I'm in the midst of reconfiguring my workshop and want to custom wire my
dust collector.
A little history may be in order here. I have used my Shop-Vac with an
Automatic switch from Sears. The switch plugs into an outlet and has outlets
for the Sensed device (sander, jointer etc) and an outlet for the Shop-Vac.
When the Sander is turned on the Automatic switch senses the current flow
and turns on the Shop-Vac. When the Sander is turned off the switch allows
the Shop-Vac to run on for ~ 5 seconds to clean out the line. Works great
but I'm looking for more.
I had seen a post on this group a year or 2 back where someone had used a
toroid sensing coil (loop of wire) in the power panel where you simply route
the hot lead for the line you want to sense. Multiple circuits can be routed
through the toroid sensor. It then picks a relay controlling the circuit
with the dust collector attached. This way I can have multiple 20A circuits
in the shop which I can plug in my Drill Press, Planer, Jointer (115V) etc
along with my Unisaw (220V) and any device will turn on the Dust Collector.
Any ideas out there would be appreciated.
Thanks!