Thread: Cheaper antistatic hoses for a Festool vacuum cleaner

Yvan, the Vac has a Festool connector at the end of the 50mm hose, while the DC has a rubber or neoprene (flexible) hose coupling. I tried to find a link for this but could not.

Regards from Perth

Derek

A 20 mm hose has about 2/3rds the cross sectional area of a 27 mm hose but a 20 mm hose has a greater wall circumference to cross sectional surface area ration so at constant pressure the flow is reduced by more than a factor of two due to wall friction. The Festool will make up for some of that with its variable speed impeller which is used to over come increased filter resistance as it blocks up. If motor power is used to overcome a smaller hose this means the motor may run out of puff later wen the filter starts to fill. It probably does not make much difference when using a palm sander but if anyone is buying hoses I'd suggest going bigger rather than smaller.

If hose weight is an issue, then I find suspending part or most of the hose by a couple of longish soft ockky straps from a workshop ceiling is an option.
I do this with 2" hose connected to my DC and find as well as lightening the hose load considerably it reducing tangles between the hose and the workpiece. If you do this regularly then some sort of a flying fox arrangement using occkys as the drop down allows the hose to be dragged out of the way when it is not needed.

Firstly I doubt there is anything electronics wise on a Festool that can be damaged by the sort of static generated by a vac. Any static charge that is developed always builds up on the outside surfaces of hose/vac where the charges can spread furthest apart and they will simply not build up inside or enter hoses or plastic boxes such as vacs. The most significant issue though is that the hoses and boxes are non conductors hence cannot drain enough charge from a contact point to produce enough current to cause a problem. The human body is just highly sensitive to small charges but the ones you can feel are not likely to affect the vac. This is also why static does not produce sparks large enough to ignite wood dust inside plastic chambers or hoses.

Originally Posted by derekcohen

Further, I have a memory of Festool invalidating warranty claims when non-antistatic hoses were used, and where static was deemed to have damaged circuitry.

But Festool sells non-antistatic hoses.

Originally Posted by jack620

But Festool sells non-antistatic hoses.

Non-antistatic hoses can be used with tools that are earthed such as the CMS or the OF2020 router.

My DTS400 sander isn't earthed, but there is no requirement in the manual to use an antistatic hose. Nor is there any exclusion in the warranty for using an antistatic hose.

Edit: I had another look at the manual. It does say "when possible" use an antistatic hose, but that is to avoid a 'slight electric shock'. No mention of damage to the tool.

If you aren't getting zapped then either you are not producing enough dust with that tool or you have enough moisture in the air to bleed if off as fast as you generate it.

The damage, if any, is to the vac's electronics not the tools.

Originally Posted by Bohdan

The damage, if any, is to the vac's electronics not the tools.

What's your reference for this claim? The vac's manual doesn't have a requirement to use antistatic hoses either. It only says you need to use one if you want to avoid a static shock. No mention of damage to the electronics.

There was considerable discussion of this issue on the FOG which included statements from Festool.

JUnless one were to open up and expose the electronics and then poke a charged hose at the electronics I fail to see how any static charge could get onto them. Even then insufficient charge is likely to drain away from the hose to cause problems as I haven’t seen any what I would call “sensitive” chips in their electronics to begin with. If there were potential problems they would mandate anti static hoses.

Originally Posted by Bohdan

There was considerable discussion of this issue on the FOG which included statements from Festool.

That thread is mostly just three pages of opinions. AND it's about the Dust Deputy. My response was to Derek's comment about Festool refusing to honour warranty claims where non-antistatic hoses have been used.

To summarise my responses:
1. There is no requirement in my DTS400 or CT33 manuals to use an antistatic hose,
2. Festool sells non-antistatic hoses,
3. Ergo, Festool can't refuse a warranty claim on a CT vac because a person has used Festool non-antistatic hose. If they connected a Dust Deputy to the CT that's a different story (but you'd be a fool to tell Festool you had a DD connected to your CT when you took it in for repair under warranty).

Anyone know if there is a part number for the vac end of the NON antistatic Festool 21.5mm grey hose? Mine came without it. Might have to buy the Mirka hose or 3D print something. Not a common hose
Cheers

Also any links for the mirka hand sander above. I got the 225 x 115 which is to big

Cheers

Originally Posted by acejas

Also any links for the mirka hand sander above. I got the 225 x 115 which is to big

Cheers

I bought a Mirka 70x125 hand sander, Mirka hose and a roll of 75mm wide Abranet yesterday from Mallee Agencies in Perth. $18 postage to Melbourne.


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Originally Posted by acejas

Anyone know if there is a part number for the vac end of the NON antistatic Festool 21.5mm grey hose? Mine came without it. Might have to buy the Mirka hose or 3D print something. Not a common hose

This is the Festool parts system: https://ekat.festool.de/login/jsp/ma...design=festool

It has literally every single last widget they have ever sold. It will give you your part number

Will the 27mm Mirkahose that Derek put up a link for in post 3 fit the Rotex 150 as is or will I need an adapter?