joiner1970 said:
Hi I bought a 110 volt (UK) TS55 last week and ordered the midi vac in 110v also the vac has just arrived and it says on the tool outlet "MAX 500 watt" does this mean it is no good for running the saw or any other tools at that matter as they are above 500 watts or am I missing something.
Good question. I've looked at the MIDI manual, and I see that it also says 500W for 110V!
For those users in the US who might be tempted to skip this UK query, it does have repercussions for US users of the MINI dust collector, so it might be worth reading on...
As background for those outside the UK, the standard domestic supply in the UK is now theoretically 230V, plus or minus a tolerance. In actual fact, it's usually about 240V, and many items are labelled 240V. However, on construction sites, the voltage from generators is usually 110V, which is considered to be safer. This means that many tools in the UK are supplied in two versions - 240V and 110V. Note that the power consumption of a particular tool usually stays the same, irrespective of whether is uses a US 120V supply, or a UK 240V supply, or UK 110V supply. For example, the OF1400 router is always 1400W, but the current used by the tool will vary in inverse proportion to the voltage.
If we go to www.festool.co.uk, we find the following information on the TS55:
Notice how the 110V model is highlighted, and power consumption is given as 1200W.
Staying on the same site, we go to get information on the CT MIDI (which is the same as the MINI, but with larger capacity):
Again the 110V version for trade use has been highlighted, and the variable speed nature of the machine shows power consumption of 400-1200W. More importantly, note how it says that the "Maximum appliance socket connected load" is 2400W, meaning that you can connect an appliance (saw, router, plane etc) up to 2400W, and the dust collector will start automatically.
So far everything is fine - the saw is 1200W, and you can connect up to 2400W to the MIDI.
But if we go to the downloads section of the UK website and get hold of the
multi-lingual MIDI/MINI manual, we find this in the UK section:
Notice how the maximum connected load for the MIDI varies according to country, and in particular note how it says that the maximum load is only 500W when used with the 110V UK supply!
The low 500W rating might be initially taken as a typo (remember that the website says it can take up to 2400W), but joiner1970 has just noticed that the outlet on the actual machine reads "MAX 500W"
Since the 110V saw is rated at 1200W, but the 110V MIDI can only take up to 500W, it seems that there is a problem. The same applies to the MINI, which is electrically the same as the MIDI
The US uses 120V for most items, but the
manual for the US version of the MINI looks like this:
Note how the 120V US-spec MINI can have a 1200W appliance connected to it, whereas the UK-spec 110V MIDI or MINI can only have a 500W appliance attached to it.
I don't have an answer as to why the UK 110V MIDI is apparently incapable of powering a TS55, so if anyone out there has some ideas, please speak up!
Although this doesn't directly affect US users so far, remember that the US manual allows for up to 1200W to be attached to the MINI, yet the US TS75 is rated at 1600W:
So why is Festool USA offering the TS75 and MINI as a
$815 package deal if the TS75 uses too much power for the MINI to handle?
Forrest
