I have a cord for my TS-75 (I think) That has a bad end on it. I have to bend it to make contact. I bought my tools at Woodworkers Source and they no longer sell Festool. I've been using it on my boom for about a year now. Is there a way to take the tool end apart? What should I do?

Bill, I would recommend you contact the service department.  They would be able to give you the best advice on how to handle that.  I have a feeling that they will advise against any user modification or attempts to repair.

By all means call thye service department.  But Shane might be wrong about the user repairs; the one time that I have had to call Festool service in the more than 5 years that I have used Festool tools, Dave actually talked me through the steps necessary to make a repair (to my circular saw). 

There was a forum thread on the Australian festool forums some time ago about a guy that did deck renovations and used his rotex for the parts he couldn't reach with his bigger sander. Because he used his rotex on his knees, he regularly snagged the cord and it (the plugit cord at the connection) broke often.  Conclusion was he got the accessory Johny round boy linked to. The plugit end of a regular plugit cord is molded on and can't be taken apart, but with the special part you can shorten the cable a bit and re-attach it. The part number for the 110v version is 493995 (and is different from the 220v version).  (I don't know if it's available in the US though, and the alternative is just replacing the cord with a new one)

I'd agree, but the guy with the rotex already had bought quite a few replacement cords, and he was a bit frustrated he had to exchange the entire cord each time.

hi bill, i usually throw the cord in the bin. if i have a spare in the workshop i use that, if not, i buy a new cord.

btw, heres a radical concept for festool.
if they can design the cord so it cant be taken apart, why dont they design the cord so it can be taken apart.

regards, justin.

hi alex, i dont know what laws you have in holland with regards to power tools on construction sites.
but here in australia, every 3 months, i have to have all my power corded tools including battery chargers tested and tagged by a licensed electrician.

its a simple test, they check the cord for possible breaks, if there is a break, they can cut the cord and rewire a new plug on the end.
with the festool cords, i cannot have these tested. my local festool service centre told me i have to throw them away and buy new.

if they could be taken apart, the electrician who checks and tags my tools every 3 months could cut the cord and rewire. happy days.
i am not an electrician myself, so i tend to let the professionals do this task.

regards, justin.

Justin, in Holland there's a similar system. If you buy a corded powertool (including chargers for cordless tools) the dealer puts a sticker on it with the year and month of purchase perforated. But I don't think they have to be inspected as often. (Most small contractors I know, that only do residential work don't bother, but you can have a licensed guy come over and check and tag every tool at once)

But if I understood your post correctly you throw away every plugit cord you have every three months. in that case I would definately get the part that makes the plugit end detachable. (It is available in Australia, because it was Anthony from Idealtools that came up with that solution.)

edit/ I reread your post, they can probably measure the entire cord from the internal connection in the machine, so the throwing away the cords part is probably only in case of an actual break in the plugit-cable.

But if you'd bought them in a professional capacity, at an industrial supllier, they most probably would.
The rules are a bit blurry over here (Our regulatory system is notoriously blurry throughout, I'm afraid) but a lot depends on the capacity in which a tool is used.

As a private person, few rules apply. If I want to die from falling of a crooked ladder, that's my responsibility.
In a professional capacity, more rules apply. I'm supposedly more responsible to the damage I might afflict onto others, falling of said ladder, and must use a certified safe one.
When I'm supplying employees with tools, even more rules peek around the corner. They must be supplied with safe ladders, tested for safety regularly, and aren't allowed to work of them for more then very short spells - otherwise I have to supply a scaffold and above a certain height fall protection devices as well ( safe, tested, etc. etc. )
When I'm servicing or granting acces to the public, the whole arsenal of rules gets uncovered - and that's quite an impressive arsenal, I can assure you.

Even if the government doesn't really put much weight in "governing" these rules, the insurance companies make sure they're maintained - you can't afford to loose insurance coverage, so you're more or less forced to abide by the rules. In a way, the government neatly "outsourced" their enforcement task...


Although I may sound a bit sarcastic, I'm actually glad the rules are there. It kinda helps to have a framework to check your responsibilities, some are easily overlooked.

But as much as I can relate to the goals, I'm not very charmed by the means.....

Sorry, end of rant here 


Regards,

Job

I have a cord for my TS-75 (I think) That has a bad end on it. I have to bend it to make contact. I bought my tools at Woodworkers Source and they no longer sell Festool. I've been using it on my boom for about a year now. Is there a way to take the tool end apart? What should I do?

I guess you think the Plug It end is bad?

If the cord was originally for the TS 75 it will be a 16 gauge cord
as indicated on the sheath. Cords for less energy hungry tools are 18 gauge.
If it was for the TS 75 it's probably still under warranty?

It's a good idea to use the higher capacity cord on the boom arm since it fits all tools.

If anyone can get into the Plug It head and fix it you can Bill.
Let us know how it goes if you try.

Quote from: Michael Kellough on November 29, 2009, 10:28 PM

If anyone can get into the Plug It head and fix it you can Bill.

Hey Michael, what am I, chopped liver? 

Seriously, I did try to open one up and it is not safely feasible to do and put it back together. The Plug-it cord that came with my NAINA boomarm hose could be disassembled, and that is why I was examining the other plug-it cords, because the Boomarm cord had a European end on it (back at the Vac). I wanted to swap out a normal U.S. cord through the hose, but I knew I could not reassemble the tool-end of the cord if I removed the plug-it connector.

Granted, if Bill's cord is shot, then he really doesn't have anything to lose in trying. In my case, the NAINA hose cord was intact, and if I screwed up, would lose the whole hose. I quickly decided that it was best to simply grab a European plug adapter I had sitting in my suitcase.

The bottom line is that taking this apart to try to fix it is not going to be very fruitful...unless you have nothing to lose in the process.

If anyone can get into the Plug It head and fix it Festool to immediately send a replacement cord you can Bill Rick. So, I wouldn't expect you to cut into one just for fun, even if you do have the expertise. On the other hand, I doubt that Bill will have any trouble getting someone to send him a cord.