I have been doing a bit of research on M class shop vacs, I have a mobile setup where my tools come out to my alfresco when I am working on a project, once done, it all gets packed away in the garage, essentially I would need the shop vac to do a dust extraction job for a compound saw, circular saw, routers and sanding. I do wear a mask as well to be as safe as possible - P2 grade.

Since my saws and routers support Makita AWS i.e. bluetooth auto start stop for dust extraction, I am keen on getting a shop vac that can support it, plugging in the Makita AWS adaptor will solve that problem (WUT02U), the other criteria would be a power take off port that supports up to 2200 watts so I can run the 1/2 in router off it and it allows automatic start stop for the vacuum.

Am I asking for too much? I managed to arrive at the following short list of potential vacuums - may I seek you advice with the following questions please?



  • Bosch GAS 35 M AFC - The only concern I had was - the vacuum states it needs a minimum 100 watts for auto start and stop to work. I am unable to find watts drawn for the aws adaptor. Does that eliminate this option? I have written to Makita and await a response, Bosch Aus told me to check with Makita, I've written to Bosch Germany hoping they will know more.
  • Festool CTM 26 - Seems to tick all the boxes, apart from the fact that it has a 1200 watt circuit breaker, so im wondering if the 1/2 inch router will work off the power take off port at all - Festool says it supports 2200 watts, gave me the following details when I reached out to them. My concern here is I guess the additional cost for the bluetooth adaptor and Festool as a brand being pricier too



Festool dust extractors are fitted with a circuit breaker for safety when a connected load of 1200 watts is exceeded.
Some tools that draw higher wattage can trigger the circuit breaker and if initiated requires the reset button above the socket to be pushed in and reset.
When requiring to use larger wattage tools with dust extraction it is recommended the tool is operated off a separate outlet and a Bluetooth system can then be used to switch the dust extractor on and off as required. Bluetooth Remote Control Set for CT 26/36/48
When using tools it is recommended you always use the correct consumable for best results as even lower wattage tools can trip the circuit breaker if the system isn’t matched to the application. (e.g.: saw blade not matched to material)

So to summarize; you can plug the tool in that's over 1200W , but it can trip so you would need to run a different power lead, and you have an option to fit a Bluetooth Module + remote to turn the vac on/off