Festool planex 2 with CTL midi

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Has anyone experience of using the planex 2 with a ctl midi for decorating?
I’ve got the midi already and use it with a rts400 and ets 150/5 for decorating/ refurb jobs.
I’ve got a log jam of work and am thinking about a planex to speed things up and make it physically easier.
Does the midi have capacity to handle the planex? Festool suggest using the ct36 autoclean.
Thanks.
 
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Compare the spec between the ct36 and the midi. I have a midi and have to say it's perfect for what I do, though I have to say, I've never sanded plasterwork. Works great with my new orbital sander which produces very fine dust.
 
I have the (older) Midi, the CT SYS and two old CT22s.

None is idea for sanding powder based fillers. The dust clogs the pores in the bags. The smaller the bag, the faster it clogs them. Even though the hoses on each machine is antistatic, the powder based filler becomes statically charged as it spins its way in to the bag, once there it clings to the lining of the bag and reduces suction.

At a guess, you will see the MIDI bag lose efficiency once it reaches about 15% full (if a new bag). If you are happy to lift the top off and tap the bag every 10 mins or so, you should be OK to about 50% capacity.

When sanding such fillers, I try to use my older, larger machines. They originally had paper bags that often split when sanding powder based filler. I eventually started to buy bags for the newer CT32 machines. The bags are cloth rather than paper and oversized. I have to use a hot melt glue gun to attach the old CT22 "nozzle/receiver" but being too big means that when I stop sanding there is a slight degree of the bag collapsing, which allows some of the dust to fall to the bottom of the bag.

The ideal Festool dust extractor is the expensive CTM35


In use, it whacks the bag to make the dust fall down from the top of the bag (which is pulled up towards the filter).

Bag clogging really annoys me. During lock down, I set up an in-line aluminium cyclone (to maintain the antistatic properties) but soon realised that it only captured heavy particles, not fine dust. I considered creating an additional water trap... then the pubs were allowed to reopen, and I decide to makeup for lost time.

I genuinely wished that I could say "yeah, the midi will be fine", but unless you are happy to replace the bag frequently or, at a minimum, to lift the lid and tap it, it will become a PITA. On the upside, I can confirm that the motor has overheat protection, as do all of the Festool dust extractors. It may cut out but 10+ minutes later it will continue to work.


Edit-----


I don't own the Planex. I don't work on tape and join plasterboard. I do however have 90mm, 125mm, 150mm and 180mm sanders, plus the old DX93 delta, the RTS400 and linear LS130. If you are sanding plastered walls, and don't mind using a hop up platform. the 150mm Rotex would be my go to. If you are sanding tape and join ceilings, then yeah, the Planex (which from memory is 225mm).

As an aside, the CT SYS, whilst great for carrying on the tube, is barely able to deal with the dust generated by the Rotex150, regardless of what you are sanding. That said, the Rotex150, of all of the Festool sanders requires the most free airflow.

Edit 2- is your RTs 400 the new model or the older one? I have only ever purchased 2, the first one was seldom used and when I did start to use it one day it started to run, really, really slowly. I purchased a new one, which did the same thing after a while, under warranty, I had it repaired. Didn't use it for many months and the same unit did the same thing. I think the capacitor on their mini PCB is possibly the weak point. It is the only Festool product that I have been disappointed with.
 
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Thanks for the feedback. That mirrors my experience of using the Midi, I need to use the filter cleaning function every 30 mins or so and I try to change the bag when half full if Im decorating using the rts400 and ets 150/5.
Today I swapped the bag after a big-ish redec job and the bag was 3/4 full and the chamber was filthy with dust, so it escapes the bag, but the filter seems to catch it as above the filter looked clean, so it's doing its job.
Ive got the ctl sys too and only use it for carpentry jobs, small clean ups and very small redec jobs (the odd window cill for example). really handy but useless for fillers etc.
The planex might be OTT and is *another* systainer to store! That said Ive some big jobs coming up so maybe its worthy the price and aggro of cleaning he filter and tapping the bag every 30 mins or so. Hmmm.
my rts400 is maybe 2 years old and am happy with it.
 
Thanks for the feedback. That mirrors my experience of using the Midi, I need to use the filter cleaning function every 30 mins or so and I try to change the bag when half full if Im decorating using the rts400 and ets 150/5.
Today I swapped the bag after a big-ish redec job and the bag was 3/4 full and the chamber was filthy with dust, so it escapes the bag, but the filter seems to catch it as above the filter looked clean, so it's doing its job.
Ive got the ctl sys too and only use it for carpentry jobs, small clean ups and very small redec jobs (the odd window cill for example). really handy but useless for fillers etc.
The planex might be OTT and is *another* systainer to store! That said Ive some big jobs coming up so maybe its worthy the price and aggro of cleaning he filter and tapping the bag every 30 mins or so. Hmmm.
my rts400 is maybe 2 years old and am happy with it.

Ahh, you have the newer Midi. Mine is the older model. I don't have the filter tapping feature. My old CT22s do though

BTW, unlike mine, yours has the option to use another hose on the exhaust air outlet. That feature is a godsend on really hot days in small rooms. Place the dust extractor near a window and let the hot air from the fan fly out of the window. The CT SYS also lets you do that. I guess that it also means that any particles that made their way through the filter end up outside as well...

I have only ever needed to clean the filter on my older Midi on 2 occasions. I made the error of buying non-Festool bags from Tools4Trade. Each bag split whilst in use. I returned them to complain- the store's response was "well they are cheaper, what do you expect"...
 

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