"DST 400"?

[Fred West]

I just received my DST 400 yesterday and spent about an hour and a half today running it through the paces. I am absolutely thrilled with it with one exception which I will mention shortly. The weight of the unit, the ability with the delta pad to get into corners and the dust collection are as always superb. My single issue is the speed setting of one and I apologize if this is redundant.

What I found was the vibration at level one was such as to render it virtually useless. This all changed as soon as I hit level two and higher the sander was a dream to use. Has anyone else experienced this issue and if so were you able to overcome it? Thank you in advance, Fred

 

[Bob Marino]

Fred,

I honestly don't know why there are speeds so low as to render the sander useless, but this does happen with other sanders too, maybe to a lesser extent, but it there and nothing to worry about. I can't imagine sanding at the lowest speed on the sanders.

Bob

 

[Jesse Cloud]

Ditto what Bob said.  I can't remember ever using a sander at its slowest speed.  I'll bet there's some engineering reason for it though....

I use the 400 a lot and wouldn't give it up for anything.

Just FYI, I was reading a thread on another forum asking folks "what was the worst tool you ever bought?"  The tool mentioned more than any other was detail sanders., mainly the grey colored ones.  Looks like Festool did a good job on a tough problem!

 

[Ned]

Fred,

The DTS 400's been on my wish list for a while (starting as a DS 400).  Congratulations.

It's been mentioned that Festools need some old-fashioned break-in.  I remember seeing a claim here that the DS and RS sanders developed about half their output when straight out of the box, but after 10 hours of use wore in and performed as designed.  If it's not making full power, perhaps that's why "1" is so rough, like a car with the idle speed set just a bit too slow.

I'd run the new sander for a while and see if it smooths out.  Unless what you're doing demands slow speed, run it in at "6".

BTW, would you change the subject of this thread to "DTS 400"?  That way the Search will work.

Ned

 

[Forrest Anderson]

It's been mentioned that Festools need some old-fashioned break-in.  I remember seeing a claim here that the DS and RS sanders developed about half their output when straight out of the box, but after 10 hours of use wore in and performed as designed.  If it's not making full power, perhaps that's why "1" is so rough, like a car with the idle speed set just a bit too slow.

I'd run the new sander for a while and see if it smooths out.  Unless what you're doing demands slow speed, run it in at "6".

You are probably thinking of this entry in the Festool FAQ Database:

Question:
I recently purchased a Festool sander and it seems to experience fluctuations in power.

Answer:
All Festool 120 volt power tools use brush-type universal motors with self-seating brushes. These brushes are serrated on the surface with narrow triangular grooves. The grooved texture of this surface needs to be worn down to the solid carbon substrate before the tool will reach peak performance. This is called the break in period. During this break-in period the brush takes on the same cylindrical shape that perfectly matches the curvature of the spinning armature, resulting in full contact. Some of our tools need to be run for as long as 10 hours before the brushes take on this shape and the motor develops full power. Your sander will be susceptible to power line fluctuations during this period and may not run at a constant speed.

This difference in power is more noticeable in the tools with smaller motors such as the ES 125, DS 400 and RS 400 sanders. A new small sander doesn?t seem to have as much power as one that has been run for a while. Brand new, these sanders develop less than half their rated power. Use these machines for at least a couple of hours before deciding that something is wrong. This also will free up the bearing seals and break in the rubber collars so that the whole mechanism develops more freedom of movement.

Forrest

 

[Fred West]

Thank you all for your replies. I actually meant to add that I could not imagine using the sander at a speed setting of one but was curious as to why it acted as it does. Fred