Plastic thingy on small power tool cords

[Steve Speiser]

Can someone tell me what the plastic thingy(technical term) on some of my hand held power tools is? It's about 2 inches long, 3/4" circumference, and slides along the cord. My Bosch jigsaw, Bosch router, and Makita sander all have it. Just can't figure out what it is?
Thanks,
Steve

[Zack Teal]

its an anti theft tag so you cant steal the tools from the store.

[James Combs]

Can someone tell me what the plastic thingy(technical term) on some of my hand held power tools is? It's about 2 inches long, 3/4" circumference, and slides along the cord. My Bosch jigsaw, Bosch router, and Makita sander all have it. Just can't figure out what it is?
Thanks,
Steve

Steve, it is a ferrite core noise suppressor. It keeps the noise of the tool's electric motor from being reflected back onto the supply grid. BTW they work in both directions so you will also find them on sound and video amplifiers, TV's etc to keep noise out of the amp or TV. Even if you don't see one on the electronic device chances are good that there is one built into the inside of it especially if it is a home entertainment component. If you are having trouble with noise in an entertainment component you can buy one (a couple of bucks - check here http://www.parts-express.com/wizards/searchResults.cfm?srchExt=CAT&srchCat=301&CFID=18375159&CFTOKEN=17431217 ) and put it on the power cord.

[John Lanciani]

Zach hit it, they're RFID tags for warehouse tracking and anti theft scanners. Pry them off and chuck them in the trash.

[Dan Hintz]

Zach hit it, they're RFID tags for warehouse tracking and anti theft scanners. Pry them off and chuck them in the trash.
At least add a smiley when making posts like this, before someone believes you and goes to their shop and rips the ferrite core off of the power cord.

[Don Whitten]

It is a noise suppressor and not a anti theft device.

[Larry Edgerton]

Ah-ha

Another one of the worlds mysteries solved.

So if I pry them off my tools and get about twenty of them on my shop stereo power cord, it won't bother it when I switch on my 50hp phase converter?

I Like It!

[shane lyall]

Can someone tell me what the plastic thingy(technical term) on some of my hand held power tools is?
plastic thingy at the end of the cord?? If it came from HF.....wait for it..... it's the tool itself!

[Dan Hintz]

So if I pry them off my tools and get about twenty of them on my shop stereo power cord, it won't bother it when I switch on my 50hp phase converter?
You'll get even better performance if you slide a few over the stereo's antenna :D

[Myk Rian]

It is in fact an RFID device. If it was a ferrite core, the entire cord would be wrapped around it, and make a knob 2" in diameter on your cord.
You can remove it.

[Dave Zellers]

It's two, two things in one!

Well, I for one, am not making any moves until this is resolved.

[Myk Rian]

Well, I for one, am not making any moves until this is resolved.
I took one off my Ridgid sander. It was empty plastic.
Took another one off a corded drill. Empty plastic.
Resolved.

[Dave Zellers]

If it was empty plastic, where's the RFID?

Are you saying it's a third option???

[Brian Penning]

At least add a smiley when making posts like this, before someone believes you and goes to their shop and rips the ferrite core off of the power cord.

er...too late....

[Jon Grider]

No No No you all have it wrong... it's actually a tracking device/timer/disabler that enables the manufacturer to monitor your device. Once you have reached the point where the warranty is no longer valid, they send a signal that causes the device to go kaput.
Then they'll be happy to repair it for a "nominal" charge. Or maybe not...

[Dick Thomas]

Don't be silly, Jon, nothing is repairable these days - They'll sell you a new one!!!

[Brian Penning]

Actually I noticed that ALL the tools the Mrs. has bought me have that little thingy.
When I mentioned it to her she just smiled........I dunno....

[Ben Althaus]

It is an EMI ( electro magnetic interference ) inhibitor. Think about the "old days" when your Mom or Sister would use the hair dryer and it would create static (white noise ) on the TV or you could hear the "hum" on the stereo while you were trying to listen the the new Jeff Beck album.

[Myk Rian]

If it was empty plastic, where's the RFID?
Stuck inside it. There sure isn't a ferrite core in them. Take one off and look.
For cripes sake, you can put it back on if you're afraid of being caught by the RFID police.

Is there one on your vacuum cleaner? Your hair dryer? No? Why not?
Because the RFID was on the packaging.
Ferrite cores may be on the inside of the unit, with the black motor wire wrapped around it, but not on the cord.

[Chip Lindley]

Geez! It's nowhere NEAR April 1!!

[Dave Zellers]

Stuck inside it. There sure isn't a ferrite core in them. Take one off and look.
For cripes sake, you can put it back on if you're afraid of being caught by the RFID police.
You're one of them aren't you?
:cool:

I'm sure it's nothing. But if the RFIDPD show up, I'm referring them to you.

LOL- just kidding. Having a little fun on a Sunday night.

[John Lanciani]

At least add a smiley when making posts like this, before someone believes you and goes to their shop and rips the ferrite core off of the power cord.

No smiley required, I know the difference between a ferrite and an RFID and every single one of those stupid things that I've removed has had an RFID in it. Not one single tool in my shop has, or ever had a ferrite on the cord. In all of the tools that I've taken apart for repair, I've never, ever, seen one inside of the tool, either.

[Myk Rian]

I've never, ever, seen one inside of the tool, either.
Neither have I, but thought I would stick that in there as an IF situation. I have seen them in vacuum cleaners.
This whole thread shows how mis-information can run rampant on the web.

[Josh Bowman]

I bet you guys rip the tags off of pillows and mattress's too!

[Thomas love]

Steve , plug the tool into an extension cord and drag it around, you will notice it usually ends up right at the end of the cord where the plug is connected to extension cord. When you drag cords around corners, edges ect... it is less likely to get hung up where the connection to the ext -cord is.
tom

[Myk Rian]

I bet you guys rip the tags off of pillows and mattress's too!
Damn right I do. Then I burn em.

[Rich Engelhardt]

This is a noise suppressor - aka EMI filter:
http://www.shoppingkoo.com/products/124183/Ferrite-Core-3-8and-8221-Cord-Noise-Suppressor.html

If it looks like the above - or similar since they also come in a round shape, it's a filter not an RFID.

[Bill Edwards(2)]

All the Chinese guys on the tool line giggle everytime they put one of those on

because they know "running dog" Americans too stupid to know it is just a joke.

:D:D:D

[Myk Rian]

This is a noise suppressor - aka EMI filter:
http://www.shoppingkoo.com/products/124183/Ferrite-Core-3-8and-8221-Cord-Noise-Suppressor.html

If it looks like the above - or similar since they also come in a round shape, it's a filter not an RFID.
You see those most often on phone cords.

[Paul Wunder]

Ask This Old House has a periodic feature whereby Kevin, Tom, Richard and Rodger try to figure out the purpose of odd tools.

I suggest that everyone mail all of their tools with "thingies" to them and let them figure it out. We are certainly not going to solve it here.

Paul

P.S. I am sure they will mail them back if you ask

[glenn bradley]

You guys are funny sometimes. The one on my Colt is made by these folks: http://www.bgintr.com/html/e_products.htm

[Phil Thien]

I have one of them on my new DeWalt mini router. It absolutely isn't ferrite, because there is barely any mass to the thing. It is all plastic. I didn't, in my wildest dreams, imagine it would be an RFID, though. It kind of makes sense. I'll have to take a second look at mine. If I can remove it without nicking the cord, I'd like to.

[Kent A Bathurst]

My extreme solution - I hate having to untangle the power cord on hand power tools when I take them off the shelf. So, I cut the cords off at ~12", throw them away, put on a new plug, use an extension cord.

So - I don't care what it is - it's outta here.

[Callan Campbell]

plastic thingy at the end of the cord?? If it came from HF.....wait for it..... it's the tool itself!
We have a winner!!!!! Too Funny

[Thomas love]

It protects the product from theft not just the package
I like my other reply better thoughhttp://www.bgintr.com/images/ess_images/header.jpg (http://www.bgintr.com/index.htm)

[Ken Deckelman]

My extreme solution - I hate having to untangle the power cord on hand power tools when I take them off the shelf. So, I cut the cords off at ~12", throw them away, put on a new plug, use an extension cord.

So - I don't care what it is - it's outta here.

I guess you where a fan of the 80's Bleak & Darker tools then with the short cords...:confused::confused:

[Ken Deckelman]

The best way I have found to get the RFID's off is to crush them in a vise or with channel-lock pliers...they come right off leaving no damage to the cord.

[David Prince]

It protects the product from theft not just the package
I like my other reply better thoughhttp://www.bgintr.com/images/ess_images/header.jpg (http://www.bgintr.com/index.htm)

Do you think HF is more afraid of you stealing the box or the tool itself? :eek: It might be a toss up on some items. LOL

[Kent A Bathurst]

I guess you where a fan of the 80's Bleak & Darker tools then with the short cords...:confused::confused:

Ken -

Never had a B+D. Never will. Mostly PC [multiple 690s, bayonet saw, circle saw, ROS, belt sander, 557] plus coupla DW drills + sawsall. Just get those power cords outta the way. Nothing to tangle, nothing to wind up carefully before putting them away. No muss, no fuss.

My view - What's the point of screwing around with power cord management, when the issue is grab 'em, use 'em, put 'em away, and > 50% of the time, an extension cord is needed anyway. They store much neater and easier.

Shouldn't really be any confusion - concept seems simple enough from this side of the monitor. I'd be happy to send you my cut-off cords, if you want to lengthen yours. You could even get some of these to help keep things organized !! :p

http://ace.imageg.net/graphics/product_images/pACE2-982584reg.jpg (http://javascript<b></b>:showEnhanced();)

Regards

Kent

[Phil Thien]

Hey Kent, do you have a favorite brand/model of replacement plug you're using? Some of the plugs I've run into have left a lot to be desired.

[Steve Speiser]

Never have so many, replied so much, about so little. Wow, thanks for all the insight. Now I have to go to the shop and destroy all the little plastic thingy's.
Thanks guys, this was not only informative, but entertaining!
Steve

[Steve Speiser]

O.K, so I boldly walked into the shop and and unslung the power cord. There on the little plastic thingy were three words molded into the plastic. They were "DO NOT REMOVE"......... drum roll please, so I took my trusty channel locks and crushed the little sucker. Lo and behold, inside was a white plastic strip, the exact same kind you find in blister packaging and inside flaps of cardboard box packaging.
So yup, it certainly was an RFID.
Mystery solved by the creek.... thanks again!

[John P. Smith]

I am feeling deprived... I don't have a single power tool with a "thingie" on it:mad:

At least there is a small one on the cord going into this laptop....:p

[John P. Smith]

Hey Kent, do you have a favorite brand/model of replacement plug you're using? Some of the plugs I've run into have left a lot to be desired.

If you don't like the replacement plugs, just open up the motor and shorten it from that end, that way you keep the factory plug... and most importantly, you get to keep your "thingy"!!!:D

Or, just convert all portable power tools to air...

[Jim Summers]

I am feeling deprived... I don't have a single power tool with a "thingie" on it:mad:

At least there is a small one on the cord going into this laptop....:p

I feel your pain, I to am thingy-less!

[Ken Deckelman]

O.K, so I boldly walked into the shop and and unslung the power cord. There on the little plastic thingy were three words molded into the plastic. They were "DO NOT REMOVE"......... drum roll please, so I took my trusty channel locks and crushed the little sucker. Lo and behold, inside was a white plastic strip, the exact same kind you find in blister packaging and inside flaps of cardboard box packaging.
So yup, it certainly was an RFID.
Mystery solved by the creek.... thanks again!

:D:D Good for you!

[Kent A Bathurst]

Hey Kent, do you have a favorite brand/model of replacement plug you're using? Some of the plugs I've run into have left a lot to be desired.

Phil - nah, not really - it worked out that I grabbed a few when I was at the neighborhood Ace, and tossed them in a drawer, installed them one at a time as I pulled out an unmodified tool. Then, when those got low, I grabbed a handful the next time I was at the orange BORG down the road. so I was firmly in the "whatever is at the next store I'm going to anyway when I need some" camp.

But, if I was looking at a display that had both Leviton and Cooper, I'd take the Leviton - can't really tell you why, just kinda the way they fit together. IIRC, the Leviton's are a bit more expensive. The only thing that's really important to me is how tightly the collar [???] tightens down on the inbound cable - if that sucker cinches down well, then I'm good - I am not very touchy-feely when it come to yanking on the tool to disconnect from the extension cord. So, I only get the style that has a screw-closed collar [v. the ones that just pass the cord through].

Actually, I misspoke earlier - the DW corded hammer drill and the DW sawsall are as of yet unmodified - the hammer drill is doming off the shelf tomorrow, and will get changed out. The sawzalll may wait on its shelf for a year before it gets used again.

[Myk Rian]

Mystery solved by the creek.... thanks again!
Nearly near took a flame war to do it.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Just for the record,

while these might have been RFIDs....

I have installed the ferrite cores as part of a field modification on equipment....they generally were a two piece ferrite core or bead, if you will....you placed them around the power cord and the two pieces were held together with a small ty-wrap.

Sometimes the ferrite core halves was encased in plastic....sometimes it was just the molded/machined ferrite material.

Regardless, it surely isn't important enough to get upset over.......

[Mike Schuch]

After you have used them for many years you can take them off your tools and put them on your neighbors (who always plays his stereo too loud) power line and the built up noise will screw up his stereo so bad he won't want to play it any more.

[Dave Sabo]

Don, James, and Rich - what tools do you SPECIFICALLY own that have these EMI gizmos on them? None of my tools have these, but they all are high line or Euro tools that you can't get at the borg. So, they don't need EMI or anti theft devices on them.

I can tell you for a FACT that on the depot's line of Ridgid tools those round sausage like bulges are RFIDs. Besides, those 2 dollar magnets are of dubious value anyway on cords. I think you guys have been hanging out with the quadraphonic stereo guys too long.

Sure, a huge magnet or torrid will clean up your power supply, but one with sufficient capacity would be the size of that drill or router you are talking about and it would be two to three times as heavy as the tool making the setup useless.

[Jerome Hanby]

Damn right I do. Then I burn em.

Wouldn't it have been easier to just not buy them? Or did you need pillow and mattress ashes? Do the tags contaminate the ashes...oh, you meant burn the tags, my bad :D

[Josiah Bartlett]

As an electrical engineer who has had to do my fair share of suppressing noise, I'll state that if it can slide on the cord it isn't a ferrite core, or at least not an effective one. For AC power cords, to be effective, the cord has to be wrapped around the core for multiple turns to get enough coupling to provide any sort of suppression. A tool which has an EMI suppressor on it will usually have it inside the motor housing. Furthermore, it has to be very closely coupled to the wires so if it is that loose it doesn't actually do much.

There are clamp on suppressors available, but they are really only useful for low level audio and USB cords, and they usually work by suppressing the common mode emi on the cord to kill its effectiveness as an antenna, not the differential mode. The noise from universal or brushed AC motors is mostly differential on the power and neutral wires.

[ray hampton]

this is what I like about SMC , some alway talking about Heinz 57

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Josiah,

Thanks for refreshing my memory......in fact, in some cases I had to wrap the cord around the bead before ty-wrapping the two halves together.......these instances generally involved twisted wires and not "covered" cables as we see on power tools......in some cases I didn't but they cables were signal cables IIRC.... plus.....these were in cabinets in the receiver sections of MRI systems so I was dealing with equipments producing RF and not motor brushes unless it was on a hard drive.....but still RFI......

[Rich Engelhardt]

Don, James, and Rich - what tools do you SPECIFICALLY own that have these EMI gizmos on them? None of my tools have these, but they all are high line or Euro tools that you can't get at the borg. So, they don't need EMI or anti theft devices on them.


Dave,
I have none.
I was simply posting a link to an EMI filter so the OP (or anyone else) could compare what he (they) had on his (their) cord to one.
IIRC, back in the "stone age" we called those things chokes or choke filters.
I could be wrong on that though - it's been a couple decades since I had basic electronics.

[Dan Hintz]

Yeah, without ever having seen one of these "new" theft deterrents on cords, I just assumed it was a ferrite core. Once I went to the website and saw the pics, it's definitely not a core. I will say that it also does not appear to be a true RFID tag, but only a standard magnetic strip found in CDs/DVDs and other small items. An RFID tag would need a "smart" transmitter/receiver that queries data on the RFID tag, whereas the strips are simply "Are you there?" type of items defeated by demagnetizing them.

[Alan Lightstone]

I removed one of those once. Within minutes, the black helicopters came, and there was that unfortunate "probing" incident.

I wouldn't touch them.

[Rick Moyer]

You guys are funny sometimes. The one on my Colt is made by these folks: http://www.bgintr.com/html/e_products.htm
Yep. happened to use mine tonight and decided to crush mine to see for myself.
186956186957

[Alan Schaffter]

Many of these cord bumps are not sophisticated RFID tags, just basic, short range, anti-theft devices. They contain a passive circuit (often a diode or RC circuit and an antenna) and can be as small as a grain of rice and are often mounted in a plastic strip. These are the same devices found on clothes tags, DVD strips, etc. When activated (AND powered) by the right RF signal which usually emanates from a post at the store's entrance, the circuit resonates at a new frequency. When a receiver tuned to the new frequency in the other pole detects the signal it causes an alarm to sound. If you actually paid for the item, the clerk should have deactivated the circuit by passing it over a "special pad" which "turns it off" or often just fries the circuit so it won't resonate. More and more, advanced RFID's using IC's are also being used every year, however. These can be programmed to transmit product or other information used to identify the product (discourage label swapping, help with inventory control, and accountability such as in libraries, etc.)

The only chokes, graphite/ferrite toroids, or other "noise reduction devices" etc. I've seen in years were on my computer monitor cord, the USB cord I use to connect my digital camera to my computer (has two), and the power cord for my laptop- all devices where reduction in noise is important. I've NEVER seen one on any of my power hand tools.

186982

[Dan Friedrichs]

Many of these cord bumps are not sophisticated RFID tags, just basic, short range, anti-theft devices. They contain a passive circuit (often a diode or RC circuit and an antenna) and can be as small as a grain of rice and are often mounted in a plastic strip.


Actually, I think most are more simple than that - usually just two pieces of metal with varying magnetic permeability. They are detected because the sensors at the store entrance emit a pulsing magnetic field that causes the strips to mechanically vibrate against each other.

[Alan Schaffter]

Actually, I think most are more simple than that - usually just two pieces of metal with varying magnetic permeability. They are detected because the sensors at the store entrance emit a pulsing magnetic field that causes the strips to mechanically vibrate against each other.


Could be, there are a number of different electronic article surveillance (EAS) systems out there- swept and pulsed RF, electromagnetic and acousto-magnetic (pulsed RF-based used at Walmart and Home Depot, see pic), older microwave, etc. One of the more recent approaches is RF-based "source tagging" used by Target- the ultra small tag is embedded or woven into the item at the factory.

Walmart EAS

http://static.howstuffworks.com/gif/anti-sec-tag1.jpg

[Butch Butler]

it is in fact an rfid device. If it was a ferrite core, the entire cord would be wrapped around it, and make a knob 2" in diameter on your cord.
You can remove it.

this is true......

[Alan Schaffter]

this is true......

Unless it is a small cord. Look at the photo of my camera USB cord a few posts back- the cord wraps the ferrite 3 times and the whole thing is the same small diameter (1/2"?) as the EAS bumps. Be careful investigating and opening the bumps on computer, camera, and other sensitive electronic device cords and connectors. They are more than likely noise reduction devices that protect the equipment (not prevent it from making noise) and likely not an EAS tag!! Who cares if a drill, router, etc. makes a little RF noise.

[Dave Sabo]

James and Don - still think it's a ferrite noise suppressor ?

[johnny means]

Hmm, neutering your tools, just seems so wrong. I can't even bring myself to cut that silly euro plug off of my Festool vac.