Why isn't the CT26 Dust Extractor's receptacle "hot"?

[Iwood75]

I was about to cut 28, 1"x1" wood pieces on my Kapex. Since I would be starting/stopping the saw many times – and wait each time for the vac to get up to speed – I selected "manual" on to let it run continuously for this brief session. (Read here that many of you use this "constant-on" procedure to save wear and tear on the vac switch and it made perfect sense to me.) However, I was surprised to discover that, in the manual mode, its receptacle is NOT hot. So, I would have to plug the saw in elsewhere. Well, I don't have another receptacle that the Kapex cord will reach. What's the Festool reasoning for wiring it this way? It makes no sense to me. Or, is something wrong with my vac?

 

[mastercabman]

Nothing wrong with the vac,just the way it is.I do not know why it is not hot in manual mode.

 

[tjbnwi]

Vac is fine. All 3 of mine work that way. I think it's in the manual.

Tom

 

[leakyroof]

My totally wild guess is safety. If you had something that could turn on accidently with the switch turned to manual[and that live outlet that you want] then you could have a runaway tool a good few feet away from the vac, and you. With Auto, Festool is probably betting that YOU are in control of the tool, and the request for power is safer as a result. This does NOT take into account someone who jammed the ON switch /lock button in their tool, and THEN plugged it into the Vac while it's in the AUTO setting.  THAT would be interesting.. [eek]

 

[Iwood75]

Thanks for your replies. I am glad to know there's nothing wrong with my vac.

Leakyroof, your wild guess as to Festool's reasoning might be right-on, but what a highly improbable scenario.

Guess I won't be using the "constant-on" idea. With my shop layout, it's just too inconvenient.  javascript:void (0)

 

[Iwood75]

Sorry ... dragged an emoticon into my post but obviously it didn't work. Is it a "Mac Thing" or did I do it wrong?

 

[Administrator_JSVN]

Sorry ... dragged an emoticon into my post but obviously it didn't work. Is it a "Mac Thing" or did I do it wrong?

Don't drag it, just click it (the emoticon), to insert it.  [wink]

 

[Iwood75]

Got it! Thanks Shane.

 

[Frank-Jan]

Just for info: with the 220v version of the ctl26 the receptacle does have power in manual mode (not so for the older ct's)

 

[Iwood75]

Interesting...?  Mine is only a little over a year old. Maybe it's a U.S. Underwriters Lab  thing.

 

[neeleman]

In Europe you can get a second receptacle for the CTL26 which is always HOT (496142) and can be installed next to the standard receptacle.
There is also another version which is an auto-switch receptacle (496405) for connecting a second machine.
But I cannot find them on the USA or UK website so the 110V version may not exist or NAINA?

 

[semenza]

All the extra receptacles and other variants of the CT line are NAINA.

Seth

 

[JayStPeter]

I never would've thought that.  My Fein is always hot.  The Fein is getting old (12+ years, since before Festool was in the US) and starting to make noises that concern me a bit.  My plan has been to replace with a Festool when it dies.  But, I honestly use the always hot feature of that plug a lot.