ATF 55 E does not start vacuum

[gobenaus]

Hi,

I have an ATF 55 E circular saw which has been working great for years. Last time I hooked it up to the Festool vacuum, the saw wouldn't start when the vac was set to AUTO. I tried a different tool on the vac and I was able to start the tool and the vac fine in the AUTO setting. Thus, the vac does not appear to be the problem. If I hook the saw up to an outlet directly, it works fine.

I contacted Festool with a request for support, but nobody ever got back to me. Has anyone run into this problem before and knows how to fix it?

Thanks a lot in advance for any pointers.

 

[tbellemare]

Where are you?

 

[ForumMFG]

I would call Lester at Festools service department and not submit a request for support if your in the US (I didn't know they even did that and it's unusual for them not to get back to you). Your best bet is to have festool tell you whats wrong with it.

 

[PeterK]

Are you using the same power cord for the vac and wall outlet hookup from the saw? Happened to me before and it was a bad cord.

 

[Scarpia]

I have the same problem with my kapex only (all other tools work fine). I have to wiggle the plug end so it sits just right and it will work.  Sometimes no amount of wiggling will work and I need to use an intermediate extension cord.

 

[wnagle]

There were a batch of CT's that had bad receptacles and would cause intermittent problems like you describe.  Different tools or cords would trigger the vac and some would not.  If I had to guess from your description that would be my first thought.  Call Festool customer service and if that's the case it's an easy fix.  Either way they will get to the bottom of the problem.

 

[Brice Burrell]

I have on rare occasions have had this issue too. I've got to work by turning the vac off and then back to auto and that seems to get things working again. I'd guess you may have already tried this, in that case you can try again to call Festool.

BTW, it helps to say where your from when posting about a problem about tools so we can help direct you to the place for a solution. Good luck and welcome to the forum. 

 

[Julian Tracy]

I had this problem as well with my CT22.  Was driving me crazy.

Finally decided to figure it out - I took apart the entire socket assembly on the vac and found that the contacts had lost their spring a bit.  Bent them back out a bit and haven't had the problem since.

One point off off Festool for making their outlets prone to this type of wear - in the 9 years of using my Fein vac - no issues with the socket.

But - one point for Festool for making the entire socket assembly user serviceable - the entire assembly can be completely taken apart.

JT

 

[Julian Tracy]

See this thread as well - seems there was a bad run of outlets on the CT22's:

http://festoolownersgroup.com/index.php?topic=7533.0

JT

 

[ForumMFG]

I'm having a problem with my socket on my CT22 now.  The cord falls out very easy so Festool is sending me a new one.

 

[gobenaus]

Thanks to all of you who replied to my post. First of all, I would like to correct my statement that Festool never got back to me. They never replied via email. If they did, it ended up in my spam folder and I did not see it as I was searching through it. Instead they just sent me a new receptacle for the vac. It turned up in the mail today. I replaced it, but the problem persists. I guess I will call their customer support during business hours.  After I replaced the outlet, I tried several different tools on the vac, some from Festool, some from other manufacturers. All worked except for the saw. I'll post whatever the resolution is here in case somebody else runs into it. I'm located in Charleston, SC by the way. Some folks indicated that posters should indicate where they are located so members could direct them to a nearby repair facility.