Cheap powertool extractor at lidl

[Colin C]

Hi Ivan

I have just had a quick check and the Trend one is 1200 watt but you can use
a 2000 watt tool with that :-k , so I am not sure that what you have said works out

 

[ivan]

Hi Colin
Im my eg I took 1500W for the vac, but yours is 1200W+ 2000W router

For you, that's a total of 3,200Watts in all. 3200/230=13.9A. (A 13A fuse is made to pass 13A, not blow at 13A) I bet the plug gets hot though...

It's better to add up amps from the label, if the vac is really 1200W it should be drawing about 5.2A, and the 2000W router about 8.6A. Wattage ratings are sometimes a bit overstated by the manufacturer. As long as you use a fuse (no bits of nail or silver paper) you'll be OK, but you may singe the plug a bit.

 

[Colin C]

Thanks Ivan

I will have a look

 

[pewe]

Today I bought one of these and on first site it appears very good value.

When I got it back to the workshop I spoke to another forum member and we discussed the power rating - the 1400 vs 2200 rating.

So I plugged in a CS and tried it.

I used a Hitachi C9 which is rated at 2000W and left them both running constantly for over 1/2 hour.
No problems - no blown fuse, no hot plug and no other problems.

So I guess that it will do for my needs - I've never run any individual tool for more than 1/2 hour at a time.

Tomorrow I'll try it with my router which is also rated at 2000w, and maybe even my Triton CS - although that's rated at 2400w - so maybe I won't. [-X

 

[mailee]

Hey thanks for all the info guys. I guess I might have a good buy after all. I shall try my 2000 Watt DeWalt on it and see what happens. I don't know if any of you noticed but for spare parts the company is called 'Grizzly' although the brand of the Lidl tools is 'Parkside' I wonder if it is has any association with the US Grizzly tool company?

 

[Sawdust]

I used a Hitachi C9 which is rated at 2000W and left them both running constantly for over 1/2 hour.
No problems - no blown fuse, no hot plug and no other problems.
[-X

Was the saw cutting anything or just spinning? It probably draws about a quarter of its power when unloaded. You could try the same test cutting for 1/2 an hour through 2" thick oak, something will almost certainly get warm then

Personally I'd err on the side of caution and not plug anything really heavy into it as ultimately runing it at maximum power is likely to burn the switch out and shorten the life of an otherwise useful extractor.

I also bought one tonight for £35 from Lidl and I'm well impressed but probably won't plug anything into it as the effort of switching it on is pretty minimal anyway.

Cheers
Mike

 

[Paul Chapman]

Thanks for all the information. I wanted one mainly for use with my 2000 watt DeWalt router, so maybe it will be OK. Let's know the results of any other tests you do. Does it have an instruction sheet with any information about power tool usage?

Cheers :wink:

Paul

 

[mailee]

Yes Paul, in the instructions it states that the maximum power tool rating is 1,400 Watts. It is only on the Lidl website that it states 2,200 Watts??

 

[Paul Chapman]

Thanks, Mailee. In that case I think I will forget it and save up for one designed for 2000 watt tools. I can manage with my very old Henry till then :wink:

Cheers

Paul

 

[ivan]

There's basically 2 ways of doing the switching, electromechanical - a relay, or solid state. If you overload the relay the contacts will not last to their design life. If it's solid state and does not immediately fail, the life of the device will be the shorter, the hotter it runs.
Soft start is kind to switching vacs, but there's no soft off, unfortunately.

 

[pewe]

Was the saw cutting anything or just spinning?

A bit of both. The saw was continually spinning for the full 1/2hr during which time I used it to cut about 100 strips off an 8 x 4 board.
The board used was 25mm MDF, which is not the same as cutting Oak, but I felt it was a reasonable test as most of the time I am cutting plywood, OSB, MDF or particle board.

Normally I would use a smaller 180mm 1600w saw, but wanted to test the vac with something heavier in the first instance.

I'll keep an eye on it and if I have any problems report back.

 

[colinc]

On the way out of the dentist today I spotted a Lidl across the road so wandered in. They had a stack still so I bought one. Looks ok for the money and within the power limits of my mafell cs and 1/4 inch routers.

The sign in the store suggested it was good for switching much more power than it actually is but You can always use the on/off switch option can't you?

regards

Colin

 

[johnb]

The same vac is on sale here in France where mains circuits are 16A. The tool socket rating is 2200W. That is probably the reason for the reference to 2200W on the Lidl site.

 

[pewe]

The same vac is on sale here in France where mains circuits are 16A. The tool socket rating is 2200W. That is probably the reason for the reference to 2200W on the Lidl site.

If this is the case, it is interesting that they have 2 different products with different ratings. What is the model number of the unit they sell in France?

I called Grizzly this morning to try and clarify the issue and was told I could not speak to a technical department but that someone would call me back - we'll see.

So I rang Lidl to be told that Grizzly no longer exist and the service queries are being dealt with by another company (so I'm not sure who I was speaking to when I rang the number in the booklet).

The girl at Lidl was totally confused by the differences in the rating on the advertising and in the booklet and said she is going to talk to her manager and make some enquiries and let me know the outcome.

 

[johnb]

http://www.lidl.fr/fr/home.nsf/pages/c. ... siere.ar17

 

[pewe]

Unfortunately the link does not work without a post code.

However, I did hear back from the company that services Lidl's electrical goods and he confirmed that the rating for the take off cannot be 2200 as the combined rating of 2200 and the 1400 for the vac would exceed the power capability of a 13 amp fuse.

He did assure me however that no harm would come to the switch or the motor if the rated 1400w was exceeded, he said that all that would happen is the fuse would blow.
He also implied that it is unlikely that there are two products, and that the reason for the higher rating in France is probably due to the higher supply - at 16 amps.

The maximum power that can be drawn from a 240v supply is 3120w continuous (and that is the absolute peak maximum), so if the Vac is 1400, that leaves 1720w for a power tool - and 1400 is quoted to allow for surges.

In France the maximum on a 16a main is 3520w (if their voltage is 220v, 3840w for 240v), so the quoted 2200 leaves a margin for surges.

I trust this all makes sense.

My conclusion - If he is right about the worst damage being a blown fuse, worst case scenario is if I use a tool and it blows the fuse, I don't use the take off for that tool in future.

 

[pewe]

ADDENDUM - of course if anything else is plugged in to the mains running at the same time, the maximum for the ring main in the workshop before the main 30a fuse blows is 7200w, so if you have 3 of these running with big router, circular saw and planer all at the same time (who would :roll: ) it could blow the main fuse.

Equally, if the lead to the vac or tool is wound, it will also have an effect - reducing the maximum power possible before the fuse blows.

 

[DaveL]

I would agree that you are not going to damage the unit by using a tool that takes enough power to blow the fuse in the plug. The tool socket will be wired directly to the mains lead on the machine with just a loop of wire in a current sensor, the power to the machine is not switched by the vacuum, its the vacuum motor that is being controlled.

Does the vacuum soft start? The B&Q one I have does, this is to limit the power surge from the motor, stopping it popping the fuse.

 

[Colin C]

HI Dave

I think it does but I will have to try mine tomorrow to check

 

[pewe]

Interesting,

This vaccuum has a 1400W motor with a rated power take off of 2000W

http://www.axminster.co.uk/product.asp? ... rc=froogle

- so its at the top end limit and costs over 3 times the price. It says it has a quiet motor, but the one I heard was not much quieter than the Lidl. Besides my power tools drown out the vac anyway.