Thinking of buying my first serious vac. Thoughts on Fein vs Festool?

[Bill Franklin]

I have both. The CT22 and the Fein II older design. I wear ear protection pretty much all the time so not a good judge on the volume. For use with tools, I have been really happy with Festool for dust collection. If shop cleanup is the primary use, I think the Fein is better because of hose size. Both have been very reliable. Last I looked the pricing was getting closer together too. If I could only have one and was sure I would only have one Festool machine, it would have to be the Fein. I bought the Fein first and ended up with both. So I imagine, I have been little or no help.

[Brice Burrell]

...I've always been curious if anyone else had the same experience with their Festool vac seeming feeble, that is to say unable to suck a lot and with any authority. Is it just because it's the Mini and not a larger model?

I have the CT Mini too and there's no question it's not as powerful as the larger models. That said, the small diameter hose is what makes it seem wimpy to you. I've used mine with a larger hose it works well for general clean up.

[Dave Sabo]

Peter - at 219 that vac is a REAL bargain . A lot of guys would like to know where you find it at that price new.

Re: socket capacity - maybe the Dewalt is a bit different now, but its PC granddad has a rating of 4-5 amps and I tried a small router on it for giggles when I got it, figuring it was just some sort of nanny state sticker to protect the sheep and the thing shut down and wouldn't work agian.

Took it back to the dealer and it was replace (lucky for me), but I won't hook up anything but a small sander to it now. Same thing happened with a WAP vac I got in the mid-late 90's. It's socket was not rated at all and I sent that one back and it was replaced with the Fein turbo II which had no limit (marketing wise anyway). I get the 20A physics guys! SO, maybe the DW is different now but the rating is still 5A for what it's worth! Fuse or circuit has a higher capacity now? WAP's definitely had glass fuse on the board, not sure about the PC/DW.

that aside - I just don't think it has the real world suction that the Fein & Festool do. Opinion - yes, but I've got a lot of mileage with all of them, It was pretty much the same price as the Festool after the antistatic hose was factored in, so the acquisition cost may factor into it,but I doubt it. I own both now, and the money long gone. I keep it because it's a pretty good vac and it's tall and skinny unlike the others and matches the companion drywall sander.

At 220 bills, it's only about 20-40 dollars more than the BORG's TOL model and it's WAAAAAAY better than those for sure. I just don't think everyone has access to it at that price, so that weighs in my assessment heavily. At that price though I could say the Festool is not 2.5 times better than it UNLESS I had to run the track saw with it, then I'm not sure I'd trust the DW to handle the loads of the saw and the vac at the same time.

[Scott Rollins]

I have both the festool ct26 and the ridgid 6.5 hp professional (stainless tank). The festool is going to be quieter than any tool you use it with. The ridgid has way more dust collecting capability, but sounds like a jet engine. it has so much more suction and air volume that I was surprised that I kept the festool. The festool advantage is noise, instant on/off, and mobility. I use it with festool tools. The Ridgid is cheap and I use it for my router table, table saw (shark guard) , and general clean-up.
BTW the clearvue cyclone works great with the ridgid but I get nearly complete bypass into the bag with the festool. I don't understand why , but it happens.

[Phil Thien]

BTW the clearvue cyclone works great with the ridgid but I get nearly complete bypass into the bag with the festool. I don't understand why , but it happens.

Festool designed it that way to maximize bag sales.

The truth is, separators need airflow to perform their job. Choking a separator down by using a smaller vac with a smaller hose is going to result in reduced separation.

To INCREASE separation w/ the Festool, consider running the Festool vac on high, and allow for some make-up air at the inlet of the separator. This can be as simple as a coupler that has a few holes drill in it. This will do two things: Reduce the suction you get at the end of the hose (so your sander isn't sucked to your stock), and increase airflow into the separator (which it needs for separation).

[Callan Campbell]

[QUOTE=Greg R Bradley;1685256]I can tell you in the real world that it is difficult to exceed the outlet capacity on the Fein vacs. Obviously, Callan trying to run a drum floor sander through the triggering outlet is beyond the design spec since that tool probably required a dedicated outlet. [quote]
I never said you could run the floor sander THROUGH the vac's power outlet. I said you needed a separate circuit since the floor sander is a large motor. I did say however, that from a dust collection standpoint, with my mini cyclone attached to the CT-22, that the dust was not a problem, no matter how much dust the 8" sander could put out. So, with just using the 36mm Festool AS hose from the sander to the inlet on the cyclone, floor sanding mess is totally tamed for me. Sorry if I didn't make all this clear in my post.