Thread: Festool sander needs repair

Well the first thing I would do is argue the toss over the warranty. In a fair environment it would be covered - I had a Sony LCD screen starting to get dropout pixels and it was replaced about 4-6 months out of warranty, and that was a $2000+ repair. 99% of the screen was still fine, but it was getting worse every week. As I recall the cost to me was $200, and that would have been mainly for the PU and return of the screen from my home.

If your sander has had less than the amount of running hours for professional use then I would say you have a strong (moral) case. It should at least be repaired for a nominal charge that soon out of warranty.

Hi Cameron,

I have always found Tooltechnic (Festool) to be honest and reputable to do business with. Whether you have a case (moral or otherwise) I don't know.
I suggest you do one of two things or possibly both. Contact Vek tools and have a word to them about the issue. They deal quite a lot in Festool Products
I believe you might be well served calling the Head Office Service guys (Melbourne), they may be able to offer you a refurb motor for less money.
While I am not a FSE, it is possible that something has happened in the gear box and maybe this is attached to the motor, resulting in the entire motor unit needing replacement. So the orbital function still works, but the random function does not.

Hope this helps,

Regards,

Rob

Thanks for the replies

I need to add more info...

When this happened I was unable to find my receipt as I was newly married and had moved.

When I found it (maybe a couple of months later) I saw the damage happened outside the warranty period anyway...

I emailed them with these details and was told to send in in for a quote...and if I didn't proceed then it would cost me to send it back.

I have delayed sending it in since i was going to get a neighbour look at it.....or I could buy one from US for under $200

I didn't get around to either... so the other day I returned it to where I bought it. They sent it away for the quote.

So, any potential moral grounds are long gone...

Thanks Rob, you may be right. I just thought $315 was ridiculous....

Originally Posted by FenceFurniture

If your sander has had less than the amount of running hours for professional use then I would say you have a strong (moral) case. It should at least be repaired for a nominal charge that soon out of warranty.

I contacted them maybe 4-6months outside of the warranty period....they gave zero indication they would look at it for me without substantial repair costs...

It was used maybe twice a month...only to sand the wood filler from arcitraves. Rarely used for anything else. The first suede effect I had sanded was the one that broke it. Maybe I pushed too hard?

Still not hard use overall...I expected MUCH more for the price....

Hi Cameron,
Just FYI. I have a ETS 150/3 which I bought in 2007 from Power Tool Specialists in Carlton. It gets 2-4 hours use per day, 6 days a week. It has never missed a beat. Some tools have to die early and some long after warranty or statistics would mean nothing, but I'm sorry to hear of your bad luck.

You asked elsewhere what is the best sander for one hand operation. I would have no hesitation in saying the Festool ETS150/3 is the "Ducks Nuts".

Regards,

Rob

Cheers Rob

I originally bought the 125 because it had no handle and was easy to use without rounding the edges and it had a compact size. Everything else at the time had a handle or was bulky and not as easy to use.

I'll check it out...