collection bag within the CT. If I do not use the filter (and I never have done that),I am certain that that extra dust will settle in the motor, or worse, my lungs. It is only a few minute task to remove, tap the HEPA filters and reinstall.
Tinker

 

[Michael Kellough]

@ Tinker  I don’t think your vacs have HEPA filters, just the regular pleated fiber filter. I don’t have HEPA filters on my old vacs either.

You do use bags right? Do you re-use bags? I used to do that (before getting cyclones) but wear and tear allowed some dust to pass through to the pleated filter, and as you know it’s a bit of a pain to clean the pleated filter.

 

[RKA]

Anything that might clog your hepa filter isn’t something you want to breathe or spread all over your house.  Besides, if I spread fine drywall dust all over the house, my life would be significantly shortened (by the other occupant of the house), but only after I cleaned the resulting mess.  So yeah, better to just leave the filter in place.

But I tend to be conservative.  I go into coughing fits just wandering into my attic to change the furnace filters.  Any vac used inside the home has a hepa filter. 

 

[RJNeal]

Oh this so reminds me when I was doing the vineyard management thing awhile back. The irrigation foreman would remove the water filter on the drip system because it would get clogged up.  [blink]
Rick

 

[xedos]

Oh this so reminds me when I was doing the vineyard management thing awhile back. The irrigation foreman would remove the water filter on the drip system because it would get clogged up.  [blink]
Rick

He was just protecting his turf.  If he didn't need xtra guys to fix the clogged emmiters/ sprayers then he'd have nobody to manage.

 

[Tinker]

@ Tinker  I don’t think your vacs have HEPA filters, just the regular pleated fiber filter. I don’t have HEPA filters on my old vacs either.

You do use bags right? Do you re-use bags? I used to do that (before getting cyclones) but wear and tear allowed some dust to pass through to the pleated filter, and as you know it’s a bit of a pain to clean the pleated filter.

I stand corrected [member=297]Michael Kellough[/member]. I guess because I don't have a HEPA filter on either of my vacs, I probably don't know the difference.
It is sort of a pain to clean the filters but more of a pain to realize the vac has slowed down or because the filters are packed, the hose gets clogged in certain situations. That can become an aggravation.
Tinker

 

[xedos]

@ Tinker  I don’t think your vacs have HEPA filters, just the regular pleated fiber filter. I don’t have HEPA filters on my old vacs either.

You do use bags right? Do you re-use bags? I used to do that (before getting cyclones) but wear and tear allowed some dust to pass through to the pleated filter, and as you know it’s a bit of a pain to clean the pleated filter.

Careful there Michael telling people what they have and don't have. 

While the very first CT22/33's shipped with regular filters at the turn of the century (and HEPA wasn't an option if I recall) , by the mid 2000's the 22/33 were shipping with HEPA filter and replacements were available to upgrade older models.  Festool #493334

Festool didn't really make a huge fuss over this, I suspect because they didn't have the vacs "certified" HEPA until the mid to late teens.