Auto-Starting Shop Vacuums

[Bruce Page]

Bruce, the Fein Turbo III has about a 2.5-inch hose. My Turbo II has a 1.5-inch hose and no bypass ports. Maybe the smaller motor doesn't warrant any vacuum control. Who knows?

But that's why Festool added a variable speed device to their vacuum units.

Gary

Gary, I guess that explains why you couldn’t find them. I foolishly assumed that they would be the same.

[Brian Dormer]

The BIG problem with an auto-start vac is that the vac is drawing some current - AND the tool is drawing current. For a jig saw or such - no big deal. But even on a 20 amp circuit - you'll be hard pressed to run your TS and a vac off the same circuit without popping the breaker. Same with a big router or CMS. You're just trying to draw too many amps. Been there, done that.

I took the approach of putting a pneumatic foot switch on the vac. I step on an air bulb - the vac goes on. I make dust - let the vac suck everything up. Another tap with my foot and the vac is off. I run tools off one circuit and the vac (actually a 3/4hp DC) off another circuit.

I wanted a radio-control switch (like a garage door clicker) but Woodcraft didn't have them in stock - so I ended up with the pneumatic switch and (other than occasional tangles with the little air hose), I'm pretty happy with the setup.

[Dennis Reardon]

you could post a picture of that getup? My shop is so small I use a shopvac permanently mounted in the corner and a couple lengths of hoses. If I could mount one of those swithes on the wall beside the vac my life would be a lot easier.


Dennis

[Matt Lentzner]

Does anyone have or know anything about the Bosch? It has a lot of neat features (power management - no tripped breakers, auto cleaning filters), but I cannot find [i]anything[\i] about it online except the marketing info that Bosch puts out - usually not a good sign.

[Brian Dormer]

you could post a picture of that getup? My shop is so small I use a shopvac permanently mounted in the corner and a couple lengths of hoses. If I could mount one of those swithes on the wall beside the vac my life would be a lot easier.
Dennis

Dennis -
Take a look at this:

http://www.amazon.com/Delta-40-050-L...8384272&sr=8-6

That's the exact gizmo that I have. Although I haven't done it - you can supposedly extend the hose up to 100 feet (you supply the longer hose).

[Jason White]

I have the CT22 and it's great, but doesn't connect perfectly to "all" of my tools. It does connect perfectly to the Festool tools, however,

If I didn't own a single Festool machine, I'd go with the Fein. It's cheaper and, from what I hear, a wonderful dust collector/vacuum. Also quieter than a lot of cheap shop-vacs.

JW

After some prodding by the LOML, I've decided to stop spraying sawdust all over my garage. After doing a little research I've found vacuums that auto-start with the tool from Fein (the best reputation), PC, and Bosch. I also think that Festool has their own version, but I don't know how it works with non-Festool tools.

What do you use? What size (gallons)? and what are your impressions?

Thanks in advance,

Matt

[Gary Curtis]

If I didn't own a Fein, the Festool would be my top choice. The way Festool allows you to stack Systainers on top of the Vac is ingenious. They have really thought this stuff through. Even the way the support and fasten hoses puts everything else to shame.

I have a problem with my concerning my shop Vac. She prefers it to vacuum the house.

Gary Curtis

[Gary Curtis]

Matt, I'm sorry we more or less got off track with an answer to you. You were worried about current load for a vacuum and a power tool run through the auto-start connector.

According to the literature on my Fein Turbo II, the vacuum draws 9amps and can accommodate a 19 amp remote tool. I believe those numbers reflect start-up electric loads rather than constant. Most household circuits are 20 amp and I've never had difficulty tripping breakers with this equipment.

To check out something a little heavier, I plugged my brand new Milwaukee 5616 2.5hp Router into my vacuum. No problems. I was going to try the same thing with my 3.25hp DeWalt router, but it's mounted to a table.

The data sheets on this equipment will ease your concerns, and you can find them online if you want to investigate.

Gary Curtis

[Matt Meiser]

I have the Festool CT22 and love it. I use it with my Festool sander, a PC square pad sander, a PC circular saw, PC biscuit joiner, and Dewalt router. The stock hose fits all of the above tools perfectly and the auto start is great.

[Paul Dwight]

I have the Porter Cable vac and like it a lot. It has an auto-start switch that works perfectly with every tool I've tried, including a few times when I used my Festool circular saw to straight-line rip some 8/4 cherry. I also sometimes use the PC vac with my 14" bandsaw, and although I don't usually plug the BS in to the vac, it worked fine on the few occasions when I did.

I like the filter arrangement on the PC better than some other shop vacs. The PC's rectangular pleated paper filter sits up in the motor housing, instead of hanging down in the tank with all the dust and chips. The filter can be removed and replaced without ever opening the tank. It has a mechanism to agitate the filter pleats and knock off the cake, without removing the filter or opening the tank. Paper filter bags are fairly inexpensive and available at my local tool store.

On the down side, the PC is not quite as quiet as the Fein. The suction is OK but not great.

I also have a ShopVac ESP, one of their newer, quieter models. I have the ShopVac dedicated to my CMS until I get around to plumbing the CMS into my dust collection system. It lacks an auto-start feature but I use one of the Sears auto-start switches, which works fine. The ShopVac seems to have pretty good suction and I can walk into Lowes and buy paper filter bags at a good price any time I need them, which is convenient. It's a little louder than the PC, but overall it's a much nicer vacuum than I expected for the price. I've been thinking about buying another one to use for general cleanup, but the idea of owning -- and storing -- three shop vacs seems just wrong.

Hope this helps. -- Paul

[jason lambert]

I have both the Festool (CT-22) and Fein 9 gal (forget the model)
Short answer I would go with the Festool ct22 or ct33.

I like the Fein but it broke and required me to send it back to Fein for a whole new motor they said it couldn't handle sheet rock dust. Never had a issue with the Festool. The Fein did have a better stock hose it is a bit longer and wider than the Festool but the Festool you can get even a bigger hose and the hoses are antistatic. The Festool also has variable suction control but you will only use that with a sander and it rolls allot easer. Not sure what the person above is talking about unless he has a small Fein but my ct22 has big wheels and is close to the ground, my Fien everything is at the top and tends to tip it has small wheels and the hose pulls on the top of it. Also with the Festool you can get more accessories like the arm and the hose garage, grate for storage. The Fein I am never sure what to do with the hose when not in use.

Either one though is a grate vac though. I have had several and would stick with Fein and Festool.

[Dave Sabo]

WAP makes great triggered vacs too.

[Keith Outten]

I received a Woodcraft flyer in the mail yesterday, they have an I-Socket Vacuum Automator for $29.99 that has a 15 amp max load rating.

The Fein vacs have a bonus feature, they can be used for vacuum hold downs. You can make vacuum pucks and hold routing projects using the Fein vacs because the motor is cooled independently of the vacumm side.

.

[Charles McKinley]

No vents on my turbo 3 hose either, but it is a few years old now.

[Dan Clark]

The BIG problem with an auto-start vac is that the vac is drawing some current - AND the tool is drawing current. For a jig saw or such - no big deal. But even on a 20 amp circuit - you'll be hard pressed to run your TS and a vac off the same circuit without popping the breaker. Same with a big router or CMS. You're just trying to draw too many amps. Been there, done that.
...

Brian,

What vac are you using?

I've attached my Bosch 4410L SCMS to my Festool CT22. After months of using it like this, I've had only one instance of tripping the 15A breaker when autostarting the SCMS.

One issue with any power tool (including vacs) is that they use more current at startup. Some vacs start instantly when the tool starts. Result: max current draw simultaineously.

One advantage of the Festool vacs is that its autostart is delayed by a couple of seconds. I.e., when you hit the power switch on the tool, the tool starts and then a couple of seconds later the Festool Vac starts. The result is that the startup current for the tool and the vac does not occur at the same time.

The only current problem that I've had is when I use my Festool TS55 hooked to the Festool CT22 AND have a 750 watt work light on the same circuit. About 30% of the time, it will blow a 15A circuit breaker.

To solve this problem, I bought a flourescent work light that pumps about 600-700 watts of light but draws only 100 watts. Result: End of problem.

Regards,

Dan.