Thread: Kapex Dust Extraction Question

G'day Gary

I presume you mean keeping up with the suction rather than filling the vac to quickly? The larger vacs have almost the same airflow, and the same vac depression, so maybe it's a capacity thing you're talking about. If that's the case then add a mini-cyclone to the system. Chris Parks (that's his member name) has the Clearview cycs which work a treat, so you could send him a PM.

If you do decide to get a bigger vac then if you add a cyclone you only need the 26, and the bucks saved will more than pay for the cyclone.

For some ideas you can have a look at this thread on ducting.

HTH
Brett

Thanks Brett,
Yes the suction is light, i will try a new bag, the one in the Vac is about 70% full,
Had a quick look at your set up, very impressive, also the little cyclone look like it works a treat,
Brett, so what the cyclone misses, the vac picks up the rest? (fine dust) and assume that the bags last heaps longer?
Local Festool dealer has the 26lt and 36lt, 36, only $75 more,

Cheers, Gary.

Originally Posted by baltic

Thanks Brett,
Yes the suction is light, i will try a new bag, the one in the Vac is about 70% full,
Had a quick look at your set up, very impressive, also the little cyclone look like it works a treat,
Brett, so what the cyclone misses, the vac picks up the rest? (fine dust) and assume that the bags last heaps longer?
Local Festool dealer has the 26lt and 36lt, 36, only $75 more, ​My 26 is under bench, so height was also a consideration.

Cheers, Gary.

Cheers Gary. In that case I'd say that everything in the vac that can impede flow needs a cleanout. Perhaps a new bag and filter. I should think that a clogged filter would have more impact than a 70% full bag.

There's virtually nil that makes it to the vac (which makes a mockery of my purchase of the longlife bag immediately previous to the cyclone). This, in turn, also keeps the filter very clean, and therefore the suction stays up (and this makes a mockery of my purchase of the AC version)

Hi Gary, just wondering what size hose you are using with the vac as well. I found that the D27 that came with my CT26 was too small and subsequently upgraded to a shortened/modified D36 hose for the job. Works very well now. Congrats on the purchase, it is an awesome piece of kit.

Cheers,
Sean

Originally Posted by BTman

Hi Gary, just wondering what size hose you are using with the vac as well. I found that the D27 that came with my CT26 was too small and subsequently upgraded to a shortened/modified D36 hose for the job. Works very well now. Congrats on the purchase, it is an awesome piece of kit.

Cheers,
Sean

Thanks Sean, yes the hose is quite small and long and fits in the "inside" of the dust nozzle on the Kapex, I have got the CT Mini, 10 lt capacity. So you can buy smaller lengths, and bigger diameter to fit the CT mini?
Yes the Kapex is an awesome piece of kit, and a pleasure to use, the "bench Mark" in sliding compound saws,

Cheers, Gary

One of the best features of the Festool vacs is that a 70% full bag does not impact the suction in the same way as other vacs, they maintain almost full suction. The mini cyclone I have not found to be as efficient as I would like it to be, I'm still getting dust going up the spout into the bag. When I get some time I'll have another go but for now the mini cyclone is gathering dust instead of collecting it.

The Kapex seems to work fairly cleanly with either the mini or CT-22 attached, but it is not dustless. Eventually I want a dedicated separator on the Kapex to remove the big particles before it makes it to the mini or 22.

As far as I am aware, the mini, 22 and 36 all have the same suction - the only difference is the size of the bags and the unit (someone will correct this if it is wrong). As someone said already, larger hoses work well with the Kapex.

Originally Posted by Groggy

As far as I am aware, the mini, 22 and 36 all have the same suction - the only difference is the size of the bags and the unit (someone will correct this if it is wrong).

Festool extractors suction performance goes like this (highest listed first)...

1. CT-26, CT-36, CT-48.
2. CT-22, CT33, CT44, CT55 (these are discontinued models).
3. CT-MIDI or CT-MINI.

Originally Posted by Groggy

As someone said already, larger hoses work well with the Kapex.

Yes, the KAPEX works best with a 36mm internal diameter hose. These are the ones that clip over the KAPEX dust port.

Hi Gary,

Things that reduce suction...

1. Underpowered extractor for the tool - although the CT-MIDI is great, it does not have the performance of the bigger extractors.
2. Small diameter hose - like the one that came with your extractor.
3. Clogged filter - unless you used the extractor without a dust bag, this is unlikely as under normal use filters should last years before requiring replacement.
4. Adding a cyclone to a small extractor - although cyclones provide other benefits and using one on a powerful enough extractor may not be an issue.
5. Using internally corrugated hoses, Festool anti-static (green) hoses have smooth internal walls.
6. Using odd connectors, the correct Festool connectors ensure clear path and no ID narrowing or restrictions at connections.

To get the best extraction equipment for the KAPEX, it's pretty simple:

1. CT-26 or CT-36.
   
2. 36mm ID Festool anti-static hose - shorter the better.
   
3. Standard disposable bag or Longlife bag (highly recommended).

For a mobile system, the CT-MIDI is excellent for hand-held tools and limited stationary tools. For a workshop system, the CT-26 or CT-36 are awesome.

I hope that helps.

So I guess that's the answer. Groggy and NT900 have both suggested that there is not much to be gained from a third party product in the mix. I agree with them. I have a CT26 and even with the narrower hose, connected straight through to the vacuum and I get brilliant extraction. I intend to upgrade the hose to 36mm. I've had no problems with filters causing lost suction and simply changing the bag (or emptying the long life bag) gives me back the suction I have always had. I should say that the hose is about 3 metres long.

Regards,

Rob

Thanks Groggy and Anthony,

Anthony, I agree with your thoughts relating to the Mini vac, yes they do work well with the hand held machines, and the vac is very compact and easy to transport,
I will consider your recommendations, Also what is the difference between the CT 26 E and the E-llf?
Thanks for all your help guys,

Regards, Gary,

Originally Posted by baltic

Thanks Groggy and Anthony,

Anthony, I agree with your thoughts relating to the Mini vac, yes they do work well with the hand held machines, and the vac is very compact and easy to transport,
I will consider your recommendations, Also what is the difference between the CT 26 E and the E-llf?
Thanks for all your help guys,

Regards, Gary,

Hi Gary,

No problem - hope that helps some. The CT-26-E comes with a single disposable bag, and the CT-26-E-LLF is the same extractor but is packaged with a LongLife Filter bag.

For what it's worth, I use the CTM26 AC and it is very good (it self cleans the filters for you). The 36mm hose is a must - dramatic improvement (Festool rep put me onto that a few years ago when I complained that dust extraction wasn't fantastic). I also use a mini-cyclone (the Dust Deputy from Oneida) and I would never go back. It absolutely captures 99%+ of the dust. After emptying out the dust deputy (around 20 litres of dust) the bag in the Festool still looks brand new.

Thank John, what model "dust deputy" did you get for festool CTM26?
I had a look at a couple of YouYube vids, loos good,

I got the one designed to go with the Festool. Carbatec calls it the "dust deputy box". It's RRP is $449 in Oz but I think I got it for 10% off at one of their sales. It is very much overpriced (it is $199 in the US so you could probably get it a lot cheaper using one of those HopShopGo sites) but it does the job nicely.

I fitted the standard bucket dust deputy to a cutoff base from a broken systainer sits nicely ontop of my ct22 have replaced one bag since doing so and that was due to not noticing the deputy was full.Next is to fit the small tube to allow a plastic bag to fit in the dust bucket one day I will get arountuit