Making the electric and dust connections on my Festool Tools stay attached

Frank Pellow

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Last November I started a similar thread at familywoodworking.org.  I said:

I have owned my Festool random orbital Rotex sander (RO 150 E) for about two years and it has been used A LOT. It is much more efficient (and clean) when used in conjunction with a shop vac (in my case a Festool CT 22 E).  I have had two ongoing design problems with this combination and both have been reported to Festool in hopes that they will correct things in future products. These problems are:

(1) The electric cord pulls out of the receptacle in the vacuum far too easily.

(2) The vacuum hose pulls off the connection on the sander far too easily.

The first problem probably stems from the fact that, in North America, our plugs have just got a couple of simple blades whereas in most places in the world the plugs are more substantial (and thus adhere better). I suspect that little ,if any, rigorous on the job testing was done with the north American receptacles in the Festool CT series of vacuums.

As to the second problem, the shape of the hose connection is different on the replacement model of my Rotex sander. The shape is now round. That will probably help some but it will not really solve the “pull off” problem, what is needed is some type of locking connection. By the way, I know that it won't solve the problem because my Festool Linear Duplex sander (LS 130 EQ) has a round dust port and the hose sometimes pulls off it when I don't want it to. It doesn't pull off as often, but it does pull off when least convenient (e.g when I am up a ladder).

Of course, I need to use these things now, and can't wait for some future fix. The attached pictures show how I fixed things.  I attached a cheap 3 way electrical adapter into the receptacle and held it on with duct tape.  Even though this is a cheap thingy, the tools stay plugged in much much better than they do when inserted into the Festool receptacle.  I told the vacuum hose onto the tool with a clamp

Some of the responses in the Family Woodworking thread were:

 Brian Buckley claimed that the overhead boom arm will take carte of these problems.  I can see that it might do this might solve the problems, but I already have something that works for me. I will keep the boom arm in mind for other reasons, but will not be buying it any time soon.

 Steve Clardy said that he has some trouble keeping the Fein vac hose on my 150 sander.  His solution was Velcro wraps holding the cord to the hose, keeping them together.  Steve, and others, wish there was some kind of a twist lock or something.

 Doug Shepard reported a third problem and that is that the electric cord pulls out of his “plug it” socket on his sander far too easily
 
(for some unknown reason only one of my two pictures was attached to the above post  ???)

Here is another (very similar) picture showing my vacuum with the Duplex sander:

 
Hi Frank,

Have you considered replacing the hose connector at the tool end?  My connector was very stiff when new and now attaches more easily, so I can imagine that with heavier use it might actually wear out.  The connector is US$12.50.

Ned
 
Ned, as I recall, I have had this problem almost from the start.  But, I guess it won't hurt to give it a try.
 
Frank,

I didn't have your problems before I purchased the Boom Arm, and definitely haven't since. The Boom Arm relieves any tension on the hose and the cord. Have you tried putting a piece of fine grit self adhesive sand paper on the hose O.D. where it connects to the vac? May be too tight to allow this. If this works on the hose, then you can use the Velcro for your plug-it cord tools and this should keep it from pulling.

My only problem was the 15 amp adapter cord kept coming loose from the main vac cord. I now use one of these, and that has worked well.

< Edited by Shane Holland - I received a call from the prior owner of the company that Les was linking to in his response. The company is no longer in business and I was requested to remove the link. >
 
Frank,

I have given my RO 125 a lot of use - mostly overhead for more than a year, without any hose retention problems.  I cannot say I have switched tools frequently enough to notice any wear of the Festool elastomeric hose end.

RE using any Festool having a ribbed round dust collection nipple with a Fein Turbo II Vacuum hose (36 mm?), I have found that fitting a rubber O-ring onto the nipple then connecting the Fein hose end (rigid plastic) with a combined push and twist works perfectly, even for overhead work.  Of course, you have to use the right size of O-ring.

Dave R.
 
Dave,

Just for clarity, are you describing using a Fein vac with Fein hose with Festool?

Dave
 
To Dave Rudy,

I am describing how the standard hose supplied with a Fein Turbo II vac can be used with any Festool that has a round dust outlet.  The inside diameter of the "tool end" of the Fein hose is larger than the outside diameter of Festool's round dust collection outlets.  The "vacuum machine" end of the Fein hose will fit directly and securely into a Festool C22 or C33 vac (I am not familiar with the Festool Mini vac.)  Likewise, the Festool hose will fit directly and securely into the Fein Turbo II vac, even though the design of the couplings is quite different.  I have both a C22 and a Turbo II and switch the hoses frequently.  Key is getting the right size of O-ring.  I don't know the dimensions, but one that works perfectly is supplied with Bosch's 1/4 sheet orbital sander - to help hold and seal the junction of its dust collector/filter

Dave R..
 
Frank Pellow said:
Last November I started a similar thread at familywoodworking.org.  I said:

I have owned my Festool random orbital Rotex sander (RO 150 E) for about two years and it has been used A LOT. It is much more efficient (and clean) when used in conjunction with a shop vac (in my case a Festool CT 22 E).  I have had two ongoing design problems with this combination and both have been reported to Festool in hopes that they will correct things in future products. These problems are:

(1) The electric cord pulls out of the receptacle in the vacuum far too easily.

Me too. The PlugIt cord fits lightly in my CT 22 and VERY lightly in my CT Mini. Since the vac hose starts farther back from the power receptacle on the CT Mini I usually wrap the tool's power cord around the "roll cage" on the front of the Mini and the cord usually stays connected. But, it sure seems like the fit should be more secure.

On the other hand, the hose fits great on all my tools. There are three or four ribs on the sanders. Are you pushing the hose all the way on?
 
Michael Kellough said:
...
On the other hand, the hose fits great on all my tools. There are three or four ribs on the sanders. Are you pushing the hose all the way on?
Yes, the hose always starts off all the way on - the ribs appear to be useless.
 
On another forum someone suggested that I glue sandpaper to the attachment part of the sander.

Early this morning I did this.  I used a narrow strip Norton 100 grit paper attached it with 3M Super 77 spray adhesive and let it sit for half a day.  Here is how it looks:

 
About an hour ago, I attached the hose then gave the sander a good workout with lots of twisting and pulling.  The hose stayed attached!   :)

Thats' the good news.  The bad news that the act of attachoing and detaching the hose is hard on the glue and I don't expect the sandpaper to stay on the sander for more than about 10 attacments.

Here the sander is with the hose attached:

 
Hi Frank,

I'll be interested to hear how long the rubber of the hose attachment lasts.

Ned
 
Frank Pellow said:
About an hour ago, I attached the hose then gave the sander a good workout with lots of twisting and pulling.  The hose stayed attached!   :)

Thats' the good news.  The bad news that the act of attachoing and detaching the hose is hard on the glue and I don't expect the sandpaper to stay on the sander for more than about 10 attacments.

Here the sander is with the hose attached:
I am happy  :) to report that I was wrong in my prediction about longevity.  The hose has now been on and off at least 100 times and the sandpaper is still attached.  And the modification still works -the host has only become detached a couple of times when I was working.
 
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