Fein Vaccuum III to Festool ETS150.

[po_woodworks]

Hi  everone, Hope u all had a wonderful Easter, I did my search and could not find what I'm after. there was a post previously about modifying Fein Vaccuum hose to work w/ ETS 150, I believe , I have to get a Y connector or drill a hole in to get less  suction when using it on a sander. could someone pls. point me to the thread....
Thank You,
Pete O.

 

[Jerry White]

Pete,

Try this link for a nice illustration of the Fein hookup: http://festoolownersgroup.com/index.php?topic=2096.30

 

[Joe Jensen]

I know there is a ton on this forum about how essential variable speed is.  I have a very high end WAP vac (from before Fein or Festool were available).  WAP was bought by Alto so my WAP vac is now an Alto.  I think my vac today sells for around $1100.  It's more powerful than the Festool or Fein, and quieter than the Fein.  I used it all the time for sanding with the following Festool sanders.  RO150, 150/3, RS2E, RTS400, and now the RS130.  I can pick small boards up with the vacuum though the sander, but I have never really noticed a big enough issue to mess with a solution.  My wife had an old canister vac that had a manual suction control.  There was  hole about 3/4" in diameter in the handle and a plastic sleeve that you could rotate over the hole. if I were going to do something to manually control the WAP, I'd do it this way. 

But, I'm very picky and I haven't yet needed to do it...joe

 

[Steve Jones]

Joe,

I was using the DTS400 to run over the undercoat on some cabinets the other day, My vac for on-site use is a box shaped Pro Pack I brought from H/D for $100 the suction was causing the sander to stick too hard to the painted surface and causing the sander to bounce around a lot. Tried first holding the hose slightly off the connector on the sander which improved performance but required a two handed operation, so I finally drilled a hole in the connector at the vac end - better but still not enough - finally ended up with five 1/2" holes in the darn thing.

Since the budget won't yet stretch to a Festool vac - I'm wondering whether one of those aftermarket router speed controls wouold work on a regular old cheap shop vac - anyone tried this? - or anyone familar with the relevant motors know any reason to avoid trying it? - I figure they are both (routers and shop vacs) simple brush/armature motors.

Thoughts anyone?

 

[po_woodworks]

Pete,

Try this link for a nice illustration of the Fein hookup: http://festoolownersgroup.com/index.php?topic=2096.30

thank you so much to all that responded..I'm off to see if could locate a wye fittings....

 

[Corwin]

Oops, my post vanished!  I'll try again...

You can install a bleeder valve into a fitting that covers/seals one side of the Y adapter to provide some control.  We used to install bleeder valves on a pneumatic jig -- these were simply a fitting, threaded on an inside bore with a hole to allow air to escape drilled perpendicular into the threaded bore.  A threaded plug with a knurled knob screws into the fitting -- this threaded plug had a machined groove in the end to accept an O ring which sealed the unit when the plug is tightened.  Should work for this application.

 

[po_woodworks]

Oops, my post vanished!  I'll try again...

You can install a bleeder valve into a fitting that covers/seals one side of the Y adapter to provide some control.  We used to install bleeder valves on a pneumatic jig -- these were simply a fitting, threaded on an inside bore with a hole to allow air to escape drilled perpendicular into the threaded bore.  A threaded plug with a knurled knob screws into the fitting -- this threaded plug had a machined groove in the end to accept an O ring which sealed the unit when the plug is tightened.  Should work for this application.

Hmmm...I like that idea,I'll try to incorporate your suggestions... thanks..

 

[Dave Ronyak]

Hi  everone, Hope u all had a wonderful Easter, I did my search and could not find what I'm after. there was a post previously about modifying Fein Vaccuum hose to work w/ ETS 150, I believe , I have to get a Y connector or drill a hole in to get less  suction when using it on a sander. could someone pls. point me to the thread....
Thank You,
Pete O.

Pete,

Can you "install" Fein's floor sweep handle adapter in your hose line?  It has an adjustable vent to reduce suction at the tool when needed.  Or you might take a piece of plastic (PVC or ABS) tubing and drill a few holes in it and cover/expose  the number needed to adjust the vacuum level or use the Wye fitting.  I installed a rubber O-ring onto the outlet nipples of my Festool sanders.  The O-ring bridges the difference in OD of the Festool dust outlets and the ID of the Fein tool end fitting (made of hard plastic on my Turbo II set which is about 5 years old).  I've used this setup before and after acquiring a CT 22.  In fact I prefer it wherever flexibility of the hose is important for control of the sander when sanding pre-installed trim in a house.  Sorry, but I don't know the exact dimensions of the O-ring, but one of the exact size needed is supplied with Bosch's 1/6 sheet pad sander, and HD, Lowe's, automotive and plumbing supply stores carry them in assorted sizes.

Dave R.

 

[Michael Kellough]

This work too, just posted this in another thread but is actually more relevant here.

My central shop vac is a Fein Turbo II which is too powerful for small sanders so I put a cheap Y on the vac and adjust (partially cover) the open port so the sander runs freely. Most times I simply leave the Fein hose installed and use it to pick up stray dust and debris without having to switch hoses or pull the hose from the tool. Only a small amount of suction is wasted at the tool so this works well.