AEG belt sander HBS1000e

Just a bit of tool review on an AEG belt sander I purchased from the big red hardware shop a weeks back.

In the range the AEG was 2nd most expensive to a makita and heavy enough to suggest quality. Having had previous good Milwaukee power tools I settled on this sander which was destined for slab sanding and other dressing jobs for $199.

On its 3rd run in as many weeks from new today it gave up the ghost, I started hearing a rattling noise coming from the gearbox so I checked the brushes which were perfect although there was a little saw dust in the motor area which was a bit concerning. Any way I pressed on sanding a lump of red box slab with 3 years warranty in the back if my mind, eventually it rattled its way to tool heaven after the rattle worsened and lead to total motor to belt drive disconnection where I could hear the motor operating but no action at the wheels.....dead.

So I set off to said warehouse where after 5 minutes my warranty claim was dealt with and a new unit was in hand. I opted to stay with the AEG penciling it down to infant mortality so its got one more chance before I go back to Makita.

I was pretty impressed with the AEG's torque and variable speed although a wider belt would be beneficial it's not a major draw back. Good value for money so far but I will report back if the 2nd unit fails. Also Bunnies was really good with the claim at Kirrawee and there was no questions asked for a straight replacement or whatever claim I requested.

It sounds to me as if the drive belt betwixt motor and belt pulley has let go.

It's probably the most common failure with belt sanders: there's often phenomenal torque transferred to this relatively small, flexible part. That's why they're usually either grooved or toothed: extra friction = extra traction.

Don't worry, drive belts are just another consumable part like bearings and brushes.

Update: after using the new AEG unit I replaced the faulty one with it also was a victim of infant mortality. Same clunky grindy gearbox symptoms on the first run no matter what speed or pressure was used before total death, it had a total of 20 minutes of glory.

Needless to say I am now a proud returned makita user.

Poor man pays twice aye, except this time I thought I was buying quality.

It must be hard to design a good belt sander.

What appears a relatively simple tool, using bevel gears to transfer the rotatation of "inline" sanders through 90 degrees to the belt drive seems to beyond the capabilities of many manufacturers.

Even those who previously made them now licence the design from more proficient makers.

Festool some time ago purchased Holz Her, a German manufacturer of quality belt sanders. These very old Holz Her designs are still made in precisely the same specification today - but now in Festool livery. Presumably Tooltechnic, being a relatively small company lacked the technical resources to design their own. The originals in fact were so good that they've carried over unchanged.

At the same time they "squeezed out" other licencees of the design, such as Metabo, whose BAE1075 was the exact same tool as the Festool BS75E/Holz Her 2410, with the exception of a superior, adjustable front handgrip.

Over the years other manufacturers, B&D and Bosch among others, also used licenced adaptations of Holz Her's design. B&D's version is long gone, however Bosch are still making their own version in their Swiss Scintilla facility.

Metabo now seem to be marketing the same product, presumably from the same East Asian manufacturing facility, as the AEG you have. Never thought I'd see the day when as venerated a manufacturer as Metabo sells rubbish!

I have one of the old Metabo BAE1075 sanders, and an even older Swiss Bosch PBS75AE, in "Green" livery. Unlike the others the latter is fixed speed, and at only 600w it's a bit gutless on the coarser grits (P24 & 36), tending to bog down a little in tough going. Nevertheless, it's done sterling work over the last 30 odd years, having sanded literally thousands of square meters of projects, flooring new and old, weatherboards, and even being used overhead on VJ lining! Apart from needing platens, brushes and drive belts, the only replacement part to date has been a locking spring for the belt tracking knob, which had become compressed over the years allowing the belt tracking to wander!

It's life can literally be measured in hectares!

The Metabo is even better, being powerful and (variable speed) versatile, and having superior extraction capability. Which is precisely why they're now branded Festool, leaving Metabo with only a rubbish (AEG) design to sell these days.

As previously mentioned, the Metabo has a much better ergonomically designed front grip, which just "works" better than the Holz Her/Festool original. It is also removeable without tools, allowing slightly closer sanding into corners. The icing on the cake, however is that it screws into the inversion stand hole on top, allowing the sander to be safely used vertically on walls (or a ship's hull) and inverted (overhead). Together with power extraction, this is the only belt sander I know that can be safely used vertically and overhead.

Good round up ratbag, far better than the chippys mates I have suggesting the better belt sanders are the ones that go faster when you sit on them and race them.

Same experience. Bought the 10kW AEG belt sander, took it home and after half an hours use the belt drive disintegrated.
Took it back got a replacement and the same thing happened again. Although this one was better, it lasted 1 hour.

I bought one of these years ago, no problem with it.They dont make them any more, but were made in Germany, I guess the yellow black ones are made in China.:((

https://www.google.com.au/imgres?img...act=mrc&uact=8