Thread: Sander & Vacuum Slave Switching

Good Morning Gerhard

Thank you for such an erudite explanation.

For some time a very good friend, a Dutchman incidentally, has been extolling the virtues of the Festool system and suggesting that I upgrade. Two weeks ago he draggooned me to a Festool demonstration centre and last weekend he loaned me a Festool sander 150/3 and Festool midi vacuum to trial. Very, very impressive, but the cheapest Festool vacuum here is Aus$795 (about Euros575) and the 150/3 is over euros400. I do not wish to invest that amount at this point in time, but I am very impressed.

I note your comments and cautions. My existing "shed system" consists of:
* Hollandia domestic vacuum rated at 1,100 watts made in Rotterdam 25+ years ago.
* No indication of wattage of power take-off, or the powerhead. Internal wiring to take-off socket is same diameter as that to vacuum motor.
* Power cord is retracting type, round two-core, and appears to be approximately 6 amps.
* Rupes 350 watt orbital sander, 20+ years old.
* Master/slave switcher I bought is German made Kemo brand. Accompanying brochure appears to have been written by a lawyer with English as a third language.
* House/shed power circuits are fused at 15amps.

I do not know, but I presume that the vacuum must have a soft-start motor. In any case, vacuum plus sander must be right at safe limit of the power flex, or slightly above, and into the safety zone. Not a good idea for prolonged use.

Perhaps a better & safer method is to take the switcher out of the vacuum, and build a separate switcher powerboard box into which both the vacuum and sander plug. Standard 10 amp flex to that powerboard should be ample for start-up load of both vacuum and sander.

Cheers

Graeme

If you're worried about the flex to the vacuum, just replace it with a ten amp lead (I find it cheaper to buy a ten amp extension cord and chop the socket off!).

Graeme, have sent drawing in email to your netspace address.

Mal

Originally Posted by malb

The Jaycar unit is intended to build into the vac, but could be built into a seperate box with two outlets. For a sander, the active lead to the sander enters the unit at #1 and exits at #4 (250W to 1000W load). The active for the vac enters at #6 and exits at #7.

Hi,

I would like to build the JayCar unit into a self contained box with a master and slave outlet, as you describe above. Furthermore, I'd like to be able to switch between the 250W - 1kW/1-2kW/>2kW loads on the JayCar switch (to cater for various tools). Alternatively I could just use seperate outlets for each of the loads.

Also, I gather I wouldn't need a relay to switch my 1400W shopvac, is that correct?

I'm trying to get my head around the wiring. I've included wiring diagrams of what I think would be correct. Am I on the right track?

Any assistance appreciated.

Thanks,
Jonty