Alpatech Cfs Or Air Assisted?

mudderofall

Hi all, I'm looking to buy an alpa tech system and stuck at which system would be better. I'm leaning toward the cfs but concerned it may have some drawbacks; power(240V) for the Mark X, and price being the main ones. If any of you out there have any experience with either system I would greatly appreciate your thoughts as to which system is better and why.
Thanks

Awesome site btw
W

Tony M

Depends what type and the volume of work you do. Forget the coaters for a start. Been a lot of discussion on here about them. I think they are crap. Others love them. IMO the finish is not as good as a box. If you are going for the CFS, get the box handle set up. If you are going pneumatic, get a canon and a taper, if you really need one, fill them with something like a Cinta pump, and save a fortune. You don't need the Apla pump to fill your tools. I only use the canon for running my internals, and a set of Columbia boxes for the rest. If you are going CFS, then it is not a one man operation. You will be stopping to go back and Blend/touch up. The CFS is fast as F*** and will eat up the work. As for power supply etc. Are you in the UK or the US. You can get an inverter for using 240 on UK sites (110 - 240) or you'll need a mother of a generator to power it. (More expense)
Apla-Tech have now made their own boxes for use with CFS. Don't know how they compare pricewise with drilling out your own.

tonyvlx

Iv been using the apla tech air system for 3 years.Iv just about had it with this system.It works ok for finishing corners with a angle head.But there coaters, to do joints just dont work that great.Iv been waisting so much time going back and fixing the mess they make. Regular 8,10,12" boxes work much much better compared to the apla tech coaters.Iv used the system for 3 years so i know how to adjust and set it up correctly.Im just about ready to sell this system dirt cheap.

mudderofall

Thanks Tonys for the replies. I'm doing a highrise residential building at about 50k boardfeet they want per week when at speed in Canada (120V). Fast as f#%* is exactly what I'm after. These tools look great and the cfs sounds like the way to go. Manpower isn't a problem for fixing up and I'm willing to put up $$$ to get up. I have a set of Columbia boxes and love them but I'm looking for an electric pump system (the Cinta does good though)and I prefer sh#ttaping to a standard pump up bazooka (much faster with a good system imo) so if the cfs mechanical box system aswell as constant feed bazooka work as advertised I think I'll jump. I've run boxes longtime, bazooka aswell, and it's the wear and tear of running to the pump that makes the cfs so attractive. I did have doubts that you both confirmed about the coaters and I'd still run to the pump with the air assisted system. Is the Graco Mark series of pumps the only ones that you know of that work with these tools? My understanding is that the Mark X requires 240V (ie: stoveplug) to power itself. Does the Mark V work well in your experience? Also you inferred that I could drill out my Columbia's to work with this system. Is this correct? Thank you both so much for your expertise and time.

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Tony M

If you buy the CFS box handle, just have a hole of about 1/2" diameter drilled to line up with the centre of the rectangular plate on the handle. An engineer friend of mine made up some alloy shims that screwed onto the sides of the inside of the boxes, thus wedging them almost closed. There is only about an inch of travel on the box which gives you the option to push as well if you need to, but is mainly so the box has less mud in and is lighter. The new Apla-tech boxes are only shallow so would be lighter too. The Columbias can still be used with your normal handle as the plate when done up tight, stops any mud seeping out. Don't have any experience of the Mark X as we were using the 5900 G Max (Petrol equivalent of the Mark V)

mudderofall

Thanks very much for the info Tony. It's the long weekend here in Canada so later this week I'll make it into Toronto to see their supplier, just wanted see what those using them ran into. Thanks again.

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kgphoto

CFS is lighter than the boxes and easier on the body. CFS covers more ground than the Canon with less refills. So far it seems that those with problems with the finish can all be traced back to operator error and setting up the blades.

Avail yourself of the factory reps to set you up. It is a lot of coin, make them earn their commission.

Tony M

The guys that sold the system to me couldn't get a decent finished joint from the coaters, and they work with the crap every day, so what chance do we have.

kgphoto

Again, I said as the factory reps, not the salesman. Remember, those that can, do. Those that can't, sell tools.

Seriously, you need someone who really knows how to use the tool and runs it on a regular basis, not just someone who is trying to make a commission on a variety of products.

I mean how many salesmen in any field, are really as good with the tools as the guy who uses them in the field all day, every day?

Terryw

The Mark V will work great for one person. With the Mark X, you can run two lines simultaneously. Do you have the need to run more than one set of tools at the same time? If not, the Mark X might be more pump than you need. The Mark X is also a little larger and weighs about 20 pounds more than the Mark V. The only time you run the Mark V at full volume, is on the fill coat of the tape. After that I don't think you could put the mud on fast enough to keep ahead of the pump in any other application.

I have actually used the slim line boxes from Apla-Tec and can attest to their ease of use. They are about 1/2 the size of a standard box so weigh less to begin with. Then you are only supposed to fill them 1/2 way up to run them. They are sweet boxes. All that being said, I don't see why you couldn't do what Tony did. The only thing different about the slim line boxes that I could see is that they are only 1/2 as deep as a regular box with a hole drilled in the back.

You know what would be a great use for that Mark X is putting on tape on bead. You couid have one guy out ahead with a mud head, then a man to stick and roll the bead, then another guy with a box hooked up to the same Mark X. That would be so fast.

Capt-Sheetrock

I use the mark IV, It handles enough mud to whip the heck out of three of us. so any of the graco mark seris will be IMO. Airlesco sells comprable pumps cheaper, but I have never used one or know anyone that has. Allwall sells both and might give you some refrences from people that have used them.

mudderofall

Thanks for the info guys. The plumbers are behind and we're keeping up for now but from the good results and helpful tips posted here I defifinitely see the cfs being worth the $$$ in the near future. Thanks again
W