Sirge, its not a matter of how long, as in how many years you've used the sanding pad, but the amount of use its seen. Over time the pads do deteriorated, its normal. Just like any hook and loop (Velcro) sanding pads can wear out just from the number of times that its been used, the paper coming off and going on in this case.
Premature failure of a sanding pad is caused by excess heat generated from sanding. This excess heat is caused by too much downward pressure on the sanding pad. The are a few reasons to why people have too downward pressure. First is the person is pushing down while sanding, second is using just the sanders edge to sand and third is too much suction from the vacuum. To prevent overheating of the sanding pads try putting no or very little downward pressure on the sander, in other words, let the sander do the work. Hold the sander flat on the surface, I know its tempting to use the sanders edge to quickly sand a stubborn spot, just know if you do, you're shortening the pads life. Keep the sander moving, this help from building up heat. And if you're using a Festool vac, turn the vac's section down until the sander sort of glides on the surface. The sander shouldn't feel like the its being sucked down by the vac. Good luck and let us know if you have more questions.
Oh, yeah, I almost forgot, welcome to the forum!
