FLEX Vacuum

[festal]

stupid question but what is the grey plastic bag used for?  it seem that one end of it is open and has a white plastic string .  How does one use it?

Tub Liner (33 / 44).  Drapes over tub and you drop top over to hold it in place.  When full, you remove top and synch it up like a trash bag for disposal.  (I've already disposed of mine).

Hmm not following .  I saw the picture in the manual but i can't figure it out

Their logic is that you don’t have to carry, or lift, the tub over to a trash can to dump it with all the dust flying if you buy the plastic liners.  Any contractor plastic bag will do with some tape around inlet.  Prob a good idea for drywall and mdf.

Do you use it with the other bag or by itself?  if debris gets sucked in doesn't it just fly out of the opening of the bag while its in use?

 

[Michael Kellough]

To remove the hose end adapters, squeeze the grey buttons down then yank the adapter. There isn’t a clearly defined depth to depress the buttons to, it’s mostly the yanking that gets the job done.

 

[Michael Kellough]

“Do you use it with the other bag or by itself? If debris gets sucked in doesn't it just fly out of the opening of the bag while its in use?”

Pretty sure the plastic bag is just a tub liner for use with heavy dust in lieu of the fleece or paper bag. With drywall, plaster, or concrete dust the much more costly filter bags would become useless as filters quickly and just become containers for dust that might break when removing from the tub. The vac is designed to keep working even without the filter bag via the auto-clean function that regularly shakes the main filter.

My first vac that was designed to deal with that kind of troublesome dust was the WAP Turbo Drywaller back in the mid 80’s. I used it once as designed and immediately regretted it. It had a  cylindrical filter reinforced with a wire screen to resist abrasion from the hoop brush that you could plunge down and up from outside the vac when suction diminished. The filter was also oiled for “better efficiency”. It took over an hour to clean out enough to get back to nearly the original flow and I never tackled drywall dust again without the paper bag in place. Other than the time money wasted on the “drywaller” feature that was/is the quietest most industrial vac I’ve owned.

 

[Banana]

To remove the hose end adapters, squeeze the grey buttons down then yank the adapter. There isn’t a clearly defined depth to depress the buttons to, it’s mostly the yanking that gets the job done.

It's not "how" to take off the connectors, it's the difficulty with grey rings.  No one wants to fight their tools, or they may be wearing gloves, have fat fingers etc. This is probably why Flex calls the red ring their 'Quick' Clamping Ring.

 

[Banana]

Do you use it with the other bag or by itself?  if debris gets sucked in doesn't it just fly out of the opening of the bag while its in use?

Fly out where?  Have you used the vacuum yet?

 

[Drich]

I'm looking at the ones at Lowes and it says 36 mm and 27 mm ones. Is that the outside or inside dia of the fitting end?

 

[festal]

Do you use it with the other bag or by itself?  if debris gets sucked in doesn't it just fly out of the opening of the bag while its in use?

Fly out where?  Have you used the vacuum yet?

haven't used it yet.  Sorry meant to say fly out of the bag and into the inside of the vacuum.

 

[Banana]

Do you use it with the other bag or by itself?  if debris gets sucked in doesn't it just fly out of the opening of the bag while its in use?

Fly out where?  Have you used the vacuum yet?

haven't used it yet.  Sorry meant to say fly out of the bag and into the inside of the vacuum.

It’s the same concept as lining a trash can with a plastic trash bag.  With tub liner installed media is simply easier to collect & contain during both transport to and while disposing in trash.  Without tub liner media is still collected in tub but you’ll be standing in a cloud of debris dust while dumping instead.  Gravity keeps bulk of media in vac tub (or liner) somewhat similar to a separator bucket, and filter(s) trap the rest.  Recommend you just run the vac and try it out.

 

[DynaGlide]

I just took my VCE 33 out of the box and first thing I did was cut the last taper section off the tool end. With it gone the tool end of the hose has a surprisingly nice fit inside either the TS55 dust port or on my DeWalt 780 miter saw. Between that and the add on Systainer holder on top I'm very pleased with how nice this vac is especially for the money. I own a CT26 but it's become fixed in place with all the stuff I've mounted to it.

 

[Drich]

I did finally get a reply back on where to buy parts for the Flex

Good evening,
I apologize for the delay in our response. Is this for a FLEX vacuum? If so, all FLEX parts go through our 3rd party provider, Powerhouse Distributing:
https://powerhousetoolparts.com/

Toll-Free: 402-715-5999

 

[Mike Goetzke]

Another clone (maybe a new source for fittings?):

[attachimg=1]

 

[Lincoln]

Another clone (maybe a new source for fittings?):

[attachimg=1]

I've had that one for about 18 months, best vac I've ever owned.  The hose and accessories are great - the fitting on the tool end of the hose fits perfectly over the MT55 dust port, which was a real bonus for me. I also have the optional steel handle and systainer plate.

 

[Banana]

I’ve seen photos of this but thought it was only available in Japan, great to see a North American version with bluetooth.

Nilfisk must really have an aggressive rebranding program (aka  private labeling team) for the Attix 33/44 line.  Milwaukee, Makita, Flex, Mirka, and who knows how many others or others to come.  Since FLEX offers a few accessories Nilfisk doesn’t, as well as hose design change, like you say it will be interesting to see what options Makita offers.
(I would be curious to know if [member=69760]Lincoln[/member] has experience with the Nilfisk red A.S. hoses vs the Makita A.S. hose and if there is a difference in compliancy).

Makita is claiming a “powerful 12amp motor” in their lit.  It’s not.  Motor actually draws around 7~ 8 amps, the same as the other rebrands.  The 12 amp ‘rating’ is the maxed out with a tool plugged into the tool-activated outlet.  Also I believe the 3 dials on the front in the image is wrong, unless you get the Japanese version, the N.A. version will be same as the FLEX with two dials.

I’m unsure if Makita’s bluetooth AWS allows for manual push button vac control like the Festool 202097 but I don’t think it does (anyone know?).  If so it’s strange that they didn’t think of this because that’s cutting in half the benefit of the remote.  Being able to unplug the hose from tool and still control vac at the hose end with a push button is indispensable to me.

I’ve adapted a remote (love it) to my Flex, similar to the Festool 202097, albeit RF (great range), and it allows me to add / pair as many inexpensive additional remotes as like.  So that another identical remote fob affixed to chop saw, sander etc. also works the vac in dual hose ‘Y’ set up’s without needing to unplug hose from the other tool or transfer remote hose collar. 

Photo - neoprene tube sleeve with pocket sewn under - slips on, remote can be removed without taking sleeve off. Had a bunch made up for all the different hoses & diameters so each one has a dedicated remote. (using Nilfisk o.e.m. instead of supplied Flex hose in image).

 

[rvieceli]

[member=71944]Banana[/member] what remote set up are you using?

Thanks

Ron

 

[Michael Kellough]

Was gonna ask the same. The remote is nicely compact and sleek.

 

[Banana]

Looks like [member=4518]Mike Goetzke[/member] was right about possible accessories... 

It's hard to find short Anti-Static Y's but Makita lists this under their new Nilfisk rebrand:
There's nothing in the text that states A.S. but that sticker wasn't put on because they didn't want you touching it.

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[member=3192]rvieceli[/member]  /  [member=297]Michael Kellough[/member] -  Those remotes and their receivers are just some generic Chinese stuff (what isn't) I picked up because 1) I didn't want an exterior dongle interface between cord and vac  - 2) I wanted to build (hide) receiver inside the vac. 
More on it here - *edited for wonky link - (http://mafellusersforum.com/thread/968/nilfisk-attix-vacs?page=4 ) . 
But you could build the relay into a box if you wish - I picked up 4 and did just that too because I had one left over.
The amperage problem with relays is when they 'break' contact and arc (normal).  Even though the relays (blue square) are rated for 30amps I would guess when used with a motor they are closer to 10amps (?).  The soft start feature on the Nilfisk shouldn't create any issue on power up fwiw.  All this meaning I'm winging it with what was cheap & available - though it's all been working flawlessly.
Those neoprene hose end sleeves that house remotes I had made, but in the link you'll see I first used a velcro wrist strap with success. 

 

[DynaGlide]

Is anyone running their track saw off the flex? The outlet says 600W maximum.

 

[Banana]

Is anyone running their track saw off the flex? The outlet says 600W maximum.

My Flex tool plug says 550W, wasn't aware they upgraded it.
In the photo below of the backside of the Flex 33 vac control cover you'll see the tool plug.  That plug is fed directly off the power cord. Meaning, despite the ball of wires you see, it doesn't go through any of the controls or electrically pass through circuit board.  It does loop its neutral wire through a current sensor on the circuit board but that's all it does  - i.e. pass through a sensor ring, it doesn't connect to anything there before returning to the tool plug.  Because of this the tool plug is always hot as soon as you plug in the vac to a wall outlet.

So the rating of that plug has more to do with the amp rating of the supplied power cord sharing current draw with vac motor.

In theory if someone replaced the 16ga. cord with a 12ga. cord then the vac motor & saw motor, which share the same power cord, together won't overheat the new larger gauge cord.

 

[Michael Kellough]

[member=71944]Banana[/member]  great info! Thanks for tracking the wires and the photo.

 

[Banana]

Just keep in mind that 'if' someone were to replace their power cord for the purpose of using a higher amperage tool with the vacuum tool plug they would most likely be pulling over 15amps.  The combo / modification used in portable job site applications might prove to be of little value since you're more likely to find a 15amp circuit / receptacle than you are a 20amp receptacle.  In which case you'd now have to plug the saw (etc.) into a different circuit than the vac anyways. 

Fwiw - this type of vac motor will draw less amps as it is put under suction restriction.  So if you were to measure 8 amps flowing on cord those amps would drop to around 5~6amps if you covered the inlet with your hand.  So the smaller the hose you attach the lower the amp draw.  Turning down the speed of the vac on the front control panel will also lower amp draw (sanders etc.- (Bernie / Colonel). I mention this because if you had a particular tool that was 'slightly' over the wattage rating printed on the vac tool plug you could adjust both hose size and or vacuum speed dial to reduce vac motor amp draw to stay under power cord rating.