Question re Fein QA35E dust extractor

[pooka]

Following on from Fecn's thread re the Nilfisk Alto 550-21 dust extractor, I have been looking around for (roughly) comparable dust extractors that can double up as vacuum cleaners. The three that I have been focusing on are the Nilfisk Alto 360-21, the Festool CT22, and the Fein QA35E.

I have been able to find comparable specs for these machines for most of the relevant areas (air volume, tool take-off power, etc.), but while I can find a noise rating for the Nilfisk and Festool I can't find such a figure for the Fein. Would anyone happen to know how loud the Fein QA35E really is?

 

[jonbikebod]

Pooka,
This doesn’t answer your question but may be relevant to you. I bought the Nilfisk/Alto machine and was so happy with it I thought I would tell the rep on the Alto stand of the Axminster show a couple of years ago. I also mentioned in passing how pleased I was that the Alto hose exactly fitted my Festool circular saw. He pointed out that it wasn’t so surprising as Nilfisk make shop vacuums/extractors for other premium brands. So the machines you are comparing could have more in common than it appears.
Nilfisk has been around ages and even made hugely idiosyncratic motorbikes up to the 1950s.
Hope this helps,
Jon.

 

[Nilfisk ALTO]

Glad you are happy with your Nilfisk ALTO machine Jon.

Use my website details below if you need information on the Nilfisk ALTO range.

 

[Oryxdesign]

I've got one, I'm very happy with it. I've had it 4 years and probably take it for granted now. It is quite noisy but I haven't got the equipment to measure just how noisy it is. It is much quieter than the Camvac I also own. You could ring me up and have a listen if you want???!!

 

[ndbrown]

I have a Trend T30AF, I believe made by the same factory as the Fein. Very quiet and effective down to 0.5micron. Use it all the time and I believe its well regarded on this forum, so would be worth doing a search.
Regards

Nigel

 

[Oryxdesign]

The Trend looks the same but I think it is different, I ordered a Trend bag (they are cheaper) and it was totally different (much smaller) I don't know if that is the only difference.

 

[whoops!]

Mr Hollebon, Would it be poss to pm me your link please as I'm actually researching lots of extraction units at the moment and any more info would be well received.

Decklan

 

[Inspector]

Pooka

I was bored the other day and bought the May issue of Wood magazine. There is a small test of tool triggered Vacuums. The Fein Turbo III 9-77-25 was 67dB compared to a Festool CT22 at 72dB. The other 2 were louder with a Shop-Vac at 78dB and a Porter-Cable at 75dB.

Here is the US site for Fein which should give you an idea of which model the one you want is equivalent to. The site says the one above is rated at 57.8dB so your mileage may vary.

http://www.feinus.com/p/newdustfree/vacmain.htm

 

[pooka]

Thanks a lot for the replies.

Looking at the US Fein site, it looks like the QA35E is most likely the european version of the Turbo II. There are quite a few reviews available for the Turbo II, from the likes of Taunton and Amazon, and they cover the entire range from a one star review to a 5 star review (Taunton rated it "Editor's Best Value Choice" in July 2007 while they rated the Festool CT33 as "Editor's Best Overall Choice" in the same review). Most of the reviews are in the 4 and 5 star category, but a few of the more balanced reviews talk about the seal around the motor being a cause of problems - in one or two cases the seal seems to have leaked but in other cases it seems to be where dust likes to collect and cleaning it is awkward and messy.

As regards noise levels, Taunton list the Fein Turbo II at 71db, which places it at the same level as the Festool.

I've tried to find a US equivalent of the Nilfisk Alto Attix 360-21 too, but the only one that I have found that seems to be in the same ballpark in terms of specs is the Attix 8. The brief comparison that I made of the basic specs though is not enough to convince me that this is the same machine (by comparison, the US version of the Fein has almost exactly the same specs as the european version). Reviews of the Attix 8 are thin on the ground, but one old (Feb 2005) assessment of it (http://www.ultimategarage.com/shopvacs.html) measured its noise at a little under 71db - that is a far cry from the 58db listed for the Attix 360-21, so I presume (hope) that either it is a different model or else it's motor/design has changed since then.

I'll root around for more info and I'll post back here with anything useful that I find in case anyone else is in the same boat of considering one of these three machines. Further feedback from people who have used any of them would be very welcome, as most of the info that I can find online is 2nd or 3rd -hand at best. ...maybe I should start a separate thread though, to include the Festool and Nilfisk in the thread title so that more users of those machines might notice it.

 

[pooka]

Should have double-checked before my previous post - the Attix 8 in the US is indeed the equivalent of the Attix 3 in Europe, according to the following page:

http://www.ultimategarage.com/attix8.html

 

[tigerturnings]

I have the QA55E and am generally happy with it. I chose it over the others for the HEPA filter option which I have now fitted*

I don't have the gear to measure the noise level, although I have noticed that the loudness varies quite a bit with position around the machine and height relative to the motor. It's never been so loud that I have to wear ear defenders to do the vacuuming, usually it's the power tool on the end of it that makes me put them on. It also generates its own noise at the end of the hose, just by the motion of the air.

I've had mine a bit under a year now. I have not had any trouble with seals - I seem to recall when reading reviews to buy mine there was a previous Fein machine that was a rebadged Wap, and I think some of those comments apply to that machine rather than the current versions which are from the same Italian company as the Trend T30.

Replacing bags is straightforward, some dust usually gets into the tub but not enough to worry about. I've been told that Fein bags, while more costly, are far better than Trend ones, haven't looked at the Trend ones yet.

If I could change two things about it, they'd be:

1. Make it have anti-static body and hoses - sometimes I get little shocks off it, especially the metal clips holding the motor to the body.
2. Make the auto-switch need more current to run - if I plug in my 110V transformer, it draws enough current when "idle" that the vac runs continuously, even with no tool running on the transformer output. Indeed an 11W low energy lamp was enough to trigger the auto switch on!

If they sorted those two niggles I would recommend it without reservation.

Hope that is of use, any questions let me know,

TigerTurnings.

* Slight palaver involved: I got conflicting information from Fein UK, Axminster catalogue, and a local Fein dealer - the dealer told me that the standard filtration was "just normal" (correct), Fein said that all machines ship with HEPA filters as standard now (don't think mine did) and Axminster says the filtration is "down to 1/2 micron" (don't think that's true of the basic model - though mine was by a local dealer so maybe they're upgrading theirs). Eventually I got a HEPA filter ordered via a local dealer and fitted it with no problems. It was however twice the price of the Trend HEPA filter which appears to be identical (I saw it at a show recently but haven't had them side by side).

 

[pooka]

Thanks a lot for that info tigerturnings. Based on what you mention, I have checked the specs of the Fein QA35E again. I had to resort to the specs for the US model (http://www.feinus.com/p/newdustfree/New-955.htm) for some of the detail and these say that the 5 micron filter is standard with the unit while "the 1 micron pleaded filter cartridge, and the .3 HEPA filter cartridge" are optional upgrades.

Those specs don't mention anything about anti-static body or hose, so presumably they are still not anti-static.

Your info has helped me to focus on some important features, which I'll now check again on the other extractors that I am considering, so that is a big help. It'd be very interesting to get similar feedback from users of the Festool and Nilfisk to allow a better comparison than one based purely on the printed specs - I may gather together the info that I have so far and start a separate thread on comparing all three.