The recommended e-stop switch in the not shop

I wanted to take a closer look at this switch that we have listed and I mean we the community of course, I looked at the router amperage rating it looks like it’s about 7 amps, in my case the rigid vacuum is about 8.3amps , the Maslow does around .6 amps max (checked during a calibration).

Anyway it looks like if you’re running the router and the vacuum from the same circuit you’re right up against the max value for a normal breaker in a house of 15 amps I’m not sure what it is exactly yet but we’ll just talk about nameplate ratings because usually that’s you know what they could max out at the unit.

The switch contacts in the e switch are rated for 10 amps but I’m not sure I’d even believe that because I am unaware of that brand and the seemingly high cost optimization within the unit, and the fact that the gland fitting is oversized and could be easily pulled out could be a safety hazard I would definitely recommend either replacing the gland fitting or putting a knot inside the unit so that the cord cannot pull out and then be live on your floor, I would certainly recommend a better more durable unit and since it doesn’t have the ground installed on it is not as much of an issue because it’s not a grounded box but if these items were to melt down in any fashion because of their ampacity not being what they should and it not being built as safe at least a metal box would short out and provide a fault that would shut that switch off but having this switch in line could be a possible liability for heat buildup and melting down before it ever reaches ampacity and causing a fire. If you were to use it just for the Maslow itself that might be okay but I don’t know if I would trust it on the router or having anything else plugged into it that could generate any heat on the contacts.



Ymmv, the switch is very cost optimized, not safety optimized.

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I agree that they’re a bit cheap, but it was the only one that I saw on Amazon (so it’s easy to get for everyone).

This option looks maybe a little better?

I am continuing to look into this , I just haven’t decided I want if I want everything to stop or just the sled, as the name implies it’s an emergency stop so that is it’s purpose to me. So far with my setup I would like it to be able to handle 20 amps, although 15 should work I just don’t like to be at the edge. An option would just be to get a 3 gang metal box and put a 20 amp rated switch in it with 2 15amp rated outlets so you would have 4 spots to plug in your gear. The metal box is only good if you know that you have grounds in your place, some don’t, check with a multimeter of course, then if you ground the box it’s relatively safe and if anything happens inside the box everything outside the box is okay and it’d be easy to mount to the frame. I’m still working it out. I mean you could get real crazy and have a contactor in there and all that kind of stuff , a big cutoff switch , a proper rated ul listed estop, have the switch just operate a contactor or you can do it a hundred different ways. I just bought that thing and I do building mechanical for a living and I’m not putting that in anything, it’s headed back to where it came from.

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