CT 36 E - Dead/Stopped Working

[GrahamF123]

Hello,

My CT 36E HEPA 120V dust extractor has stopped working. There was possibly a burning smell coming from the unit right when it died (I wasn't the one operating it so can't be 100% sure).

When on auto mode the sander plugged into the vacuum turns on and works fine however the vacuum does not turn on with the sander or by itself in manual mode.

Wondering if anyone would be able to share any insight on this situation and possibly what my next steps should be. The unit is out of warranty and I am located in Canada. Would prefer to replace a part myself if needed instead of shipping it if possible.

So far I took off the front cover to examine the control board and can't visually see any loose connections, melted areas or components. Not sure if I need to go deeper to inspect more areas? There was a decent amount of dust covering the panel that I blew off before taking the pics attached.

Thanks in advance!

 

[GrahamF123]

I also accessed the motor and when I was blowing the inside of it out I did smell some sort of burnt plastic smell much different than just normal dust smell. If I had to guess that's not normal?

 

[luvmytoolz]

Seeing as you have the motor out, have you checked the brushes as the first point of call?

That they're long enough, and aren't encrusted with crud that could stop conductivity?

 

[GrahamF123]

Seeing as you have the motor out, have you checked the brushes as the first point of call?

That they're long enough, and aren't encrusted with crud that could stop conductivity?

Thanks for the reply.

Yeah after more research these seem to definitely need replacing. Ordered some new ones through Lee Valley and hopefully this will solve the problem.

 

[luvmytoolz]

Ok that looks an easy fix! ;-)

 

[Michael Kellough]

“the vacuum does not turn on with the sander or by itself in manual mode.”

Classic symptoms of expired brushes. Festool brushes have a nylon rod embedded in the graphite so when the brush wears down to the start of the non-conductive rod the circuit is broken.