Fire! Festool CT22 vac

[John Gornall]

Depends of course on the code in your jurisdiction and the vintage of your building. Mine needed help.

I worry about fire and had an interesting conversation with my insurance guy. I suggested an automatic sprinkler system and he said he would cancel my insurance if installed. He said there's more insured damage from water with accidental sprinkler activations than fire damage. I then suggested a manual sprinkler system that could be turned on by valve if needed - he's going to get back to me on that.

[Anthony Whitesell]

I just came across this thread (now on page 3). From post #1 I had a feeling we would read that Festool would want to see the vac. Did you receive an RMA number along with the return label? If you have the RMA you should be able to follow up on the case. Even if they don't repair or replace, you may get to find out the cause.

I have experienced a vacuum burning up. It was a 110V dust buster style vacuum attached to a PCB milling machine. We attributed the problem to prolonged run times and lack of airflow. After attaching a new one with a new bag we noticed how quiet it was and quickly it grew loader and and got hotter. After changing bags, the noise and temperature dropped and then began to climb again. We believe the super fine dust we were vacuuming was plugging up the tiny bag (not much larger than a quart ziploc) and restricting airflow through the vacuum and at the same time making the motor work harder. We changed to a small shop vac with a cloth covered filter. We changed the cloth cover often and never had the problem again.

I hope you or they are able to let us know what went wrong. I'm sorry for them (and you) if it was an internal one-off issue. On the other hand, it may be something we (people of the WW community) should be aware of or diligent in doing to prevent this in the future.

[peter gagliardi]

I'm betting it's nothing to do with the vac. I hate to say it, but it most likely is caused by operated conditions. The vac drawing in fresh air just aggravated the hot, burnt chips from routing. IF the bit was really sharp, and IF there was zero metal, and IF the speed was dialed back, the only thing left is operator error in using way too slow a feed rate. All of this equipment is engineered and designed assuming proper use, and in that instance there is very little risk of this happening.
My guess is it is a combination of several factors- the bit was not truly sharp,sharp, the tool was spinning too fast, for the feed rate applied.
Too slow of a feed rate generates enormous heat, as evidenced by the burning you see.
To be fair, some operations simply cannot be done without some slight burning.
I have quite a few Festool products- some of them are excellent, some I should have left on the store shelf- poorly thought out and operationally deficient, but...
I think it is a bit unfair to publicly post something like this without all the facts- essentially throwing a good company- any company "under the bus" publicly without giving a chance for the investigation to run its course, and have a clearer picture of the facts.
I am glad however, that you were able to catch this without threat to life or limb before too late!

[Phil Thien]

Someone E-Mailed me a link to a picture on another site showing some embers from routing (I think it was maple). It was over at the bt3central.com site. A recent post I think, in a thread about cyclones vs. my separators.

[John Piwaron]

Who's throwing anyone under the bus? I reported what happened. Nothing more. I reprted the plain facts as they were. Next, had I *NOT* opened and dumped the contents of the bag, that vac would have smoldered for hours, possibly burning and melting out on my drive. I cast no blame on anyone.

I do have pictures of the damage. Taken the following day. I've not posted them pending a call or follow up from Festool.

I also have no expectations of anything as a result of this. The vac has gone back to Festool who will look at it and may or may not repair or replace. It *is* an expensive item, I hope they choose to give me a replacement.

[Mike Cutler]

John

You absolutely did not throw any company under a bus.
It would have stunned me if Festool did not want the vac returned for analysis.
In the end it could be any number of things, but to a company it represents liability to not understand the cause of the issue, even if it proves to not be their own. (I still believe it is a combination of Tungsten Carbide and the wood creating a hot particle, and the air flow just fanned it to a flame.)
I looked at the spark arrestors on their page and they seem to indicate that they are for metal work with their line of vacuums. They wouldn't appear to work with a router.
You did them, and other woodworkers a good service.
As a Festool owner. Thank You