Cordless Power Tool Vacuum Cleaner Starter - Details

Page 1 of 10

Tools You'll Need

To be able to make the cordless tool vacuum starter, you'll need the following tools:

  1. A 3D Printer (alternatively, you could use a 3D printing service).
  2. A reasonably powerful soldering iron, plus some solder. I used this gas-powered one. Desoldering braid is useful, but optional.
  3. A 2.5 mm hex (Allen) key.
  4. A TX10 Torx screwdriver with a narrow shaft (a multi-tool type screwdriver with interchangeable bits probably won't work).
  5. A hand file: if the PCBs you purchased are slightly different in size to the ones I bought, it may be necessary to slightly tweak the size by filing the edges.
  6. Wire cutters and wire strippers.
  7. A tool for crimping standard red & blue coloured crimp terminals.
  8. A means of programming the microcontroller on the development board. There are lots of alternatives for this, but the lowest-cost option is to use the built-in programming capability, for which the only hardware you need is a USB-C cable. You'll need the free STM32CubeProgrammer software or an equivalent.
  9. (Optional but highly recommended) An oscilloscope (any type is fine, including USB ones like this one) for troubleshooting and/or determining the details required for alternative sockets.
  10. (Optional) A USB to 3.3 V TTL serial port converter. I recommend the FTDI TTL-232R-RPI as it is easy to use and to wire up.

Page 1 of 10


This website is free and ad-free, but costs me money to run. If you'd like to support this site, please consider making a small donation or sending me a message to let me know what you liked or found useful.