Which Sys Air???

[ScotF]

My Delta air cleaner gave up the ghost this week. Not worth trying to repair it. Need another air scrubber and debating between the two Festool variants. Not sure I need Hepa or not and if it is worth the added hepa filter costs down the road. I do like the added CFM of the type M and more cleans per hour. Have roughly 20 x 20 x 10 shop space. This is for 85% woodworking and 15% metal with grinding welds, etc... sometimes dust too. I have even considered getting one of each to run simultaneously, but that could be overkill. I could also go for a Jet with remote.

Thoughts?

Thanks

 

[onocoffee]

I've been pondering this question myself. On a theoretical level, a HEPA filter is supposed to remove 99.99% of .1-.5 micron particulates, which are the ones we should be most concerned about. FestoolUSA says the SYS-AIR "provides over 99.9% filration"

However, when you look at the specs, there's not much stated difference. Both units seem to share the same Preliminary (1332 in2 surface material) and Main (3812 in2) filter. There is a price difference between the two replacement main filters, and the SYS-AIR HEPA has a slower cfm of 264.8 vs 423.

Sedge has been explicit in both the Festool Live featuring the SYS-AIR and in the Concord Carpenter video from JLC in Rhode Island this past weekend, that you cannot use the HEPA Main Filter in the non-HEPA SYS AIR because the unit is what controls it. Does this mean that the filters are the same but it is the airflow allowed by the SYS-AIR that makes the difference in particulate capture? Could it be that this is a case of two labelings but the same system? I don't know.

The page for the HEPA Main Filter does state that it is more efficient with 99.995% filtration. I'm interested to hear more from those who have been able to deploy them in the field. 200+cfm is pretty miniscule and in the Festool Lives, Sedge has placed the SYS-AIR next to the workpiece so that any errant dust from the sander is immediately sucked in. This may be the ideal use for the SYS-AIR since the cfm rating is pretty low. At 200+ cfm, I wonder how long it would take to truly scrub an actual woodshop.

If I were to buy one tomorrow, I'd probably get the HEPA - but mainly because I've become very concerned about maximizing air cleanliness in the shop.

 

[ScotF]

Yeah. I don't think the filters are interchangeable as it would act like a clogged filter using Hepa on the m. Not sure why it why not work the other way around, since the m filters in theory are more porous. I just don't know if it matters all that much in real world terms between the 2 either,  but maybe. I wish Festool had more info on its website on each unit and the different use cases.

 

[Ultimate Tools Marketing]

For what it's worth, the HEPA version has been the more popular one for us by a landslide.

 

[onocoffee]

[member=78686]Ultimate Tools Rep[/member] What would be the ideal/targeted scenarios for both machines?

 

[sansbury]

Just chiming in to say I am also trying to make this decision. I don't strictly need a portable solution so had also considered something like this
https://www.woodcraft.com/products/...ir-filtration-system-754-cfm-1-ph-120v-pm1250

But the idea of being able to move it around the shop to bring it close to the work is potentially appealing. I have a ~25x40 space of which about 1/3 is woodworking, 1/3 is machining, and the rest is a mix of welding, electronics, and anything else I might do that's too messy for the living room. I was planning on having some kid of proper fume extractor for the metalworking area but there could still be grinding/sanding dust. I don't know if any of these units can help with that or if it's important to actually segregate them more.

 

[usernumber1]

i'm shocked by the difference in cfm of 264.8 vs 423.

264 seems so little to be effective

 

[ScotF]

I think I am going to try the "M" version - I figure it is the equivalent or better than my old Delta that died and I like the faster airflow. I can always add a HEPA later for even added performance if needed. I am not in my shop 8 hours everyday and use normal CT extraction or dust extraction from my other non-HEPA dust extractor for everything else. Will see how this goes and will report back after I have put it to some use.