PSA - older CT36 dust extractors can be dangerous

[matt.mackinnon]

I bought into Festool with the thought of getting good quality that will last me a lifetime of woodworking.  But I must issue a dire warning to owners of the older CT36 and similar vintage dust extractors.  They can be very dangerous at the black top that keeps the vacuum hose coiled up when not in use will become very brittle with age and can shatter without warning. 
While reaching into the top to pull out my hose to hook up the ETS150 the front part of the black shroud decided to totally shatter slicing two fingers.  The black plastic turns very sharp like a serrated edge knife and can and will cut very badly any unprotected parts.  I ended up at the hospital with some deep cuts in my hand that managed to nick a nerve and I've lost feeling in my small pinky finger from the cut.  Luckily the doctors say that the damage should heal but it might take 6 months to a year to hopefully get all my sense of touch back.

I think it's possible to simply remove the whole of the shroud and build a new one made of wood as that would be much safer.  What is most interesting is that I have a Ridgid vacuum that is 6 years older and that one gets batted around the shop and just keeps going and going.  The plastic on the Ridgid hasn't gotten brittle or shown and damage.  The shop is heated so it's not from freezing or cold temperature.  just the incorrect type of plastic resin was used to manufacture the Festool top.

 

[TomGadwa1]

I shattered my CTMIDI hose garage when I feel onto it. Much luckier than you were. Shame on Festool for using cheap styrene type plastic for the hoes hose garages. I used to build model cars that were made from the same type of plastic. It is well suited to model cars and such but an extremely poor choice for the hose garage. It could made with the same plastic that protective gear for football players use and there would be no more problems!!!

 

[woodbutcherbower]

hoes garage

MODS !!!!!!’

 

[matt.mackinnon]

if it wasn't for it being shattered in some parts into a hundred small thin shards of plastic like glass windows break, I would have tried to reassemble it with cut sheets of fibreglass and resin that would actually have added a reasonable amount of strength to it and allowed for the functionality on top that you can snap on your systainer boxed to.  As I just work inside my own shop I never found that attaching the tool boxes to the dust collection vacuum to be anything that I would need.  But I think that the look of the black plastic house shroud did look somewhat nice.

 

[luvmytoolz]

I'm guessing these were due to UV or some other exposure causing degradation?

Asking as I have the CT36 bought when it was first released, 2 x Mini's and an SR5E also all bought when they were first released, the SR5E being around 40+ years old, and none of my gear has become brittle over time.

If it was a manufacturing issue I would think there should be a plethora of others encountering the same issue surely?

 

[PaulMarcel]

hoes garage

MODS !!!!!!’

I was unfortunately eating when I read this... missed the keyboard thankfully  [embarassed]

 

[guybo]

https://www.festoolownersgroup.com/festool-tool-problems/does-anyone-have-a-vac-with-a-hose-garage-intact/msg507013/#msg507013

 

[Lincoln]

It's a fairly well known issue. Hasn't happened to any of mine, but have seen it happen to colleagues. One of them has gone through three garages.

 

[luvmytoolz]

It's a fairly well known issue. Hasn't happened to any of mine, but have seen it happen to colleagues. One of them has gone through three garages.

That's pretty bad, I get garages breaking due to being strained or knocked about, or spending most of their lives in the sun with UV breaking things down, but just deteriorating on it's own is weird. Did Festool acknowledge anything about in any way?

 

[usernumber1]

they acknowledged it by releasing a replacement that is made from a different material, reinforced and thicker

the new one should've been free to everyone. hello festool exec I hear you laughing.

mine shattered the same way but not so violently so I held it with epoxy for a year. the new one is a proper part. the original that it came with feels like a prototype. brittle, thin, unsupported

 

[whk]

The version of this I've seen was on a Festool dust extractor that must have been 20 years old. Someone sat on it and turned it a pile of plastic shards.  Amazingly enough, after seeing pictures of sliced up fingers, they didn't cut themselves.  Also, Festool had all the replacement parts then needed, and it was a lot cheaper than buying a new unit.

 

[jimbo51]

" Did Festool acknowledge anything about in any way? "
Does the phrase Kapex motor ring a bell? Festool denied responsibility there for a long time.

 

[TomGadwa1]

Garage kept unit!!! So no sun!!!! Just using a cheaper plastic to save some money so that the executives can have a larger bonus at the end of the fiscal year!!!

 

[squall_line]

Garages are filled with all sorts of nasty things other than sunlight that can deteriorate objects, which is why I always recommended my students/customer store their motorcycle helmets indoors instead of in the garage with their bike back in the day.  Between temperature fluctuations, CO, gasoline, and other solvents, the styrofoam in the helmet would deteriorate faster than the recommended replacement period.  Fluorescent lights, which are often found in garages and shops, also produce UV rays that have been known to fade anodized aluminum and cause longevity issues for UV-sensitive objects.

 

[leakyroof]

I had the Original Garage on my CT 36 Auto break on me.  Ended up with the revised garage. So far, so good  [smile]

 

[usernumber1]

mine was stored indoors, not garage.

as to garage being dangerous argument, the product itself should be able to withstand such harsh environments just like every other tool that is kept there

 

[Mike Goetzke]

I had the Original Garage on my CT 33 Auto break on me.  Ended up with the revised garage. So far, so good  [smile]

Thought I was the only one with a CT33. Bought mine with a Domino jointer when they were just released.

 

[leakyroof]

I had the Original Garage on my CT 33 Auto break on me.  Ended up with the revised garage. So far, so good  [smile]

Thought I was the only one with a CT33. Bought mine with a Domino jointer when they were just released.

Had to correct my post…. Tired after a long day at work… [embarassed] [embarassed]

 

[matt.mackinnon]

Garages are filled with all sorts of nasty things other than sunlight that can deteriorate objects, which is why I always recommended my students/customer store their motorcycle helmets indoors instead of in the garage with their bike back in the day.  Between temperature fluctuations, CO, gasoline, and other solvents, the styrofoam in the helmet would deteriorate faster than the recommended replacement period.  Fluorescent lights, which are often found in garages and shops, also produce UV rays that have been known to fade anodized aluminum and cause longevity issues for UV-sensitive objects.

I've been working on projects so i haven't replied to, or logged back onto FOG for a bit.  As to your points.

My workshop happens to be a fully detached garage that is used for the sole purposes of my workshop.  I don't park a car inside of it.  I don't store gasoline, or anything other than what a typical woodworker will use.    It is radiant heated so there isn't the extreme fluctuations outside of normal weather.  Yes I live in Canada so we do get cold winters, but I store my glue and finishes inside the workshop, so I don't let the temperature dip below 10C.  The walls, ceiling and floor is fully insulated.  You might as well not call it a garage, but a separate dedicated workshop building.

Now I must get a laugh at your florescent lights, as up here they pretty much banned regular incondecent light bulbs 20 years ago and you could only buy the compact florescent ones for the longest time.  Now you can buy LED.    Sure, I had florecent tubes in the shop, but they have since been replaced by LED lighting strips.  But I will say that the RIDGID vacuum cleaner hasn't gone brittle and shattered like the Festool.  So clearly a homedepot $120 vacuum is a much higher premium brand than a $760 Festool one.  Please, I'd love to hear your rational justification as to why one cheaper brand lasts where the other one shatters.  Or was your comment about styrofoam meant to mean that Festool did in fact use substandard styrine rather than proper plastic for their products?

I wrote as more of a warning that these older ( I actually looked it up and it was manufactured in June 2011 ) vacuums are dangerous.  I have seen products pulled from the market for far less danger than these, and I wouldn't want to see someone else cut up their hand like i did.  and one would think about tools that my parents had when they were young and have lasted without falling apart for well over 60 years.  A vacuum can't last 13.    Crap, I have a central vac inside my house that is 19 years old.  I better rip it out as it's 6 years past the explosion point.

On a brighter note, I am getting back some of the feeling inside my little finger.  The doctors did say that the nerve wasn't severed but nicked and at the time couldn't say how long it would take to start healing.  Having some sensation in my finger is a good sign.

 

[matt.mackinnon]

Update: 

I did get in contact with Festool after quite a few failed attempts.  they are sending me a new plastic tool shroud to replace the one that shattered.  So I think it will coat the inside with Fiberglass and Resin so that it cannot break as I know I won't want to replace this again.