Festool "twist lock" dust hose fittings

[Jason White]

Just purchased one of those new "braided" hoses from Festool for all my older sanders, tracksaw, etc. They're supposed to glide over things more smoothly and not snag on the edges of boards or rail guides like the older hoses do.

My problem is that the new hose has one of those rubber twist-lock type fittings that are made to work with the newer "bayonet" style dust ports on the new tools. It fits sanders with the older style dust ports ok (not perfect, just ok). But it's a bigger problem with my older-model TS55 tracksaw, as the new rubber hose fitting doesn't seat in the smooth dust port quite as nicely as the older style hose fitting did.

Anybody know of a fix for this problem? I read about a retrofit dust port that can be installed on the TS55, but there are mixed reviews about it and I think it's designed primarily for bags, which weigh less than hoses. It looks a bit flimsy, too.

Thanks for any feedback.

Jason

[Ben Rivel]

The only "fixes" I have read of is to either: convert your TS 55 and all your other tools to the new dust connector (Festool makes the new parts for pretty much all their tools currently on the market), try and find one of the old style hose connectors and modify it to work on the new hose (there is a thread on the FOG on doing this), or stick with your old style hose and just get some TechFlex to cover it with making it "smooth" and you can even wrap a Plug-It cord in that (FestoolProducts.com sells a kit to do this or you can source the material yourself). FWIW I've chosen the latter.

[Dave Sabo]

If you have an old hose, just unsnap the hose end and swap it for the Cleantec end on the new one. No modification needed.

Probably shoulda been named craptec instead. It’s a typical overengineered German solution in want of a problem, and causes new problems that now need another solution.

[Greg R Bradley]

I'll take overengineered German Solutions to underengineered sleazeball American company solutions built by crappy Chinese idiots anyday. America used to be one of the best at engineering most things and now we just want to sell lots of cheap crap. We are still capable of it but mainly just don't. You can hire a bunch of marketing people to try to convince buyers that they are going to get something wonderful but the bleak reality of cheap junk is getting very old.

[Jason White]

That was my first thought, but you can't do it with the new "braided" hoses.



If you have an old hose, just unsnap the hose end and swap it for the Cleantec end on the new one. No modification needed.

Probably shoulda been named craptec instead. It’s a typical overengineered German solution in want of a problem, and causes new problems that now need another solution.

[Larry Frank]

I would call Festool. I have had a couple questions and they answered them to my satisfaction.

[Dave Sabo]

That was my first thought, but you can't do it with the new "braided" hoses.

Then they've changed the bayonet and or fitting size on the braided hose. The cleantec fitting from last year ( the one included with the PRO5) is compatible/interchangeable with the older hoses.

[Dave Sabo]

Then they've changed the bayonet and or fitting size on the braided hose. The cleantec fitting from last year ( the one included with the PRO5) is compatible/interchangeable with the older hoses.



According to the guys over on the FOG it is doable. You need to shave away a bit of the locking collar to enlargee the diameter by a couple of mm. The details are kinda sketchy .