I recently bought a portable 10" Table saw from HD. The saw works great. I attached my 16 gal shop vac to the saw and it worked great picking up the dust. The only pain is that I have to turn on my shop vac. Turn on my saw. Turn off my saw then turn off my shop vac. This may sound lazy, but it would be great to have an exterior plug on the saw that becomes live simultaneously with the switching on of the saw. Then I can plug in my shop vac and turn it on. Then when I turn on the saw, the shop vac will come on. I suggested this to my Home Depot buddy in the tool department and he thought it was a great idea. I am not an electrician so it may be that it would be too great a drain on the motor to do this. If anyone out there has any ideas about that, I would like to hear them.
Anybody use this switch with a TS and DC? Works fine with my TS3650, JP610, router table, or DW733 Planer (15A) and a small 3/4 HP collector. I have it on a dedicated 20A circuit. I believe the instructions say to plug the tool directly into the switch but I don't even follow that. I use a short 12ga cord with multi tap so I can plug everything in at once. I also use it with the TS and shop vac (12A)occasionally. The shop vac seems to do better with fine dust from the TS (probably due to small hose). The planer combined with shop vac would be pushing it but that's a silly idea anyway.
There is a couple second delay in the accessory that allows the tool to come up to speed first. This prevents simultaneous starting currents. Would it work with a 1.5HP collector? I doubt it. In theory it should not even work with the TS and shop vac, but when used for dust collection (inlet not restricted) the shop vac is probably not drawing max amps.
I agree Dave that a TS and a DC would be too much for this thing (I have one). I don't even know if I would want to run the TS through here with a low amp device connected as the aux tool. For a router or similar tool and a ShopVac it is just fine. I've used it with my PC-690 and the shop-vac w/o problems. If the tool you want to automatically switch on/off is a high amp device, I would not recommend it.
You can have two auxillary tools plugged in to this switch, so a light and a shop-vac for example could be connected at the same time and switched on/off with the main tool.
A heavier duty version of the dust collector control is the Automater. The Automater has an adjustable delay that lets the power tool get down normal current before the dust collects starts. This prevents tripped breakers. The Automaters are available on Ebay. Search for dc2500 or the 20 amp version - dc2520.
That's one way of doing it, but like you said, it could be a "load" problem and if the saw manufacturer adds an accessory outlet that gets activated by the main switch, it puts the manufacturer liable for whatever may get plugged into it. Early on, there were some Personal Computers that had an accessory reptacle for the monitor, the PC's main switch turned them both on. But, like most things... it wasn't long before someone's reasoning took that feature away.
However, it wouldn't take much for the owner to install a switch-activated receptacle on the bench that would turn on the saw and the vac (or whatever was plugged into the receptacle) at the same time. Again circuit load could be a problem if you don't provide the proper amperage, wire, etc. to handle it.
CWS
[ 02-25-2005, 07:37 PM: Message edited by: CWSmith ]
That switch looks like it would be great for things like a vac/ROS combo but I wonder how well it would work with a TS/vac or DC combo. I'm thinking that the amp draw on start-up would be too high and trip the breaker. Anybody use this switch with a TS and DC?
Originally posted by badgerdave:
That switch looks like it would be great for things like a vac/ROS combo but I wonder how well it would work with a TS/vac or DC combo. I'm thinking that the amp draw on start-up would be too high and trip the breaker. Anybody use this switch with a TS and DC?
"If anyone out there has any ideas about that, I would like to hear them."
Save your patent search money, its already been done.
Craftsman makes such a switch and it sells for $19.99
http://content.sears.com/data/product_images/009/24031/00924031000-190.jpg
Craftsman Auto Switch
Sears item #00924031000 Mfr. model #24031
Automatic Switch allows you to turn on your power tool and energize your accessories simultaneously! Only 110 volts so it's ideal for use with table or radial saws and dust collection systems.
 I could use some help again...
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Electrical Plug for ShopVac on Table Saws