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  1. #1
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    Apr 2001
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    Default Testing the suction on a Festool CT26E vacuum cleaner

    My CT26E is about 5 years old now. Until recently, I had no reason to question how well it sucks (it is almost always set to full suction). However, I wanted to connect it to a drill press outlet (to suck up shavings), and it struggled. Videos of similar set up do not struggle.

    I checked the bag. It is clean as I use a Dust Commander (same as a Dust Deputy), and this does a good job. I tried the set up by-passing the Dust Commander. Same results. I cleaned out the HEPA filter - they were not bad (after 5 years!). A little dust, but nothing to write home about. The hoses are 27, 35, and 50mm, and they do not appear blocked.

    The CT26E has good suction with a hand against the nozzle. It will lift a short board. But a few inches from the nozzle there is little "pull". How does yours perform? Is mine seriously deficient and time to be serviced?

    Regards from Perth

    Derek
    Visit www.inthewoodshop.com for tutorials on constructing handtools, handtool reviews, and my trials and tribulations with furniture builds.

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  3. #2
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    Feb 2006
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    Default

    A vacuum pressure gauge can be used to test the static vacuum.

    The specs for that vac say 24,000 Pascals which is 96" of water column or 3.5 PSI.

    I have several Vacuum gauges but none will measure in that range (mine are either too low or too) high.
    You'd need a gauge that tops out at say 5PSI

    You could always make a water filled manometer using some clear PVC tubing but it will need to be able to generate 100" of water column height
    AND
    Make sure you maintain that 100" - if you drop below the the vac will suck in water.
    I've done it - luckily mine was a wet and dry Vac

  4. #3
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    To test the filter I would remove the filter and see if that makes any difference.

    Luckily the CTs are also wet and dry so if it sucks in water there is no problem as long as you have removed the bag and the HEPA filter.

    In my case a used CT that I bought wasn't performing well until I pulled it apart and cleaned the fan with compressed air.

  5. #4
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    Reflecting on the situation, I suspect that it may be the long-life bag ... 5 years of use must accumulate fine dust, and this will block the flow. I will get the dust out this weekend and see if it makes a difference. Interestingly, the HEPA filter is tan on the working side and white on the other side. Not much dust reached it. The Dust Commander and bag would have taken up 99% over the years.

    Regards from Perth

    Derek
    Visit www.inthewoodshop.com for tutorials on constructing handtools, handtool reviews, and my trials and tribulations with furniture builds.

  6. #5
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    Default

    I changed the filter on mine and it was like a brand new machine again, we could even hear the difference in the sound of the unit.

  7. #6
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    Aug 2006
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    Ryde, NSW, Australia
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    Default

    Sure sounds like a clogged filter or bag. Even with a restriction it will still pull a full vacuum - what's lacking is air flow.

    Hope it's a simple fix. Was going to say cheap an simple but it is a Festool

  8. #7
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    Quote Originally Posted by derekcohen View Post
    Reflecting on the situation, I suspect that it may be the long-life bag ... 5 years of use must accumulate fine dust, and this will block the flow. I will get the dust out this weekend and see if it makes a difference. Interestingly, the HEPA filter is tan on the working side and white on the other side. Not much dust reached it. The Dust Commander and bag would have taken up 99% over the years.
    even 1% of the dust pumped in 5 years is more than enough to clog a HEPA filter.

  9. #8
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    Quote Originally Posted by Fluddman View Post
    Sure sounds like a clogged filter or bag. Even with a restriction it will still pull a full vacuum - what's lacking is air flow.
    Sure, but chances are it will also have a leak. Every Vac more than about 6 months old I have tested has had at least a small leak. all it takes is a touch of fine dust or a chip sitting across a gasket and it will leak. The older the vac the more it will have been towed around and collided with bits and pieces. This leads to fine cracks and distorted cases. Making sure gaskets are clean and supple and checking and sealing any cracks will not only help suction but ensure the vac doesn't let fine dust escape into the workshop.

  10. #9
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    Quote Originally Posted by BobL View Post
    Sure, but chances are it will also have a leak. Every Vac more than about 6 months old I have tested has had at least a small leak. all it takes is a touch of fine dust or a chip sitting across a gasket and it will leak. The older the vac the more it will have been towed around and collided with bits and pieces. This leads to fine cracks and distorted cases. Making sure gaskets are clean and supple and checking and sealing any cracks will not only help suction but ensure the vac doesn't let fine dust escape into the workshop.
    Sure no argument there. However a leak would reduce the ability to pull down a vacuum where a restriction wouldn't - but it would affect the flow rate.

    So we need to know how good a vacuum it can pull to diagnose the likely fault.

    Cheers

  11. #10
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    Quote Originally Posted by derekcohen View Post
    Reflecting on the situation, I suspect that it may be the long-life bag ... 5 years of use must accumulate fine dust, and this will block the flow. I will get the dust out this weekend and see if it makes a difference. Interestingly, the HEPA filter is tan on the working side and white on the other side. Not much dust reached it. The Dust Commander and bag would have taken up 99% over the years.

    Regards from Perth

    Derek

    You're probably correct Derek. I've washed my L/L bag (Festo/ol CT22) every year or 2. This seems to maintain peak performance, although after some 20 years approx. of use, misuse & abuse I think it might need replacement in the next decade or so!

    The problem seems to be with ultra-fines: they tend to clog the interstices, right deep down inside the pile of the fabric. This cumulatively diminishes performance & airflow; being so deeply embedded they're reluctant to shake or beat out.

    My remedy has been a regular, semi-annual vigorous machine wash in a front-loader with quality powdered detergent, olone but with the addition of a pair of old Dunlop Volley canvas & rubber sandshoes, which seem to provide a near-perfect level of violent pummelling to properly, effectively & definitively deep clean.

    Did I see that you're also using some equivalent of a Dust Deputy? I've been recently been using an Ultimate DD (the one that clips on top of the vac). Mine tends to ONLY ALLOW FINES through to the vac, thus exacerbating the "unseen clogging" problem. I'd also suggest using either/or your L/L bag or UDD, not together. Using a plain paper or fleece bag seems to suit the UDD better than the L/L equivalent.

    I'm actually going to be giving the Festo CT22 to my daughter, as I've just bought a new re-branded Starmix vac: 50L, 4.0M antistatic hose, 1400W, Autocleaning filters, M (concrete) rated & Systainer compatible. Not the absolute latest model, which would've been twice the price, but a whole lot more sophisticated & effective than what I've had before.

    Not necessarily better than the Festo, but just better suited for my needs, which include hand power planing, sawbench & router table swarf extraction, all of which require much higher than normal capacity. It's also more "modern" in operation (airflow sensor monitoring with alarm), safer (M-rating & filter autoclean vibration), more powerful & has a nice squat fatboy body with a wide footprint to safely mount the UDD on top without tipping & it has a lovely, long sturdy steel handle for wheeling it about & up & down stairs. As a bonus, it's also completely compatible with all my old Festo/ol hoses, Y-connector & floor tools.

    It also cost only about half what my CT22 combo with longlife bag & filters did all those 20 years ago, & less than 1/4 the price of a new 48L Festool equivalent (one fifth if a longlife bag is included)! Also just bought a package deal of 24 fleece bags & a spare pair of Nano-Coated Polyester Filters for $200.

    Don't think I'll be buying much F/tool product any more: too much expense for too little return these days.
    Sycophant to nobody!

  12. #11
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    Default

    That is very helpful. Just what I needed. Now to convince my wife that my bag needs to spin wash.

    So, no damage to the fabric if the L/L bag is washed?

    I assume one never does this to a HEPA filter?

    I purchased the bag as a long term saving (not having to replace one-off bags). The Dust Commander is used over the Dust Deputy as it is anti-static (the DD available in this country is not). It is used to make waste removal easier. It does a very good job. Only once have I had to empty the bag - when I forgot to empty the DC.

    Regards from Perth

    Derek
    Visit www.inthewoodshop.com for tutorials on constructing handtools, handtool reviews, and my trials and tribulations with furniture builds.

  13. #12
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    Default

    Thanks Derek. No damage. Admittedly I've always used uber quality washers, 'though: Asko & Miele. In fact, they're so gentle that I've had to add the sandshoes to literally up the violence level.

    Never used Hepa Filters. Only the Longlife ones, which are available for a smidge over $200 for the pair, from F/T Oz. They have less pleats than the standard ones. Still have the old original yellow/orange standard filters sitting unused in a box somewhere.

    I've had to change my bags even with the UDD connected inline: when I manage to absent-mindedly connect the 2 hoses on the cyclone bum-about-face!

    PS. I must admit that somewhere, sometime in the last double-decade I've lost the black plastic "bung" on a short flexi lead (the one that plugs up the bag/s on removal from the vac) , probably as a consequence of all that violence. Big deal - never used it anyway - why would you when you're regularly sliding off the bag end & messily tipping out the detritis into the dustbin & then flogging the bag against the nearest rigid surface anyway?
    Sycophant to nobody!

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