CT 22 cord shortening question

Claimdude

Member
Joined
Feb 20, 2011
Messages
461
Hey All,

I read where a festool vac owner had removed the power cord on his vac and replaced it with a short one. My CT22 is set up with a boom arm and is parked in my shop at my sheet goods break down table and rarely ever moves more than a foot or so. I want to put a short cord on my vac. I have the proper cord but when I opened up the vac to replace it realized it takes a starbit to remove the screws. I have little to no use for star drive so don't own ny. I need to get a bit for tis one application. Anyone here know what size I need? The small box the cord end is house in i attached with the same size screws you see when you open the lid to replace a bag. The screws along the edge of the lower case that hold the case to the bottom. Maybe if anyone knows where I can get a PDF of the owners manual that migh help.

Thanks in advance for your assistance.

Jack
 
Jack,

I don't know if this will help but here is a link to the electronic parts diagrams for the CT-22:  CT-22 Ekat
 
Sears has a set of six (star) drivers. They are relatively cheap and go on sale. You will find you will use them again and again, headlights, irons, toasters etc etc. MARK
 
You can do what I did, I just cut the cord to the size needed and installed a good quality plug on it. [wink]
 
Personally, I wouldnt cut.  Sure you use your CT in your shop now. But what if in the future you decide to help a friend or family member out and do some work at their house?

What if you want to sell it and buy a newer model?

No biggie to me.

Its all personal preference.

But thats why I wouldnt cut it.
 
Seriously?  You'd rather take the vac a bit apart and put an entirely different cord on it just because of whatif's ?

Cut the cord to your liking, install a new plug end.  If you by chance need to use it as a shopvac elsewhere, here's an idea - simply use an extension cord!

Whatif's can be solved by a new longer cord down the line...

Always take the easy way out if it makes the most sense.

JT
 
You actually have 3 options for doing this:
1) Cut the male-end of the existing cord to length and install a NEMA 5-15 plug on it instead of the original 5-20 plug.
2) Buy an extension cord and cut the female-end off and install it inside the vac (your original suggestion)
3) Cut the female-end of the existing cord and reinstall it inside the vac

Of all of these choices, #1 is typically the preferred method because you accomplish both shortening the cord and replacing the 5-20 plug with the more common 5-15 plug. It also allows you to keep the heavy gauge cord that is already supplied on the vac. Do not skimp on the quality of the plug. Make sure the prongs are solid instead of the cheaper stampings.

Option 2 allows you to restore your vac to factory spec later, but has the higher cost of acquiring the heavy gauge extension cord. More importantly, this requires you to open your vac, and I don't recommend that for just any person. The new cord must be at least 12 gauge, but I recommend getting the larger 10 gauge cord. Even the factory cord does get a little warm with use.

Option 3 is the least preferred because you are still left with the NEMA 5-20 plug.

To the best of my memory, the original Festool power cord uses European color coding for the wires. Instead of the Neutral wire being white, it is blue. Instead of the Hot wire being black, it is brown. The ground is still green but probably has a yellow stripe. Regardless which option you choose, you need to follow these color conventions when making the changes.

 
Is there an advantage to having a short cord?

I just leave mine on the cord wraps when stationary.

Tom
 
mastercabman said:
Tom Bellemare said:
Is there an advantage to having a short cord?

I just leave mine on the cord wraps when stationary.

Tom
Same here
I just don't understand why? ???

Don't know about the others here but my shop is small and all my tools are on wheels and parked close together next to the wall. My Festool vac w/boom arm is close to my sheetgoods breakdown table. Occassionally I need to pull the vac away from the wall a couple of feet to reach where it is needed. When I go to push it back the long cord (that will not stay on the cord wraps) falls to the floor and gets under the wheels so I can't push it back. Again, the tools are close so reaching behind the vac to grab the cord is a pain. My vac never leaves the area except for the occassional 2 feet out and back.

I kept the old cord in case I need to reinstall it for selling (only reason to sell the CT22 would be to upgrade to a bigger vac so don't see that happening). Works very well for me with the short cord... pull it out and push it back with no snag.

Jack
 
 
I think that the member referred to who cut his cord was tired of the larger cord not fitting the cord wrap and he always had other extension cords on the job anyway.  That member
is a mobile contractor and has spent much time customizing his tools to fit his particular workflow.

Peter
 
Claimdude said:
mastercabman said:
Tom Bellemare said:
Is there an advantage to having a short cord?

I just leave mine on the cord wraps when stationary.

Tom
Same here
I just don't understand why? ???

Don't know about the others here but my shop is small and all my tools are on wheels and parked close together next to the wall. My Festool vac w/boom arm is close to my sheetgoods breakdown table. Occassionally I need to pull the vac away from the wall a couple of feet to reach where it is needed. When I go to push it back the long cord (that will not stay on the cord wraps) falls to the floor and gets under the wheels so I can't push it back. Again, the tools are close so reaching behind the vac to grab the cord is a pain. My vac never leaves the area except for the occassional 2 feet out and back.

I kept the old cord in case I need to reinstall it for selling (only reason to sell the CT22 would be to upgrade to a bigger vac so don't see that happening). Works very well for me with the short cord... pull it out and push it back with no snag.

Jack
 
Sorry but i still don't get it.
Why not roll the cord and tie it to the vac and leave about 2' out?
Why go all that trouble?  Is it really all that bad?
 
In my case the shop CT is positioned and used in such a way that no matter where I put the 22' cord it is in the way. It can't go on top of the CT because I keep a Systainer there. If I tuck it between the CT and the wall it makes the CT stick out more in the way. It won't stay on the wraps well and because of my hose/ tool power cord set up the wraps and/ or CT cord will catch them as they swing.

On my site CT I never need more than about 8' of cord 90+% of the time. The long cord is just a pain to deal with on the Mini.

In both cases dealing with the long cord is more trouble than having a  shorter one.

It all depends on the way you work, your particular set up, and usage.

Seth
 
SRSemenza said:
In my case the shop CT is positioned and used in such a way that no matter where I put the 22' cord it is in the way. It can't go on top of the CT because I keep a Systainer there. If I tuck it between the CT and the wall it makes the CT stick out more in the way. It won't stay on the wraps well and because of my hose/ tool power cord set up the wraps and/ or CT cord will catch them as they swing.

On my site CT I never need more than about 8' of cord 90+% of the time. The long cord is just a pain to deal with on the Mini.

In both cases dealing with the long cord is more trouble than having a  shorter one.

It all depends on the way you work, your particular set up, and usage.

Seth

+1 what Seth said. It took me all of 30 minutes to replace cord and that is a one time operation. Now I move the vac and put it back with no snags. Less aggravation. Worth it to me.

Jack
 
I may or may not be the fellow the op refers to, but I have discussed my willingness to modify tools to fit my needs,  including changing out the cords on my ct22's and mini.

For me, mobility is everything and I have found the extra heavy cords and cord wrap brackets supplied with the vacs to be a bit cumbersome.  I replaced the mini's cord with a shorter, lighter gauge cord, and performed the "pigtail"  cut and re-plug operation described above for the 22's.

I don't advocate that any of the modifications I have performed on my tools will work for everyone, but maybe for some.

Dan
 
I shortened mine and added a NEMA 5-15 plug too. When it's in its normal place in my shop, I only need a few feet of cord.  When I take it with me, I find it a PITA to wrap/unwrap/keep it wrapped on the brackets.  The NEMA 5-20 was a real handicap too (my NEMA 5-15 adapter was helpfully lost for me) so I solved two problems with one cut.  I kept the left-overs, I'm sure I'll find a use for it sooner or later.
 
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