Fein Turbo's?

[John Miliunas]

As I stated in the "Weekend Doin's", yesterday brought many hours of cleaning. Besides the regular misery involved with cleaning, I've about had enough of the near-deafening noise from my shop vacs! So, starting to look closer at the Fein Turbo vacs. I'm thinking the Turbo II would fit the bill just about right, being a reasonable medium between big, yet pretty portable. I think my biggest holdback isn't as much the initial cost of the unit, but then after that, plunking down yet another $70.00 for the accessories! Seems a bit unreasonable to me. Hence, I'm starting to lean toward the little guy, the Mini-Turbo. About half the price with all the accessories included.

Any of you folks have either? Any positive/negative feedback?

[John Wadsworth]

...and like it; it's my most-used vac. Haven't used any of the other Fein vacs.

I agree about the high cost of accessories, although it seems to me many shop vacs tend to price the basic machine low and then nail us on the extras.

It also burns me that very few of them make any provision for hose or cord storage, when even a mid-line home vac has either an internal cord reel or a good external set of winding nibs. The Festo vacs are pretty good this way--heck, they're pretty darn good period! But pricey. (I have one but save it for connection to tools most of the time).

Oh yeah, also have a Craftsman wet-and-dry in the other shop and an old Shopsmith in the garage.

Oy, I need a vac-ation!

[Doug Ball]

A bonus of the TurboIII (in addition to greater capacity) is that it can accept standard ShopVac-style accessories with a simple adaptor. The quiet motor is the major attraction of all the Feins, of course.


Doug

[Bob Lasley]

John,

I have the Turbo II and love it. I have not yet bought any accessories for it, though. Other than normal vacuuming duties, I use it extensively hooked to my ROS which virtually eliminates sanding dust in the air or left on the wood. It is super quiet compared to the Shopvac roaring like a jet engine contraption I had which now belongs to my son. One advantage of the Turbo II and III over the small one is the automatic feature. This is a big plus when using it connected to a tool.

I highly recommend the Turbo II.

Bob

[Dave Coughlin]

John, before you buy, check out the shop vac qsp. I've got one at home and one at the shop. Good suck, low noise. Dave

[Halsey MCCombs]

Another vote for the turbo II.the auto feature and lower DB's is the reason I like it so much.Halsey

[Jamie Buxton]

I've got an older Fein -- maybe it was called the Turbo? I've had it nearly five years, and built about 50 pieces of furniture with it. It is still going strong, although I've beat it up pretty good. That maybe won't help you decide between the two current models, but I certainly recommend the brand.

The quietness is quite a value. I can use it without earplugs. I can also use it in customer's homes without deafening them.

When I bought the vacuum, I didn't realize how useful the auto feature is. Since then, I've put adapters for the Fein hose on my sanders. Now, any time I'm sanding, the vacuum is automatically on. I can sand for hours without a dust mask, and without damaging my lungs. I strongly recommend it.

One question for you or the owners of these new Feins.... I see mention in the catalogs of packages of dust bags. Does that mean that these new models use disposable bags? That seems like a bad strategy for a shop vac. My vac doesn't use disposable bags. I just dump the dust directly into the compost bin. If the new ones cost one dust bag each time the vacuum gets filled up, I would have spent more money on bags than on the vacuum itself.

[Bruce Page]

John, I bought the Turbo III for the same reasons you are citing – low noise output! After years of jet afterburner noise using a “4.5hp” Craftsman, I couldn’t be happier with the Fein. By the way, the Craftsman 2.5” accessory kit, (about $25) fits the Turbo III.

[Jim Tobias]

Just got the Turbo III about a month ago. It is hard to believe how quiet it is. After several years with a Craftsman, the noise level is a welcome relief. Suction is great and all the Craftsman accessories fit with a couple of $3 adaptors.

[Chris Knight]

Re the question on disposable bags. I have the II and it came with a disposable bag but the machine works fine without it - just the felt bag and the cartridge filter is what I use.

Chris

[Christian Aufreiter]

Hi John,

I'm not familiar with the Fein vacs but they have a good reputation.
I use a Festool CT 22 vac (mostly hooked up to my Festool ROS) and really love it.
Wet and dry extraction, auto on/off, adjustable suction, anti static equipment, filter cleaning system and low noise, blower port - that's what I like about it.

There are several reviews of this vac. You might like to check out:
http://www.thewoodshop.20m.com/festo..._55e_part2.htm
http://www.cjohnhebert.com/Festool.htm
http://benchmark.20m.com/reviews/Fes...t22review.html

Feel free to email me for any specifics.

Regards,

Christian

[Geoff Siemering]

I have the Turbo II (about 4 years now) and love it. Don't get the mini because you will really want the auto start feature. If the Turbo III will work with shop vac adapters then I would go with that. My wife actually liked my Turbo II so much that we bought her a miniturbo for use around the house (and I get the use the attachments). The attachments are a little on the flimsy side. I also find the wheels on the Turbo II a little scrawny and mine never fit into the body well so I built a dolly for it to roll on.

I would seriously look at the Festool vacuum. It is a really well designed machine and has adapters that will fit ANY tool. I've actually gotten to use on at a local tool store and they might have a rep in your area.

[Jim DeLaney]

and like it a lot!

It comes with the 16' 1¼" hose, and I found that those red/orange and black 'accessory hose and tool kit' hoses will fit the Fein hose adapter almost perfectly. The adapter is like $4.00 from Fein. That gives you a 12' 2" hose for bigger jobs.

Also, while not advertised anywhere, the Cleanstream® GoreTex® filter for the Sears vac ('red stripe' size) will fit the Turbo II perfectly. It's a press fit onto the Fein housing, and all you have to do is put a strip of duct tape over the screw hole in the bottom of the filter. ($34.95 at Rocklers)

<Center><FONT FACE="Comic Sans MS" COLOR="Blue">Jim D.</FONT></Center>
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