I have a one time remodeling project that will involve hanging ten sheets of drywall.  Given the quote I have received, I can justify in my mind buying a Planex Easy.  I know that the CT 36AC is the recommended vacuum, but I own a CT 26. I also know that drywall dust will reduce the usable capacity of the CT 26 filter bags by 75% and will clog the HEPA filter.  The cost of a new filter and extra bags is still less that the cost of a new vacuum that is only available in a size I do not want.  My question:  Will drywall dust permanently damage my CT 26, or will it just increase my consumables cost?  Thank you for your help.

Drywall dust will not damage your vac in any way. It will also not clog your HEPA filter if you use it with a bag. But it will clog your bag very quickly. So just buy a few extra bags and you're fine. Adding a cyclone in between will help a lot, it will take the brink of all dust you create and make your bag last a lot longer. I bought a cyclone for €30 and build my own reservoir for it from scrap ply.

And ten sheets of drywall isn't really much either. So the amount of dust you wil create is small.

Once again Alex, thank you for your input. That is exactly the kind of information I was looking for.  An extra pack or two of bags is preferable to a specialty dust extractor that I will rarely need in the future. The Planex will save me so much time over the DTS 400 that I currently use for drywall patches, that the cost is worth it to me.  I will strongly consider a cyclone to reduce the dust passing through the CT.

Run what ya got. Change the bag if suction drops off.

A "Dust Deputy" would help. Don't use a HD bucket or other weak buckets. Use the white buckets that cost more, or buy mud in the bucket. Those buckets are good quality.

https://www.amazon.com/Cyclone-Collector-Collection-Separator-Accessories/dp/B081SK39QW/ref=sr_1_7?dchild=1&keywords=dust%2Bdeputy&qid=1593109943&sr=8-7&th=1

Thanks for the recommendation Peter.

Ten sheets is not much ... I have done jobs like this using only my ETS 125 and DTS 400 together. And it wasn't a lot of work with these sanders. The whole idea is not to apply too much mud in the first place. Three thin coats is better than one thick coat.

I would never try to talk anybody out of buying a nice sander they want, but I agree with nvalinski above, if you buy a Planex for this job, after you're done it's going to lay on the shelf unused. But get a nice ETS EC, and you'll find lots of use for it later on in all kinds of projects.

Ten sheets is not much ... I have done jobs like this using only my ETS 125 and DTS 400 together. And it wasn't a lot of work with these sanders. The whole idea is not to apply too much mud in the first place. Three thin coats is better than one thick coat.

I would never try to talk anybody out of buying a nice sander they want, but I agree with nvalinski above, if you buy a Planex for this job, after you're done it's going to lay on the shelf unused. But get a nice ETS EC, and you'll find lots of use for it later on in all kinds of projects.

I have an ETS 150, and it’s a great sander.  I limit my drywall sanding to a DTS 400, so that in the worst case, I only destroy one sander.  I’m thinking that a dedicated tool for a one time remodeling job may make sense, but I hear you on buying more versatile tools.  Thank you for the advice.

Also focus on your taping technique.  A properly applied mud finish needs minimal sanding.  If you are relatively new to drywall then watch some taping you tube videos and do some practice joints on scrap material.  10 sheets is a small job as far as your tools are concerned. A quality applied mud job sanded without a cyclone and a CT26, I estimate 3 bags max due to clogging.  Add the cyclone and it’s one bag.   As for the planex, one benefit that’s not been mentioned in this thread is the 225mm sanding pad will help smooth irregularities in the wall better than the smaller format sanders if your goal is a smooth wall finish. If you are adding texture, flatness is not as critically important. Provided your taping and smoothing coats went well you could probably skip the planex.  There is a small learning curve with the planex which might cancel the time savings on a 10 sheet job vs the smaller sanders you own. . If your job includes a ceiling, by all means get the planex!

Also focus on your taping technique.  A properly applied mud finish needs minimal sanding.  If you are relatively new to drywall then watch some taping you tube videos and do some practice joints on scrap material.  10 sheets is a small job as far as your tools are concerned. A quality applied mud job sanded without a cyclone and a CT26, I estimate 3 bags max due to clogging.  Add the cyclone and it’s one bag.   As for the planex, one benefit that’s not been mentioned in this thread is the 225mm sanding pad will help smooth irregularities in the wall better than the smaller format sanders if your goal is a smooth wall finish. If you are adding texture, flatness is not as critically important. Provided your taping and smoothing coats went well you could probably skip the planex.  There is a small learning curve with the planex which might cancel the time savings on a 10 sheet job vs the smaller sanders you own. . If your job includes a ceiling, by all means get the planex!

I’m decent at taping, but I don’t do it often enough to get really good. About a third of this drywall job with be ceiling, which is one aspect that made the Planex so tempting.  Good to know I am on the right track. Thank you for your input. 

If using ct26 with planex 2, does one really need the special planex hose?

Adding on to the "skip Planex" crowd.

If you use a half-full bag for this, you will not even waste too many bags ..

And, remember, all that Autoclean does is to give the filter a proper shake-up. You can do this also manually with a Self-Clean by removing the turbine top and slightly tapping the bag around a bit. Can do this a couple times as it will clog completely eventually, but can prolong the (relatively short) bag life for use this 2-3 times. That may be enough for what you need to do even on a single bag.

Also, if you do not have a (light) random orbital, I would recommend one for this. DTS is really a finishing-touch tool and with drywall you want a bit more material removal. This is the time I would invest in ETS EC 125/3 + a 150 hard pad for the drywall work.

No 26AC in the USA?

Funny, last week I found out a Bosch GAS 35 M AFC + GTR 55-225 runs about the same price tag as a basic Planex... 

@mino ; huh? The AC lets burst of air through in reverse, not just shake the filter...!?

Correct. The "shake the filter" is from the reverse air flow shockwave. Is a more violent action but on the same principle as the manual clean option on the Mini/Midi etc.

In the AC mode, there is only a short reverse burst every couple seconds, so the air flow does not really reverse on the hose end. But if you disconnected the hose, you would not like it without a closed blast gate on ..

The air volume in the vac and hose mostly absorb the shock so at the tool end the air is just "stopped/slowed" and then restarted. Does work kinda like a pressure wave, not a "real" reverse flow there. From what I gather, all AC vacs work like this. Just some (Starmix ?) have dual AC chambers with two filters to provide a more continuous air flow while cleaning the filters.

My idiocy was to use the AC "manual" mode to "shake" the filter a bit - like I do on a classic manual-clean-only non-SelfClean vacs once in a while. And that even with the blast gate on and closed ...
 

Now, messing my first bag this way, I know to NOT DO THIS. The AC cleaning, especially the "manual" mode, is WAY more violent than your casual manual clean on the cheaper vacs. And with the SelfClean bags it is pointless as well.

Have you tried? I wouldn't expect it to blow out stuff through the inlet. But without the hose, the pressure in the tank won't be as low as with hose, so the air burst won't be as effective either.

You remember the CT 22? It has a handle to 'scratch' the filter. Absolutely useless lol. You also have to completely remove all cable from the cable wrap to use it.

Yes I did ... how would I know.

Though "do not like", it was probably the wrong idiom.

Without a hose attached, the reverse flow passes the hose port and some dust will be thrown out. With normal use this is "absorbed" by the underpressure in the system. Nothing too crazy though and not sure why one would run a vac in AC more without a hose ... I was just curious, playing with my new toy. Heh.

Main point being, the AC function is -not- a replacement for the "manual cleaning" function on some of the non-AC vacs on the market. Unlike manual cleaning, it is actually harmful to the bags and unneeded with a SelfClean bag. There is a reason no manual clean option is included on the CT26/36/48 series.

Quote from: mino on September 10, 2022, 01:33 PM

[...]

Main point being, the AC function is -not- a replacement for the "manual cleaning" function on some of the non-AC vacs on the market. Unlike manual cleaning, it is actually harmful to the bags and unneeded with a SelfClean bag. There is a reason no manual clean option is included on the CT26/36/48 series.

The Midi-I (etc.) does have the manual clean option while also having a SelfClean bag.

I know. By it being skipped on CT26/36 series I meant it is unneeded and those who would use it as poor man's AC are just upsold on the AC version.

The manual option is on the Mini/Midi, but there is no AC option to upsell to ... and the lower-end market "expects" it kinda too. The Manual cleaning is very weak, so harnless anyway. Then why not.

/All above is my limited view from digging into the physics of the cleaning options. The engineers might have had all kinds of other reasons./