Thread: Festool Sander Vibration

No, yer not stuck. Rotary mode can be tough to control and requires good technique and practice. I have found that if the sander is jumping a good bit in rotary, it is due to the sander not actually being quite flat (level) on the surface. It is easy to think you are level when you aren't (DAMHIKT ).

Try this. Next time you are using the rotary mode, lift up on the handle a bit until you find the control suddenly becomes much easier. That is the level position.

Yeah, I am using the FELTOOLS too, and sometimes it is vibrated very much, two advice for you, 1) check your suction air, maybe too strong, 2) check your circle pad and clean it.

I have tried that and it does help, but the vibration I am referring to makes the sander skip a bit across the surface of the timber. This problem has been widely reported in the USA for the ETS 125 and I think I will try Brice's suggestion to leave it running flat out for at last 8 hours to break-in the brushes.

I'll probably try that while I am at work tomorrow.

Originally Posted by TP1

I have tried that and it does help, but the vibration I am referring to makes the sander skip a bit across the surface of the timber. This problem has been widely reported in the USA for the ETS 125 and I think I will try Brice's suggestion to leave it running flat out for at last 8 hours to break-in the brushes.

I'll probably try that while I am at work tomorrow.

How did you go?

I've only just had a chance to leave the sander running all day and it does seem to have done the trick. The skipping across the timber seems to have gone away and I can now effectively use the sander.

I find that the ETS 125 is great for finer sanding work and I can get away with using it on a shellac finish, whereas the Rotex with its more powerful random orbit gums up the sandpaper.

I have to say though, I still don't think the Festool ETS 125 is as smooth as my Bosch 125 mm sander but I am now happy with it.

A further update - I ran the ETS-125 for an additional 5 hours and it is now running "right" - so much so I can't believe the difference - thanks again to Brice for the suggestion.

Although I am a little mystified why Festool would release tools like this without supplying appropriate instructions to address this issue, I was pleased to discover the sander was running as cool as a cucumber after several hours at full speed on a couple of very hot Perth summer days. Kinda gives you confidence in its longevity.

I'm glad it all worked out for you. I agree this is a bit strange that Festool doesn't make this info more readily available. Although, both of my ETS125 and DTS400 worked fine without any break in necessary. My however, RTS400 ran much better after a few hours of run time. It's these three sander that seem to benefit the most from the break in period.

Playing devils advocate here, in that perhaps Festool may not want to admit that to "bed in" this sander by having to do what has been mentioned, may be a failing on their part.

But I'm happy with my Festool gear.

Cheers

I have been watching this thread with interest. I personally have not had to bed in a Festool tool - ever that I can recall. So I was wondering if this bedding in would really work. But it looks like it has. In fact, I was resting the urge from day one of TP1s issue to say 'just take it back to the Festool dealer or Festool to diagnose and correct - in whatever form correction would have / should have taken.

Now, it looks like it is running smooth now, and TP1 is happy. But remember, your Festool dealer and Festool are there to serve in situations like this. even if it is just to get an official "yeah, its only the brushes that need bedding in, run it for a few hours and it will sort itself out".

Anyway, I am taking TP1s experience on-board, and bedding in may be a easy and quick user fix before sending back for inspection by by a service department. It's been interesting watching this thread and TP1s issue resolve. Good posts by everyone.

I was going to take it back if the bedding in thing didn't work. The vibration was weird - the motor ran smooth but the sander would jump around sporadically - the sticking bushes made sense. Brice mentioned that this was common in the USA and it appears that the suggestion to run the machine for several hours straight came from Festool themselves originally.

However, for the price of these things it would be nice for Festool to be a bit more proactive. As John mentioned, perhaps they don't want anyone to think less of the sanders and chances are, they may have revised the type of brushes being used by now.