Who slits, dumps, then tapes up their paper vacuum bags for reuse?

[jonny round boy]

Just had an occurence today that may be of interest to those re-using bags:

Yesterday I spend a few hours knocking the old plaster off 2 walls in the living room - it's over 100 years old, and has pretty much disintegrated. In most places it just needed a slight nudge & it fell off!

Obviously, this meant that the walls were extremely dusty, and needed the dust removing before the plasterer comes to recover them. So, today I set about with my CT mini and the Compact Cleaning Set (456736) using the extensions & the brush attachment to remove the dust & loose bits.

I had filled the bag yesterday cleaning up, and fitted a brand new bag. At first, it worked really well, but then the vac (unbeknown to me) overheated, and cut out. I let it cool down, and checked the bag (which was still 90% empty) before starting it up again. After about 10 mins it cut out again. By this time I'd done about 2/3rds of the area.

I put another new bag in & it worked fine again, so I quickly finished the last third.

I think that the dust I was picking up was very fine - far finer than wood dust - and was essentially clogging the inner filter in the bag even though there was hardly any dust in the bag.

Obviously this is an exagerated situation, but the same could happen with re-using bags - the finer dust that gets trapped in the inner bag filter will stay when it's emptied, gradually building up & reducing airflow.

Frank - you stated in the original post that each bag lasted about 4 fills - is this the reason why? Did you notice the airflow dropping at all?

 

[harry_]

New member, first post.... please be gentle 

When I purchased my ct33, I also purchased a box of replacement bags. As with all things Festool, I did not like the price. Since I was making the purchase with a particular project in mind (mold removal/abatement) I knew I wanted something HEPA and had been drooling over the TS75/CT33 combo for some time.......

I was fortunate in that the job did not require the use of more than one bag. And no I would not have reused the bag in this case because I did not want to deal with it's contents. Now the CT33 is used more as intended, for dust collection at the tool and final job site clean-up.

On my second bag, I tried for re-use and was relatively successful. I was able to get three uses out of it before i could not get it to seal back up again. ( I suppose I could of, but decided I was being crazy cheap at that point.) The problem was that the bag had simply given up along the tape line.

On my third bag, I decided to go about things a little differently based on the experience of bag #2. This time I 'broke down' the top folds prior to ever using the bag. Then I wrapped the the entire folds area with duck tape, then refolded the bag. Then finally wrapping the final fold with a band of duck tape.

Now when I went to empty the bag I did not need to be as careful about ripping the paper. The last time I had emptied the bag, the tape-tape bond was quite strong, so I used my utility knife to slit the tape. Emptied the bag, applied a new band of tape and got one or two more uses out of it. Eventually it lost it's suck. Come to find out when I went to empty/change the bag, I had slurped a 1&5/8 sheetrock screw. Naturally it punctured the bag. Yes it made a huge mess in the cavity. It was the plugging of the HEPA's that caused me to lose the suck. Since I had already gotten several 'cycles' (6-8) out of the bag, I just tossed it, knowing that I would never get a piece of tape to stick to the outside of the now very dusty vac. I blew out the filters with my compressor, prepped a new bag for re-use, and off I went.

The following project was finishing the basement in my home. Although I have pole-sanders & whatnot for doing mud & tape work, I did not want to deal with the dust from sanding joint compound. Instead I opted for using my little palm sander. Not the greatest idea for the task at hand, but I would have happily replaced a broken sander or worked a little harder because of it, than to deal with the dust.

Anyways,...

As I was not the one who applied the mud, there was a ton of it that needed to come off the wall. Eventually I began to lose suck, so I emptied the bag. This is a case where I should have just tossed it right away. After reinstalling the same bag, I was not much better off than prior to emptying it... the pores of the bag itself were plugged. Changed out the bag to a brandy new one. Life was once again good

I think that one can get upwards of a dozen uses out of bag depending on what is being collected with it. Even after using the same bag for a minimum of 6 cycles I did not lose enough suck to notice it while using it with another tool. Had it not been for the screw, who knows how many more times I could have gone.

exclusively for sanding ..... single use.
woodchips/sawdust.......... maybe a dozen.

 

[Michael Kellough]

It's true that very fine dust can clog the filter lining of even a new bag
long before the bag is full. Sometimes you can wack the bag to knock
some of the dust out of the paper to get a little more use out of it....

I've never opened the bag to empty it but I like the idea of opening
the end seam prior to use and getting it prepared for easy emptying
and sealing. Instead, I've just been shaking it out of the port into
a hose going to the shop dust collector. That goes pretty fast if the
debris is sawdust or sanding dust but it bogs down when I've used
the vac around the house and collected long fibers that tangle into a clog.

I've reused bags for my Fein Turbo, CT 22, and CT Mini. Several times
when emptying a Mini bag I've noticed a significant amount of debris
is trapped in the bag and I can't get it out. The same thing happened
again yesterday and since the outer bag was torn I cut it away to find
out where that dust was.

I found a handful of very fine dust between the inner filter (white paper)
and the outer brown paper bag. Turning the bag around I found that a portion
of the glue seam in the white filter material was incompletely glued. There was
a gap about 3 inches long around the middle of the bag. This allowed fine dust
to blow through the gap into the outer bag. At first I wondered why it was only
very fine dust  that escaped when the gap was large. I think that as soon as the
vac starts the air coming into the bag inflates it and nearly closes the gap so
larger stuff can't go through.

Must have bought a bad batch. I forgot to check the primary filters.....

 

[richard.selwyn]

When sanding large amounts of "mud" Festool over here in Europe only recommend the use of their regular vacs for short periods.  Their "mud" or sheetrock sander is used without paper bags and has a self cleaning filter.  When I have just cleaned the filter and don't want another big mess, I will use the paper bag for small jobs, but it does clog pretty quickly.

 

[Gaucho Woodworking]

When I started using Festool, about a year ago, I was told that the filter bags were good for sanding and purchased a box. I also invested on longlife bags. Finally I got rid of my paper bags because is more stuff to have in my shop and the longlife do a better job anyway.

 

[jonny round boy]

I've only just got my CTL26 and haven't really used it in anger yet.

My previous extractor was a DeWalt with dreadful paper bags that had the strength of wet toilet tissue when they'd been in the garage a while, and the attempts I made to reuse them never worked.

But the Festool bags are way stronger, and I have high confidence they'll last several uses.  To this end I have Duck taped a ziplock plastic bag neck in one corner of my first bag.  My concern was that the ziplock wouldn't stand the internal pressure, but a quick test shows my fears were unsubstantiated.

I'll keep everyone posted on the success or otherwise when I first have to empty it.

A

Just going through some older posts & saw this - Roseland, did you have any success with the zip-lock modification?

 

[grobin]

I thought about it when I started using my CT on a router table and bandsaw.  But that would make the problem of filling up the bag worse.  Instead I got a Dust Deputy.  Now no problems.  I looked at the one for festool CTs but not very long.

 

[Sparktrician]

I had a situation right after having bought the CT22 and the RO125 in which I was sanding down drywall, and sure enough, the fine dust clogged the bag most wiki-wiki.  Out to the garage for the Dust Deputy.  That, in combination with a clean bag in the CT22, worked quite well.  I was skeptical at first, but when I was done and looked in the bucket attached to the Dust Deputy, I saw the benefits, and the bag lasted a whole bunch of more.  Given the pre-filtration provided by the bag and the final HEPA filter, there's no way I would use the CT22 without a bag, and certainly not on customer premises. 

[smile]

 

[mosez]

i dont actually cut it open when i reuse it for the first time. u can fiddle open the bottom end of the bag.
i then fold it a few times (you lose a bit of volume, but thats not too bad) and use a stapler. perfect!

 

[Redfox]

I use a new bag for my CT Mini every time, as I don't want to spread or inhale any of that nasty plastering dust. Or anything else from such a bag for that matter.
They are not cheap, and they fill quickly, but that is the price I am willing to pay, as I can honestly say, that I get almost zero dust on the floors. That saves me a lot of time cleaning, not only floors, walls etc, but on a more serious note, it saves my cameras, stero and so on. And they are far too good to have some dust on them (and expensive to repair).
So a new bag it is.
I'll try the Hepa version filter as soon as I can get my hands on one here in Denmark, which should make it even better=better health  [big grin]

Cheers,
Jacques.

 

[Todd]

I use a new bag on my CT22 every time it needs changing, even though its in my own shop. We also do the same here in the store. The dust you can see is not the problem, it is the sub micron particles you can't see that is the problem. If you wear a mask and do it outside your probably okay, if the bag does not completely seal or blows open then you have a problem and have probably loaded up the HEPAs beyond use in the mean time.

 

[peter halle]

My CT-22 was loosing suction today.  I told my assistant L. that we needed to get a new bag and install it.  I opened it up and frankly I am not looking forward to the time to blow / clean out the inside.  I shut it and grabbed an broom and a dust brush and dust pan.  I will post pictures tomorrow, but it was not a bag blowout.  I am shocked that it sucked anything up at all!

Peter

 

[rnt80]

I don't slit my bag I just use my dust collector to suck the dust out.  I typically end up having to dump the dust out as opposed to sucking it all out but the result is the same.  It takes about 5 minutes to get it all out but the bag is completely reusable.

 

[tbellemare]

I use a new bag on my CT22 every time it needs changing, even though its in my own shop.

I do the same, Don!

In fact, our household vacuum has recently not reacted to the start switch - I haven't had time to look at it...

I quickly offered a solution, which was to use the CT 22. I hooked up the Universal Cleaning Set, which is what I normally use, (for various reasons), and the Turbo Suction Brush for the carpets. Veronica instantly noticed a difference in the quality of the machine, the quality of results, and how much more clean things were.

I will probably have to fight to get my CT 22 and Cleaning Kit back...

We're doing a remodel of the house and property and maybe I'll find somewhere to include a CT 22 cubicle/closet???

Tom

 

[ApgarConstruction]

I reuse a bag a lot of times before it's thrown out.  Depends what we are vacuuming, if it's lead dust, it's thrown out.  if it's just sawdust.  I bring it home,  I DON'T Cut it though.  I just empty it out the inlet port.  It goes right into my dumpster, and I don't breath any of the dust.   

 

[flair woodworks]

Has anyone tried resealing a bag by folding it and using a chip clip or spring clamp?  My idea (haven't tried it yet) is to use a Seal-a-bag - http://www.leevalley.com/en/garden/page.aspx?p=62869&cat=2,2260 closure.

 

[ccarrolladams]

As I have shared previously, in my shop next to a 14" radial arm saw with a DC shroud behind it I have a 4" hose ending in a round tapered nozzle. With the damper to the shroud also open, I use the nozzle to empty CT bags for reuse without slitting. This is especially convenient for the CT22 attached to a Kapex. That is within 6' of the nozzle. The minor amount of dust escaping the nozzle is captured by the shroud.

Any chips of dust we collect while on-site gets disposed of along with the bag in the conventional way.

 

[zapdafish]

I used a bunch of these because I had them handy, they worked so have kept using them. I plan to switch to a long life bag or a dust deputy soon tho.

 

[Seahawk]

I used to slit and dump, but am currently on a cost plus basis trading hours for dollars, so I have the boss pick up bags whenever I need them. Ripping birch ply 3 deep at 11 7/ 8", I can fill a bag in less than 35 sheets. The dust deputy looks interesting enough,especially the one that fits right on the CT 33, but I need a little more mobility than it appears to offer. I imagine when I'm the boss again, I'll slit and dump. [big grin]

 

[oneinch]

Roseland, I like your ziplock idea.  That seems like a great solution and I gotta believe it works.  Report back and let us know.

Zapdafish, Binder clips are a simple and good idea too. This solution would seem to fully open the bag for quick discharge.

I invested in the reusable bag.  I haven't used it yet as I am in the middle of a move.  Even with this bag, I plan on getting the dust deputy.  I like the idea of catching the dust before the bag and emptying a bucket.  For personal use I think it makes good sense for most to reuse the bags.  For professionals time is money and I agree with the one post that said one bag per job - pass a $6 bag charge on to the customer.