Is she toast?

[bwehman]

My trusty always-connected-to-the-CT cord finally started acting weird. I used a multimeter to test for continuity and found one of the wires should be broken. Popped it open and found the suspect. Can it be fixed? Do they sell repair ends? It'd be a shame to toss an otherwise perfectly good cord.

 

[alltracman78]

Is it really worth the trouble to fix it? How worn/old are the ends?
I would just replace the whole thing.

 

[ChuckM]

Speaking purely as a layman with no electrical training background, I'd try to fix it by soldering a wire of the same gauge to connect the split ends. I'd trim the ends to expose the good wires first.

Apart from saving some money, I'd feel proud of giving the cord a second life.

 

[luvmytoolz]

This was a common problem with the mini/midi's, on each of them I replaced the cord with a longer extension cord. Thicker insulation so less likely to break again at the strain point.

As an aside, surely it's not worth repairing an already broken cord, that may also be suspect at other points when a heavy duty extension cord is $10 or so?

 

[six-point socket II]

I think it's about the plug-it connector.

Edit: The socket used to be available as spare part (#491144) and the plug was also (#489685). I don't think these are available anymore. Sorry. For future reference, here's a site that still has an image up:https://www.sitebox.ltd.uk/festool-plug-itplug-rk-plug-it-code-489685-ofestool_489685

Kind regards,
Oliver

 

[squall_line]

If it's just a Plug-it cord, replace it, like-for-like.

Unless you're an EE and repairing cords is a hobby, I don't get the appeal of taking the time to patch-repair a commodity item like that.

If you want to salvage the plug-it end, by all means, but still, that cord is severely damaged and should just be swapped out.

 

[six-point socket II]

It's the plug it end that is posing the problem here.

Cords like that - albeit with common plugs/sockets - get shortened and repaired all the time. Just like hoses. Zero problem, and if you have the plugs/sockets (or fittings) it's a 5 min. job tops.

But in this case, the OP won't get around a new cord, unless he finds someone selling the discontinued Festool plug.

Kind regards,
Oliver

 

[squall_line]

Thanks for the clarification.  I had to look three more times to realize that it's the plug-it end that's broken.  I saw the green twist sleeve on the floor and erroneously assumed that the plug-it end was on the floor.

Since plug-it cords are still made, if this were me I would first swap in one of the half-dozen other plug-it cords I have from my other tools and then order a new 16 AWG plug-it cord of whatever length I needed, unless I only owned tools that used the 18 AWG cord.

 

[Cheese]

Ya, toss it...replace it with a new one. From my perspective, it's not worth the effort or the potential fire hazard to attempt to repair  it. It's a known fact you can fix just about anything, but at sometime, you just have to weigh the monetary gain versus the potential monetary loss.

This is a stock I would not purchase.  [big grin]

 

[pixelated]

It's repairable, as others have said, most anything is. But it would be challenging to do a really good repair, since you don't have much material to work with at the plug end.
I agree that you're probably best off replacing the whole thing. If you want to upcycle what you have you could easily turn it into a short extension cord by replacing the plug-it with a standard end. (Depending on the condition of the rest of it.)

 

[bwehman]

It's repairable, as others have said, most anything is. But it would be challenging to do a really good repair, since you don't have much material to work with at the plug end.
I agree that you're probably best off replacing the whole thing. If you want to upcycle what you have you could easily turn it into a short extension cord by replacing the plug-it with a standard end. (Depending on the condition of the rest of it.)

Yeah that's a good idea actually. I'll just do that. Appreciate the feedback!

 

[Crazyraceguy]

Thanks for the clarification.  I had to look three more times to realize that it's the plug-it end that's broken.  I saw the green twist sleeve on the floor and erroneously assumed that the plug-it end was on the floor.

Since plug-it cords are still made, if this were me I would first swap in one of the half-dozen other plug-it cords I have from my other tools and then order a new 16 AWG plug-it cord of whatever length I needed, unless I only owned tools that used the 18 AWG cord.

I would do the same, since I have a drawer full of them, but I wouldn't ever buy an 18ga cable. The 16ga is far more universal, which is why those are the ones connected to my CTs.