Hose for TS55?

[alanz]

Today is my birthday, and as a present, I just joined the ranks of Festool ownership. 

This morning, I picked up a TS55, and MFT/3, an  extra 55" rail, and some clamps.

• My question is whether or not I got the correct dust collector hose.

I have a 1 HP Reliant (looks like the Delta or Jet) twin bag dust collector with a 4" input in my little shop.

I bought a 27mm x 3.5m standard Festool hose and a 4" adapter for the DC unit.

• Is the 27mm hose a good choice for this setup, or should I exchange it for a 36mm hose?

Thanks in advance, and it's nice to finally be a member of this green/black method of wallet thinning.

 

[rwdawson]

Alanz,

I'm surprised that the dealer didn't recommend the larger, 37mm hose.  For routers and saws this is the best choice.  The smaller hose works just fine with sanders.

It looks like you are off to a great start.

HTH, and Happy Birthday,

Richard

 

[alanz]

I think I'll switch it out for a 36mm hose.  Is there any real advantage to going anti-static?

 

[Woodenfish]

Happy Birthday Alan and congratulations on your gift. I use the 27mm anti-static from my CT33 to a TS55 and have never thought about a need for a larger hose. They play very well together while the anti-static hose feature prevents me from absorbing annoying static discharge shocks.

 

[Kevin Johnson]

Anti-static works well, but you won't see any benefit from it until you get a Festool dust extractor.  The hose connects to a ground on the extractor.

 

[Forrest Anderson]

Today is my birthday, and as a present, I just joined the ranks of Festool ownership. 

Happy Birthday!  ;D

This morning, I picked up a TS55, and MFT/3, an  extra 55" rail, and some clamps.

• My question is whether or not I got the correct dust collector hose.

I have a 1 HP Reliant (looks like the Delta or Jet) twin bag dust collector with a 4" input in my little shop.

I bought a 27mm x 3.5m standard Festool hose and a 4" adapter for the DC unit.

• Is the 27mm hose a good choice for this setup, or should I exchange it for a 36mm hose?

The following advice is taken from the Festool USA Knowledgebase (go to www.festool.com, then choose Support, then Support Knowledge Base). Bear in mind that it will have been written on the assumption that you are using a Festool dust extractor:


Q.  Which hose do you recommend for optimal dust extraction?

A:  The D27 (27mm diameter) hose, which comes with Festool dust extractors, works with all of the Festool tools except the planer, for optimal dust extraction. Using that hose with the Festool sanders, you will need to turn the speed down on dust extractor to prevent the sander from pulling down to the sanding surface. You do not need a larger diameter hose with the sander to achieve optimum dust extraction, in fact, the larger diameter hoses (D36 or D50) will not fit on the sanders. The planer requires the larger diameter hose because the shavings produced are bulky and tend to clog a hose with a smaller diameter than D36. On both OF 1400 and OF 2000 routers, the greater volume of air moved by the D36 hose helps accommodate the waste produced, which is being ejected at high velocity. So for optimum dust extraction on those routers, the D36 hose is required. Normally the D27 hose is all you need for optimum dust extraction using the TS 55 plunge cut saw. Though depending on what material you are cutting and at what depth, the larger diameter D36 hose better accommodate the greater volume of waste produced. The same goes for the TS 75 plunge cut saw, which has the capacity to generate greater waste mass. When you join two hoses for added length, it is good to use the larger diameter hose for optimum dust extraction. We do not recommend running more than 23 feet of hose. You can attach a D36 hose to a D27 and you won?t lose as much CFM due to air friction as you would by joining two D27 hoses. Please see the FAQ on joining hoses together for more information

Q:  What are the different hose diameters for?

A:  The D27 hose works on all tools but the HL850 planer and on all cleaning sets except the Industrial cleaning set. The D36 hose is recommended for the router, planer and cleaning sets but will not work on the sanders or the Industrial cleaning set. The D50 hose is used on the Industrial cleaning set and can be connected with other hose diameters to create a longer hose. 

Forrest

 

[alanz]

So now I'm thoroughly confused

The user manual for the TS55 says

A Festool dust extractor with an  extractor hose diameter of 36mm or 27mm (36 mm recommended due to the reduced risk of clogging) can be connected to the roating extractor connector.

Also, the 27mm hose I have in hand is model 458878  D 27 x 3.5 M - AS.

This is the anti-static hose, but I don't see anything that looks like a grounding connection at all (it's all plastic), so I'm not sure what is meant by it not being an advantage unless hooked up to a Festool connector.

 

[Forrest Anderson]

So now I'm thoroughly confused

I don't really think the the following statements contradict each other:

Knowledgebase: "Normally the D27 hose is all you need for optimum dust extraction using the TS 55 plunge cut saw. Though depending on what material you are cutting and at what depth, the larger diameter D36 hose better accommodate the greater volume of waste produced."

Manual: "A Festool dust extractor with an  extractor hose diameter of 36mm or 27mm (36 mm recommended due to the reduced risk of clogging) can be connected"

Put together, they seem to say "Normally all you need is the 27mm, but the 36mm is recommended due to the reduced risk of clogging".

This it very similar to what woodenfish and Richard (rwdawson) said, ie "[the CT33 and TS55 with 27mm hose] play very well together" but "for routers and saws [the 36mm hose] is the best choice".

Also, the 27mm hose I have in hand is model 458878  D 27 x 3.5 M - AS.

This is the anti-static hose, but I don't see anything that looks like a grounding connection at all (it's all plastic), so I'm not sure what is meant by it not being an advantage unless hooked up to a Festool connector.

The antistatic hose is made of conductive plastic, but to take advantage of its conductive properties, it has to be grounded where it meets the dust extractor. If, for example, the anti-static hose was a push fit into a non-conductive plastic socket on the dust extractor, the hose would not be grounded and it would not have anti-static properties.

Or, in the words of the Support Knowledgebase...

Q: Does it make sense to use the Festool antistatic hose with another brand of dust extractor, or should I purchase the regular, non-antistatic hose?

A:  What makes an antistatic hose antistatic is that it conducts static electricity to ground. Festool antistatic hoses have no visible electric leads; the high-carbon plastic they are made from conducts high voltage. The tool is grounded by way of the hose, through dust extractor, to the ground where it is plugged. If there is an open ground where the dust extractor is plugged, there is still the possibility of electric shock from the high voltage static charge produced by moving dust. Some dust extraction systems have a visible copper lead where you attach the hose. In that case, the conductive Festool antistatic hose will work to ground the tool to that dust extraction system. The ground must be continuous however for the system to work. The outlet it?s plugged into must be grounded for the system to be antistatic. Shop vacs are generally not antistatic. If you are using your Festool with a standard shop vac or another brand of dust extractor that is not antistatic then there is no need to purchase an antistatic hose, it won?t eliminate static charge.

Forrest

 

[Kevin Johnson]

I may be wrong, but a long time ago when I bought my first Festool, the ATF55, I was using my Fein vacumm.   I was told by Festool that their VACs only worked with the anti-static hose because there was some type of ground connection.

 

[Brice Burrell]

Alan, as Forrest already shared with us, the TS 55 doesn't really need the larger 36 mm hose for optimum dust extraction (more on hoses in a moment). I think what should be addressed next is using the TS 55 with a dust collector as apposed to a Festool dust extractor or shop vacuum. Dust collectors are for larger power tools (like a table saw or jointer), the collect large amount of wood chips/dust with high cfm but moves the air relatively slowly. A Festool dust extractor or shop vacuum works on much lower cfm at a higher speed. Smaller power tools collect dust more efficiently with the air moving at high speed. Your dust collector will work but not as well as a Festool or shop vacuum.

The Festool AS hose won't work with a regular shop vacuum or your dust collector unless you ground the hose yourself. You do this with a conductor (copper wire or tape) between the hose and a ground. The Festool vac have a ground built in and they come with a D27 AS hose. Check out this picture of the inside of the CT 22, the upper arrow points to metal grounding tab that contacts the high-carbon plastic (lower arrow) on the inside of the vac. This is how the hose is grounded to the vac itself.

If you never intent to buy a Festool vac then the non-antistatic hose is the way to go or you can find some other brand hoses that will work also. If the antistatic feature is important to you than I'd recommend a Festool vac. Here's a little advice on what size hose to buy. Buy with the future in mind, if you plan to use a router or planer attached to a vac than the D36 is a better choice. If you only plan on using the TS55 or sanders than the D27 will work fine. Here's a quick rundown on the size hose some of the Festool tools take.
TS 55, TS75: both the D27 and D36
All sanders: D27
OF 1010, MFK 700: D27
OF1400, OF2200: both (D36 recommended)
Planer: D36
Jigsaws: D27
Kapex: both (D36 recommended)
Domino: D27

 

[alanz]

Brice,

I have a couple of options.  I have the 1 hp dust collector, and I also have a shop vac. 

At this point, having both of these "suckers" at my disposal was the reason I have defered purchasing a CT22 dust extractor.

I'm assuming that Festool's advice about the hose is based on using one of their dust extractors.  For now, at least, I'm going to use either my dust collector (preferable) or if better suited, the shopvac.

So, given your comments about air flow and speed, I'm still not sure if the 36mm hose will be better with the dust collector (with a 4" port) that I already have (letting more air volume pass through a larger pipe), or the smaller 27mm diameter hose, which could increase the speed of the flow for a given suction.

My guess is that they'll both work, but as long as I'm going to exchange the 27mm AS hose (because the AS won't be effective), the decision is whether to swap it for a 27mm non-AS or a 36mm non-AS unit.  Decisions decisions...

I don't mind buying another hose later on, if/when I get a Festool router for hand held work with the rails.  My current router is a 2.25hp Triton mounted in a CMT Industrio bench.

 

[Brice Burrell]

Alan, you may be well served with a non-Festool hose if the non-antistatic is the hose you have decided on. I'm not sure of the exact hoses that work well with Festool tools. I believe there is a Shopvac brand and some other yellow hose Nickao has recommended in the past. Might be a Rigid or Craftsman that will work too. 

 

[alanz]

Well, I decided to bite the bullet and purchased a CT22, which comes with a 27mm AS hose.

So I'll get the AS feature, auto-on, variable speed, etc, etc... 

Oh, (damn you package-pricing) an ETS 150/3 EQ followed me home too.

I guess I'll play with the 27mm hose for a while and see how it works with my tools.

Thanks again for all who helped me finally decide on this setup.

 

[Tinker]

Alanz,
Happy birthday
Happy Festool Day and Happy Slippery Slope day.
Before you do anything else, I suggest you go to an outdoor supply store and get yourself a pair of hobnailed boots.  They're the only things that can help hold you back on the slippery slope  :

To answer your question from my own experience:
I have both 27mm and 36mm AS hoses.  I thought the 36 might work better on my ATF 55 than the 27 as it has greater voluum.  NOT SO.  The air moves slower.  There is no appreciable difference as far as I can see in how efficient it draws the chips and dust.  Not even for my OF 1000 router.  I have not tried it with my OF 1400.  (NOTE: I am a hobbiest and do not get involved in large voluums of repeat cuts.  Three or four cuts and on to next operation)

The problem with using the larger hose for the saw and the small router is that it is considerably more clumsey to work with.  That may not be so with the newer TS 55 or the OF 1010. 

Of course, if you do not follow my original advice about the boots, you might as well spring for the 36.  that will give you the excuse to go treat yourself to the HL 850  : ;D
Tinker

 

[alanz]

Unfortunately this green slope is not the only slippery one I'm on.  My tastes run towards quality, and good ideas (particularly when a bit offbeat).  Festool fits the bill quite nicely.  So the machines and other toys in my life tend to be quirky, endearing and expensive.

I feel right at home here