RO 150 plug-it design fault

[Brice Burrell]

So a Festool employee is recommending changing the plug it with a hard-wire kit because the plug its are crap? I find it hard to believe that is Festool sanctioned. The guy should be fired.  That's not a very smart Festool employee or boss to let him say such a thing. I mean come on, that is one of the selling points.

Sending out a new and improved plug it connection would make much more sense.

I'm sometimes amazed at how people can take a post and jump to wild conclusions.  I'm pretty sure this guy never said the Plug-It is crap or even meant to imply it.  There just happens to be a percentage of users that use these sanders to the extreme.  With this kind of extreme use the Plug-It may not hold up as well as the rest of the sander.  I'm fairly sure the hard wire kit is a genuine Festool part so it is "sanctioned". 

So here's my take on the hard wire kit, I say good for Festool for having a solution for a relatively small number of extreme user.         

 

[Nigel]

You might be right but I wouldn't consider myself an extreme user. What would be considered extreme? My RO 150 doesn't get used every single day and when it does get used it's for maybe a couple of hours at the most.It is an industrially rated machine after all.

 

[nickao]

Hey think what you want.

I never had an issue with my plug it and I highly doubt many use or abuse an RO150 like I do.

I never said they were crap, but many posts here are saying it in so many words. I am saying that this Festool employee and Festool letting this happen from my perspective is wrong and to me makes it seem like this salesman himself thinks the Festool plug its are crap. How can I take it any other way? What should happen is the guy should say hey here is a super duty plug it we have designed , not disregard one of the selling points of the tool altogether.

If a 500.00 sander can not take the most extreme use any person can give it then its not worth 500.00. I feel Festool offering up a solution that goes against it's faster, simpler , smarter sales pitch is absolutely wrong and is a defeatist position admitting this item is crap. If it was a one off they would just say sorry here is another plug it, but this specific salesman or rep must have heard many,many stories leading him to believe that something other than what Festool advertises and normally sells stock was the fix.

And I can believe you took what I said in my post how you took it. That amazes me as you know I am one of the biggest Festool RO150 proponents on this site. It all the other posts saying these plug its are burning that are saying the plug its are crap, not me.

The pads falling apart with barley no use, plug it's burning up, this is ridiculous and its NOT dues to a few heavy users, its not! It is hit or miss and has nothing to do with the tool use. Read the posts, some of these guys have not used the tool much at all.

I like my Festools , but they dropped the ball if they are sanctioning and handing out non plug it fixes. It's funny, I use the word crap and Festool in a sentence but everything else I said is not read. Yes, if these plug its are burning up like this then they are crap, they certainly are not good.

And again mine has never had an issue on any of the 8 Festool sanders I have had, still I think Festool needs to get to the bottom of this or make a redesign.

 

[nehardwoodfloors]

So a Festool employee is recommending changing the plug it with a hard-wire kit because the plug its are crap? I find it hard to believe that is Festool sanctioned. The guy should be fired.  That's not a very smart Festool employee or boss to let him say such a thing. I mean come on, that is one of the selling points.

Sending out a new and improved plug it connection would make much more sense.

I'm sometimes amazed at how people can take a post and jump to wild conclusions.  I'm pretty sure this guy never said the Plug-It is crap or even meant to imply it.  There just happens to be a percentage of users that use these sanders to the extreme.  With this kind of extreme use the Plug-It may not hold up as well as the rest of the sander.  I'm fairly sure the hard wire kit is a genuine Festool part so it is "sanctioned". 

So here's my take on the hard wire kit, I say good for Festool for having a solution for a relatively small number of extreme user.         

AMEN. Really its not a crap design as we all know. Its just for me, the hardwire makes sense.
Its like the carvex. Crap it is not. Flawed, maybe and I also thank Festool for once again supporting their customers!

 

[nehardwoodfloors]

Dovetail
The worker was going to send out a new recepticle for the plug it. I inquired about the hardwire kit. He did not mention until I asked.
Weak link for some, yes, a great time saver for others as well!

 

[imaginarynumber]

You might be right but I wouldn't consider myself an extreme user. What would be considered extreme? My RO 150 doesn't get used every single day and when it does get used it's for maybe a couple of hours at the most.It is an industrially rated machine after all.

Everyone of my festool plug-it compatible devices has been "damaged" by the poor quality/design of the plug it connections. 

One of the biggest problems is that you can't clean the carbon off the male pins, meaning that if an employee uses a contaminated lead on a new tool, that tool then becomes contaminated.

TBF to festool they have offered to take back and repair the tools but I can't afford to be left without any tools whilst the repairs are conducted and I am painfully aware that the problem will occur again.

In the past I have had to wedge bits of Twin and Earth into the female socket to aid the conductivity and then forbid anyone to undo the connections.

Festool make great products but are unnervingly Apple-esque in their unwillingness to admit that they make mistakes. I first discovered this when the first generation of antistatic hoses with the integrated plug-its kept coming undone, exposing the live wiring. Pretty much everyone of the european festool employees told me i was mad and to feck off. The only person that was willing to help was Christian Oltzscher but his hands were pretty much tied because the hoses didn't exist in the USA at the time.

After a number of months I was forced to report Festool to Trading Standards, they walked into Minden's offices and picked up one of the hoses and proceeded to undo the nut on the underside of the plug-it connection with their fingers. With the authorities now involved Festool finally decided to do something about it

 

[Nigel]

I know what you mean, it'll breakdown right when you need it the most.

There is a simple solution though,at least for the RO 150. Buy a spare socket at 5 or 6 quid and you're ready for the breakdown - it's unbelievably easy to change.I don't know but I would imagine the other tools are just as easy. Don't forget to dump the cord to avoid infection.

I keep meaning to find out if all the sockets are the same for all the tools. Anyone know?

 

[jonny round boy]

I keep meaning to find out if all the sockets are the same for all the tools. Anyone know?

I think that the plastic part is the same, but there are a few different codes listed for different lengths of flying leads attached.

 

[counterfix]

i have replaced many of these all on ro 150 s its a simple maintenance issue there inexpensive item however the cords are not .so you should check the electrodes  frequently they get thinner with prolonged use thus losing  there connection .as Tool home can tell you i buy them in multiples i have 7 ro 150 and this has happen to them all and i wouldn't change a thing on them they are still the best out there

 

[Nigel]

I keep meaning to find out if all the sockets are the same for all the tools. Anyone know?

I think that the plastic part is the same, but there are a few different codes listed for different lengths of flying leads attached.

Yeah that makes sense. Thanks JRB.

 

[Jdeadwyler]

Rolex 150 used moderately. Replaced one plug 1.5 years ago and now have 2 more gone. Per the notice on the website, I will call service and find out what the issue is and how to resolve it. I have, like others,  been diligent to seed the cord correctly and twist it all the way. It is a amazing system but the plug issue is definitely a manufacture issue in my non professional opinion.

 

[leakyroof]

Did you see the post from 2012 about hardwiring a new cord into the Sander?  You lose the Plug-It connection, but are locked into the tool with no pins to work loose on you. After reading this thread, I'm liking my few Festool sanders that are hardwired from the Factory a bit more..... [cool]

 

[AlexThePalex]

I agree that the entire design of the plug-it cord has an inherent weakness to it. They should have made all the connectors stronger. But I bet Festool likes it like now, people keep on shelling out money for new cords and connectors, me included.

Some cords or sockets of my tools are broken after hardly a year. Others, like my RO150 are still good after 8 years. It's a bit of a lottery, but if you have more tools, some will certainly fail eventually. The rate is much too high compared to other brands