Stiff CT cords, replace entirely or use pig tail?

[Tom the Remodeler]

Hi there gang! Wow, I just looked, it's been over 2.5 years since I last posted?!? Wow.....

Anyways, I've run into what I'm going to characterize as more of an "Issue" than a "Problem", but this seemed like the best place to post it.

I have a CT-Midi and a CT-26, previously I've owned a CT-36 (stolen in September) and a CT-22 (sold to make room for the CT-36). Something that I've been really underwhelmed about the Festool dust extractors is the power cords. Granted, yes, they're 25' long and heavy gauge, but the quality of the cord leaves much to be desired when used in the cold. They are simply too stiff to quickly roll and store in the Hose Garage when temperatures drop below 30 degrees, particularly when I compare them to my nice extension cords that are nice and supple down to below zero. To better fit in my van, I removed the rear cord hooks on my CT-26 and am currently storing the cord in the hose garage.

I am currently working on re-siding 5 townhouses with 4'x9' sheets of James Hardie. After we complete the town houses we will be residing ALL of the garages, which means another 1,250 sheets of Hardie. I am using my CT-26 to extract the dust as I cut the sheets. Based on the amount of work to do, I am going to be working on this job until the late Spring. So, that means all the rest of this Winter I will be trying to wind and unwind this stiff cord in potentially sub-zero temperatures. I've been doing this for three days and I'm sick to death of it already, and want to come up with a satisfactory solution.

So, I have two ideas, and would like some feedback.

Option 1: Pig Tail. Cut down my existing cord to roughly 12", just enough to tuck up into the garage, and simply store a 25' 12 gauge contractor-quality extension cord in the garage in lieu of the factory cord. Advantages that I see are I can potentially avoid opening the CT and messing around with the electrical internals. Also, disconnecting the extension cord might make it easier to wrap up? The biggest Con I see with this plan is someone might swipe the extension cord for another purpose, but I usually work alone and RARELY allow others to handle my tools, so not likely....

Option 2: Completely replace Festool cord with Contractor quality cord. This would involve opening the CT and completely replacing the cord. This might be nice to still have the whole works hard wired?....

Anyways, I would greatly appreciate any input you may have. Thanks and have a GREAT day!
Best,
Tom

 

[danrush]

Tom, good to see you again.

I've actually completed both fixes you propose.  I rewired my ct mini with a more user friendly cord (longer and more flexible), the mini is the vac I take in finished homes.

The (2) ct22's cords were lopped off at about 24", or so. I left them a bit longer so that when I can set them up next to an outlet, I can still position the vac as needed. (although they are almost always on an extension cord)

I really haven't regretted either operation, and will perform the remedies again with the next vacs.

Dan

Sent from my SGH-T849 using Tapatalk

 

[peter halle]

Tom!  Welcome back buddy!

Dan has given an option but please keep in mind that he loves sharp knives and axes.  Please don't ask him for a picture  [poke] showing his modification.

Peter

 

[danrush]

Well Peter, it may surprise you, but I DO have pics of my mods. (i just can't seem to download them from my Brownie...
Dan

Sent from my SGH-T849 using Tapatalk

 

[peter halle]

Well Peter, it may surprise you, but I DO have pics of my mods. (i just can't seem to download them from my Brownie...
Dan

Sent from my SGH-T849 using Tapatalk

LOL!  Stay well my friend!

Peter

 

[Tom the Remodeler]

Hi fellas, thanks for the quick responses!!

I think that I'll open up my CT-26 and just rewire it with a good contractor grade 25' 12 gauge cord.

I feel bad, I don't mean to return from a 2.5 year absence and start griping right away, but I guess no news was good news?  [wink]

Yeah, my Sprinter was stolen in September and they cleaned out ALL of my tools. Luckily everything (well, all of my power tools) was insured, and the police even recovered some of my Festools, including my Kapex and my Domino (the older version with the pins).

When I get around to modding my CT's I'll post again with pics. Does anybody else have any input before my '26 goes "under the knife" this weekend?
Thanks!
Tom

 

[greenMonster]

I wouldn't mind seeing the pigtail mod

I especially like the idea with the mini as I find it tedious stuffing everything into the hose garage...I wouldn't mind having a pigtail on the hose either.

 

[Tom the Remodeler]

Ok, so this morning I swapped cords. I used a really good quality contractor cord that I know to be flexible down to well below 0 degrees F. I was surprised to find that I actually needed to crimp on Female Disconnects to the wire ends, as the CT-26 has blades sticking out of the board in lieu of terminals you would screw the wires into.

Anyways, I'll post feedback in a week or so. Thanks for your input!
Best,
Tom

 

[Samo]

Hey Tom,

Thanks for posting.....Need to redo a Midi.  Any advice or pic's on that one?

Sam  [unsure]

 

[mastercabman]

I don't understand.Why not roll up and tie the vac cord to the vac and then use your extention cord?
Why does everybody have to make thing so complicated?

 

[ajones]

I don't understand.Why not roll up and tie the vac cord to the vac and then use your extention cord?
Why does everybody have to make thing so complicated?

coiled power leads are not a good idea especially under heavy loads

 

[mastercabman]

I don't understand.Why not roll up and tie the vac cord to the vac and then use your extention cord?
Why does everybody have to make thing so complicated?

coiled power leads are not a good idea especially under heavy loads

Who told you that?

 

[Brice Burrell]

I don't understand.Why not roll up and tie the vac cord to the vac and then use your extention cord?
Why does everybody have to make thing so complicated?

coiled power leads are not a good idea especially under heavy loads

Who told you that?

There is some debate about this.  I believe the issue is a coiled cord dissipates less heat.  Because the coils are laying on top of each other, they are essentially heating themselves.  When straightened out the cord is freely to dissipate the heat in the surrounding air.  This is really only an issue under sustained heavy loads.  The heavy gauge cord on the Festool vacs isn't to likely melt (or catch on fire) from being coiled but the possibility is certainly (in theory, if nothing else.)

I happen to leave my vac cords coiled almost the time so I don't have to coil them back up when I'm done.  No melting (or fire) yet.  I know they often take a lot of abuse around here, but in this case we can thanks the good folks at UL for keeping us safe.       

 

[ajones]

I don't understand.Why not roll up and tie the vac cord to the vac and then use your extention cord?
Why does everybody have to make thing so complicated?

coiled power leads are not a good idea especially under heavy loads

Who told you that?

It was some old boy called faraday

 

[Rick Christopherson]

Brice's description is correct. However, this topic is an issue primarily only for cord reels. With a cord reel, the cord is left in a tight packing around the drum and heat from the inner wraps cannot dissipate as quickly as needed. As was mentioned, this is an issue when the cord is under a heavy load. However, it can also happen if the cord is very tightly wound and even a light load for prolonged time (like permanent). It is more of an issue for the long term loads.

This is not as applicable to a wrapped cord hanging from a wall hook or sitting on the floor. The wraps are loose enough that the cord dissipates heat just fine. Leaving a cord wrapped around the top of a CT mini, for example, is not going to pose a problem unless the vac is running for a very long time.

It was some old boy called faraday

I assume this is a reference to Faraday's Law of Induction. Unfortunately, this is one of the greatest reasons why this myth perpetuates. It presents a false concept that to some, is very believable. First off, even if present, induction will not produce heating in the cord. The energy of induction is expended in the magnetic field, not the windings of the copper. That's why we have powerfactor. Reactive devices (inductors and capacitors) expend apparent power, not real power. Resistive devices expend real power. The resistive element of the cord does not change with its shape. It is the resistivity of the copper.

More importantly, there cannot be any inductive effects in a power cord, because the power cord consists of two wires with opposing currents. The current from one wire cancels the inductive effect of the current from the other wire. The net effect is zero inductance on the cord. This is the reason why the National Electrical Code mandates that all wires of a circuit are run through a single conduit. If they were separated, then inductive effects would be present with the conduit.

 

[mastercabman]

Thank you Rick,i could not have said it better.
I have left cords roll up and use them with no problems.Sometime i use a 100' cord and only need to 30' so i leave the remain roll up.I have seen many,many people using extention cords that way and never heard of an overheat or fire.