RS 2 E

I'm finally getting ready to install the pigtail I got from Gary and according to his post there's an extra nub in the adapter that needs to be sliced out.  Ok, but which one?

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Carl
 
If you are referring to the nub that protrudes towards the center from between the two pin holes, I believe that nub is there to prevent inadvertent coupling of a Plug-It cord that is of lower amperage rating, which is a possibility in USA and other countries that use ~120 VAC current.  The Plug-It cords supplied with my small sanders will not fit my TS saw or 1400 router, but the cords supplied with them will fit those sanders.  So be careful which Plug-It connectors and cords you use with which tools.  In my shop I simply set up my Boom Arm with one of the heavier duty rated Plug-It cords (with the nib) and use it for all my Festools.

Dave R.
 
woodgeek said:
I'm finally getting ready to install the pigtail I got from Gary and according to his post there's an extra nub in the adapter that needs to be sliced out.  Ok, but which one?

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Carl

Carl,

If you try to plug in the cord, it will be more obvious, but is the nub between the two "ears" that are the same size, i.e. not the side with the one longer "ear".

Sorry, I don't know what else what to call it.
 
By the way the blue lead is "hot", brown is neutral

It should not make too much difference since the tools are double insulated, however be careful, the above statement is incorrect.

In EU, Blue wire is neutral and Brown wire is Live (ie hot).

John

 
CO_JCD said:
By the way the blue lead is "hot", brown is neutral

It should not make too much difference since the tools are double insulated, however be careful, the above statement is incorrect.

In EU, Blue wire is neutral and Brown wire is Live (ie hot).

John

That's good, cause that's how I connected them (my thought was that brown was closer to black, which is hot on this side of the pond)
 
Same here.  I used the brown as "hot", too, because it seemed closer to black.

Rom
 
In EU, Blue wire is neutral and Brown wire is Live (ie hot).

I wasn't sure about the color coding so I plugged the adaptor into the power cord, plugged the power cord into the outlet,waved my magic wand over the leads and got this:

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Hard to see (phone picture) but the blue wire is carrying current, not the brown.

Mike
 
this thread is beginning to remind me of the old joke about the thermos bottle:

"it keeps cold things cold and hot things hot. . .but how do it know?"
 
Does it really make any difference since it is alternating current (AC)?
 
I for one am prepared to continue beating this dead horse.  If we want to wire the tool as per Festool specs, we should get the wiring right.  Of course, anyone who cuts off the wrong tab on the pigtail can just reverse it again when wiring the tool so that the hot lead from the pigtail connects where it is supposed to within the tool.

John (CO_JCD) is correct in that the brown lead should be hot and the blue lead common.  This holds for the UK and Europe.

The hot/live wire should be the Festool brown connecting to the U.S. black.  The neutral/common wire should be the Festool blue connecting to the U.S. white.

Looking at the female end of a standard U.S. Festool Plug-it power cord, holding the connector with the nub pointing up and the valley at the bottom, the left hand hole is the common and the right hand hole is live.

On the plug-it Festool No. 494910 pigtail, the hole with the large "ears" is live and is connected to the brown lead.

To get the pigtail to line up correctly, I had to clip the opposite nub as suggested by Garry (with two Rs).  Using Garry's excellent description of nubs, the nub I had to remove is the one between the longer and short "ears".  I did NOT cut the nub between the two "ears" that are the same size.

We each will find our own process, but I used a 1/8 inch (3mm) chisel to cut out the nub and then used a 2mm veiner carving chisel to cut the notch wanted by the connector on the Plug-It power cord.

Gary
 
Gary,

Of course, anyone who cuts off the wrong tab on the pigtail can just reverse it again when wiring the tool

I didn't cut off any nubs. I bought my plug-it adaptors months ago. Perhaps another reason Festool doesn't want these imported is because the color code is not correct for the USA.

Are you saying I should carve up the connector to get the colors right? ???

Don,

Does it really make any difference since it is alternating current (AC)?
Wired either way it will still work.

If you hook it up backwards you are just breaking the neutral wire with the switch. The tool will be energised whenever it is plugged in. If the circuit is completed somehow (with say a short to ground) the tool will run. If you are in the circuit between the tool and ground you will get zapped. Code wants the tool to have no electric potential when the switch is off.
As pointed out earlier the tool is double insulated so this is unlikely.

Mike
 
Mike,

You, Nick and others bought pigtails that didn't need any modifications.  If you have the part number, please share it.  I ordered from the fine sellers in the UK referenced by Nick, perhaps via personal email.  The part  the Brits sold me is 494910.  The label on the package notes it is intended for GB 110 V.

Gary
 
OK, Apologies to the brown lead fan club. :'( I just checked all my plug-it pigtails.

One had the blue lead hot, three had the brown lead hot. Initially I only check the oddball.

So you might want to check the ones you get also. Easy way to check is wave a non-contact electric field tester($12 at Home Depot) over the tool. Three of my tools buzzed :o

I will get back with the plug-it part number.

Sorry for the confusion,
Mike
 
If you hook it up backwards you are just breaking the neutral wire with the switch. The tool will be energised whenever it is plugged in.

OK, more incorrect stuff. Festool uses double pole single throw switches. This breaks the circuit on the power and neutral at the same time. 8) So even if you hook it up wrong the tool won't be "hot".

It still might matter for the speed control. Not sure.

Gary,

The part number I got is 491 145.

Mike
 
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