Review: Protool MXP 1602 E EF or Festool 1600/2 E EF mixer

[AlexThePalex]

A new tool arrived in my arsenal today, the Protool MXP 1602 E EF mixer. Currently sold by Festool as the MX 1600/2 E EF.

I do a lot of plastering lately, and I have to do a lot of walls in my house right now. Uptil now I have been using my drill with a small stirrer in it, and that's really not powerful enough and not ergonomical at all. So I thought it was time for an upgrade.

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I really hoped to get the Festool MX 1200/2 E EF as it is the middle size mixer they sell, but whadda ya think, the mid size mixer is the most impossible to find, both in the used market or new in store. The smallest MX 1000/2 is easy to find, for almost nothing, but it seems so weak to me, I always prefer to have the more powerful types. When I compared the 1000 and the 1600 in the store, the 1600 felt like a real solid piece of steel, while the 1000 felt more like an empty lunchbox. So plasticy, yuck. And the 1200 wasn't much different. So the 1600 felt like the right choice for me.

Luck had it that this Protool 1602 came at the right moment, for only €150 used. The new price for the Festool version is €480. And the Protool is from 2012, but it's spotless, hardly used. My kind of bargain.

Only downside is it came with the wrong stirrer. Included was the Festool PJ Uni 180x600 M14 769074 stirrer. Brand new, but not as the tool was originally sold. This stirrer is meant for liquids, and not plaster, cement or tile adhesive, which are my intended compounds. I need the Festool HS 3 140x600 L M14 768138 which is the proper one for plaster. With their eye for detail, Festool sells these in at least 4 different sizes, 120 - 140 - 150 - 160 mm wide, and with a left or right orientation. So you can choose whether the stirrer moves the material up-down, or down-up. I want the "L" = left variety that moves material up-down. Water in the bottom, plaster on top, then push the plaster into the water. Also very little danger of splashing.

Back to the mixer itself. It feels very solid and sturdy, and has some real power. Despite being called 1602/1600 it only has 1500 watts of power. I don't get that. Festool's MX 1000 and MX 1200 have 1000 and 1200 watts respectively. So why name this one 1600 and not 1500? Must be some odd marketing trick.

A few specs:

• Gears: 2
• Weight: 6,8 kilo
• RPM: Gear 1 = 150-300, Gear 2 = 320-650
• Can stir up to 90 liters of material, 4 standard bags of 25 kg

When you turn it on you just feel you have a very powerful machine in your hand. It feels like it won't stop for anything. It also does not sound like most powertools, but more like a leaf blower, or perhaps even a jet engine. It has a low RPM but blows out quite a bit of air, there's a powerful cooling fan in there.

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As you can see in the picture above, it has 4 orange buttons which indicate action.

• A throttle on the bottom of the right handle to control the RPM of the machine.
• A max RPM knob on the front.
• A gear selector on the side which gives you two gears.
• And on the bottom the locking mechanism for the stirrer rod.

With the double gears you can start out in the lowest for powerful mixing of the raw components, and go into the higher gear when it is half way mixed and finish quicker.

The locking mechanism for the stirrer is one of the things that makes this machine more special in the Festool way then those of the competition, it has a small rod - 767921 Adapter AD-EF-M14/80 ERGOFIX - with indents which you can lock in 5 different places to adjust the total height to your own personal height for the best ergonomical performance. I have not seen this in any other mixer from any other brand.

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You screw this on the M14 thread of the stirrer.

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And then stick it into the orange collar which locks it in place. You slide the collar up to unlock it again.

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The main RPM knob. With 3 options to set the speed (gear, throttle, RPM knob) you can control the speed and force of rotation very precisely.

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And the gear switch in its two positions. 150-300 & 320-650.

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And a few more pictures. It comes with a fixed cord, and no Plug-It cord. I like that. The Plug-It cord has its advantages when you work with tools connected to a vac, but not necessary for all tools.

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And when you compare the stirrer for this mixer to the ones I used with my drill, what a difference.

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Unfortunately I can not use it yet, it has the wrong stirrer. I have to order the proper one, and this can take 1 or 2 weeks. I am going to sell the one that came with it, so I'll keep it in new, unused state. I'll update this review later when I've used it, but meh, how many ways can you paddle in a bucket ...... 

 

[FestitaMakool]

Nice find, at a very good price.
While I don’t envy you.. concrete and plaster is the worst I do. But it certainly helps with the right tool for the job.

Speaking of; I have a small concrete mixer which will be a godsend very soon because I’ll have to make a new foundation for my new front door as the old wood serving as bottom sill only needed my bare hands to be removed, no saws where worn during removal  [eek]

 

[pingvinlakrits]

Alex, how are you finding the stirrer?

Over here in Sweden one of the larger vendors have stopped selling them, saying they don't hold up well. He got too many in for repair and sells large volumes to larger contractors and will not risk losing their faith in his products and he refuses to sell stirrers that he can't vouch for and stand by.

He mainly sells Eibenstock mixers and apparently he has sold over 150 of them and over the years only had TWO in for repair: one with a ripped cord (customer fault, goodwill replaced) and one with a sticky on/off switch, easily fixed.

I mix with my Hikoki Multivolt hammerdrill (I know...) but if I had to mix more I would get me an Eibenstock for sure.

 

[AlexThePalex]

Henrik, I have not had a chance to use it yet, I got it in yesterday, and it came with the wrong stirrer/mixing paddle. I guess it might take some time to order the proper one I want, all the dealers I've visited tell me things are extra slow now due to corona. I've just been 3 months in Germany for a job and I can tell first hand the Germans almost completely closed down their country.

As for the quality of this machine, like I said above, it feels VERY solid and powerful when I hold it and run the motor. I don't know if your dealer also meant to include this particular mixer, but from what I've seen in the store of the smaller Festool types like the MX 1000 and MX 1200, what he said might be true. Those two mixers felt very weakly constructed, like it was just an empty shell of plastic with zero content.

I don't know Eibenstock as a brand, haven't seen them over here, and I looked in many places. Most popular professional mixers here seem to be Collomix and Swinko.  The Collomix look very solid but they're very expensive.

Until now I've also always used my drill to mix materials, but that only works with buckets of 12 and maybe 20 liters. Now I have to plaster half my house I need to be able to mix two 25 kg bags at once in a 45 liter bucket and then the drill is just too small.

 

[Cheese]

Two observations:

That Festool mixing paddle is really strange looking, never seen anything like it. Would that be used for paints?

The ergonomics of the mixer head itself reminds me of a 1-person earth auger, even the paddle speeds are similar to auger speeds.  [smile]

 

[AlexThePalex]

That Festool mixing paddle is really strange looking, never seen anything like it. Would that be used for paints?

They say it is for liquids. I guess the spirals create the kind of whirls that are good to solve the solids that have sunken to the bottom.

The ergonomics of the mixer head itself reminds me of a 1-person earth auger, even the paddle speeds are similar to auger speeds.  [smile]

Same stance indeed, so similar tools.

 

[FestitaMakool]

I happened to see an used Eibenstock mixer for sale here today, pricey tools.. looks industrial and uses square tubes for the frame and handles. Look very similar to yours Alex, apart from the tubing. Not in the kind of price bracket for occasional use.

 

[leakyroof]

That Festool mixing paddle is really strange looking, never seen anything like it. Would that be used for paints?

They say it is for liquids. I guess the spirals create the kind of whirls that are good to solve the solids that have sunken to the bottom.

The ergonomics of the mixer head itself reminds me of a 1-person earth auger, even the paddle speeds are similar to auger speeds.  [smile]

Same stance indeed, so similar tools.

  Nice score Alex, we only get the Single Speed Mixer over here, which I own, and store in a Sys5.  I modified the driving shaft to take a seriously HD shaft coupler, which allowed me to cut one of the mixer blade shafts shorter for storage fitting, allowing it to fit in the SYS 5 , while the Tool easily turns the joined blade sections with the Coupler tightened, and no loss of drive or runout on the shaft since the Coupler I used is rated for motor shafts turning more power and faster than my Mixer will ever see.
I think I posted a thread about it here on FOG.  As you noted, even the smaller mixers are better than a D handled drill or regular low geared electric drill for heavy mixing.  Less turing too.
I really like the height adjustment of the Festool Shaft Coupler, so it's not a One Tool Fits Everyone set-up like using my drill was.
You won't think that the small amount of length adjustment could help your back with ergonomics when using the Mixers ,but it really does once you dial it in for your comfort level of where you stand with the mixer.
Here's my post from 2018, with pictures of that 14mm shaft coupler that I bought .  Wow, 2 years have gone by already... [blink]
https://www.festoolownersgroup.com/...er-pictures-and-thoughts/msg543035/#msg543035

 

[AlexThePalex]

Thanks leaky, I didn't know you had one, when I was researching mixers on the net I didn't bother to look here on the FOG as I could not remember having read anything about them here and I just assumed it was one of those NAINA tools. Should have done a search, I would certainly have pm'd you with some questions before I bought mine.

Can't believe you cut the drive shaft of the mixing paddle though, seems to me like an inconvenience to work with, just for storage. I can live with tools not being in systainers. Doesn't that coupler and its screws get full of compound? Doesn't that make it difficult to clean and operate?

How do you think your mixer holds up, can you find yourself in what Henrik says above?

 

[six-point socket II]

Thanks for sharing your hunt and first in-depth impressions with us, Alex! Highly appreciated!

I wouldn't worry too much about the quality/ it holding up because you seem to be very well informed and you will use the right stirrers for the material you work with.

Most failures on these happen because people are lazy, and use whatever stirrer is installed simply for everything. And if that happens to be the one that came as scope of supply on your used machine, using it in plaster, or worse concrete (or even screed ...) it would put incredible stress on the machine, and in the end the motor is destroyed/fried.

Watch other people's machines, if there is a lot of caking around the "chuck" you know they never change the stirrer. They just put the "basket" in a bucket full of water, let it spin for a minute and it's considered clean.

Speaking of Eibenstock, high quality machines, lot of history back to 1919.

They managed to further succeed after the iron curtain/ Berlin wall came down as they were physically located in the "GDR" back then.

->https://www.eibenstock.com/en/business/about-us/history

Kind regards,
Oliver

 

[leakyroof]

Thanks leaky, I didn't know you had one, when I was researching mixers on the net I didn't bother to look here on the FOG as I could not remember having read anything about them here and I just assumed it was one of those NAINA tools. Should have done a search, I would certainly have pm'd you with some questions before I bought mine.

Can't believe you cut the drive shaft of the mixing paddle though, seems to me like an inconvenience to work with, just for storage. I can live with tools not being in systainers. Doesn't that coupler and its screws get full of compound? Doesn't that make it difficult to clean and operate?

How do you think your mixer holds up, can you find yourself in what Henrik says above?

. Mine is a lighter duty model, lacking that 2 speed gearbox, so as long as I don’t push it, it will hopefully be fine.
The coupler has worked well, it’s stainless steel, so no issues with rust or cleaning.
I’ve only modified one shaft and one blade anyway, and have a spare stock shaft to run the other ,rarely used blades that I bought with the machine.
Henrik and I talked about the issues his friend had run into, and that other brand as well.
Interesting info. It would also interesting to hear how the tool repair of Festool mixers here in the US is going , since we only have the one model.

 

[yetihunter]

I’m always intrigued by international price variances between brands.  Here in the states, we only have one Festool mixer, the MX 1200, and the comparable Collomix and Eibenstock units are 25% cheaper.  I’m attracted to the height adjustment of the Festool but for the price of that all plastic handle model, I can buy the 1600 watt Eibenstock. 

EDIT: For the bettership of the fellowship of ‘muricans that read this some day at some point, the Eibenstock products here are sometimes only advertised as CS Unitec.  CS Unitec also has some rebranded Starmix and Eisenblätter products (and a random Flex grinder that isn’t one of the cheap Chinese models we otherwise only have access to).

 

[Danie]

Alex, I have been waiting very patiently for the promised update on your review. Have you managed to find the correct mixing paddle yet? The first part of your review inspired me to order the Festool MX 1600/2 E EF HS3R 768009 on 15 October 2020 from an online supplier in South Africa. I paid the full amount because I assumed they had stock. However, I was informed that the ETA would be 13 November. This has now been delayed to 29 December!

Alex mentioned that the lockdown had had an impact then on the supplying network of Festool. Is this perhaps still the case? If so, has Festool informed their loyal customers that they could expect delays?

Greetings from Cape Town
Daniel