Festool204083 CT CYCLONE Dust Separator CT-VA-20

I had about three cyclone systems and always had trouble with buckets breaking. Has this unit for a while now with no problems. Love how it fits on the Festool vac and I can attach another sustainer for sandpaper

I bought this with the CT 26 vac system all at once, I cannot possibly tell you how pleased I am with this system.It does a superb job at separating the wood chips and dust from the filter bag.I know it seems like a lot to invest but you won't regret it at all.The shipping was very fast and the product arrived in perfect condition from the vendor.

First of all I’m a Festool Fanatic and I am a professional cabinet maker, so this was an answer to a problem I had in my shop. My shop vacuum is set up as a tool caddy, with the boom arm hose and a moving work station. Whenever my vacuum bag was full I had to disassemble my unit to retrieve the bag and replace or empty the bags (I set up a way to suck the dust out with my large delta 4” vacuum to save money on bags) So when I caw this product I was excited but the reviews were mixed as to performance. To be honest, when I first installed it I was concerned that the suction was reduced quite a bit from a straight hose connection, but decided to give is a trial run with my current project. After cutting several sheets of plywood and solids, I was surprised at how well my saws and sanders worked collecting the dust. I saw no loss of suction efficiency in my tools, and the CT Cyclone bin filled up and I dumped it not having to get to the bag. I have not used my router or domino yet, but I’m sure it will continue to perform well. I will give an update later if it does not. So far so good with my first experience.

As with all Festool products, this is a well thought out tools that just works so well. It’s hooked up to my CT36 AC and captures probably 95% or more of the sawdust my saws spit out, drastically reducing time spent emptying bags or tossing out reusable bags for those that don’t use a lifetime bag. Just like all things Festool, I put this purchase off for a long time because of cost, but as soon as I bought it I wish I just sacked up and bought it years ago.

Bought CT-48 and CT-VA-20.The Festool systainer stacking was a requirement to maximize my usage with minimal floor space.The Cyclone will help to minimize filter and bag usage. Nothing has escaped outside of the vacuum. It will also capture clean sawdust from the cabinet doors that I will sand and repair due to cat.Exceeds my prior ShopVac and tools which dumped everything all over even with fleece over the filter.Don’t tell my wife, I even clean up more frequently ;-)

I bought this as an alternative method to keep my Festool Cleantec CT SYS vacuum bags from clogging frequently. I am a hobbyist woodworker and, like many hobbyists, am sitting on the fence about upgrading to the festool CT15/26/36/48 vacuum models. On the one hand, those vacuums have greater capacity (less frequently emptying the bags), but at quite a steep price for my taste. "But the suction power is greater in those models!"....and you're right.. I looked up the specs on the vacuums, they advertise 106 cubic feet per minute (CT SYS) vs. 130 CFM (CT15) vs. 138 CFM (CT 26/36/48). But this review isnt about the festool vacuums, of which the CT SYS has been working just fine for me in combination with my RO 125 FEQ sander.Bottom line, I didnt want to spend the top dollar to get an upgraded vacuum when my primary objective was to get greater capacity for dust. Enter the CT-VA20 Cylone. I had originally purchased the Oneida cyclone system because, let's be honest, it's cheaper and a better design. But the Oneida model would not fit into the snap lock system that Festool has got (at least not for the CT SYS vac that I CURRENTLY own...again, not looking to pay for a new vacuum just so I can pay more money to buy the Oneida cyclone). So, with my limited 3rd party options, I swallowed the cost and bought the Festool model.Time will tell if I am totally happy with this purchase (4 stars for now), but it appears to meet my top priority of collecting a decent amount of the dust before making it's way to the vacuum bag.Some data for you prospective buyers, I did some air flow measurements of my setup so you can see the numbers (unique to MY 2 yr old vacuum). These numbers are the max suction I could get from the machine, I did not care to do the thorough testing required to get you AVERAGE air flow here, so take that for what it's worth. And everything is measured in LINEAR feet per minute, not CUBIC feet.Half full bag of fine mesquite wood dust (dirty) - 1496 linear ft/min.Clean vacuum bag (no cyclone) - 2775 LFM. Cyclone + clean bag - 2342 LFM.Finally, I emptied the dirty bag on the ground and used the cyclone setup to vacuum all the dust back up. A majority of it (no specific number here, sorry) stayed in the cyclone container, only a little bit got all the way to the bag. A very nominal air flow drop to 2260 LFM once I had done this.Again, I think this will do the trick, I realize it's more expensive and arguably less efficient/effective than the Oneida competitor model, but the Oneida doesnt fit the locking system I have, so no dice there. Hope this helps!