ETS 125 EQ shudders and seems to be underpowered

[ghostofhoward]

I recently got one of the refurbished ETS 125 EQ sanders and was using it tonight.When I put any amount of weight on it, even just the weight of my arm, it slows down and begins to vibrate badly,almost shuddering.I turned the vac down to the lowest setting and while that helped slightly it did not solve the issue.I am confident this can not be normal.I have read that sanders need to be broken in and so I ran it upside down for 45 min or so but i wonder if a refurbished sander would even need breaking in.Any advice?I really dont want to ship it back

 

[GaryLaroff]

I have most of the Festool sanders but am "only" a hobbyist, so I don't put 8 hours a day on sanders like some of the other Foggers.  I found the ETS 125 to be the physically weakest sander.  It is a finish sander and guess that it is not designed to compete with other, stronger 5 inch ROS on the market, such as the ones from PC.  That said, it takes a lot longer than 45 minutes to break it in.  I think I ran it right side up for 4 to 6 hours, but more knowledgeable people did as you did and ran it upside down.  Try this: first put at least another 3 or 4 hours on it and then try it for a while with fairly fine abrasive and high speed.  When new, it seems to run better that way.  Some years ago Consumer Reports ranked 5-inch ROS sanders by weighing the amount of sanding dust they could generate in a given amount of time.  If they ranked the ETS 125 that way it would probably come out last.  On the other end of the scale, I use it regularly the level and remove veneer tape from my marquetry panels which have less than 1/32 inch thickness of veneer.  The ETS 125 is nice and gentle and can perform reliably, just not strongly.

Hope this helped.  Try to break it in a little more and then please report back to us.
Gary

 

[nickao]

As much as I dislike the ETS 125 I never had a bad vibration, not even new out of the box. Underpowered, 100% for sure, bad vibration, not in my experience.

 

[junk731]

It's not you or break in time, send it in for repair and make sure you send a list of the problems your having. It might help Festool get to the bottom of the problem some, not all of these sanders have. Former ETS125 owner.

John

 

[Administrator_JSVN]

Make sure you have the speed control set to 6. There's rarely an instance when you'll want to use the ETS 125 at less than full speed. If you're still having trouble with it after checking that, please contact the service department. Their number is below in my signature. Alternatively, feel free to PM or email me with your contact details and a convenient time and I'll have someone call you.

Shane

 

[ghostofhoward]

Thanks for the replies.Shane, it was turned to the highest speed, I did turn it to a slower speed to see if it would make a difference but it didn't.Thanks for the contact info,I better give Festool a call.

 

[Theshipstore]

I use the ETS 125 for finish sanding only and over a two year period of time I never had any problems at all.
I realized from the start it was for finish sanding and I went out and bought an RO 125 ( staying in the 5" paper size ) that I use for more aggressive sandings
I have heard the 125 knocked by many, but in my case it works great

 

[AlexThePalex]

Works great for me too. One of my favourite sanders. Do I actually have a Festool sander that's not my favourite? [scratch chin] Hmmmm ....... well, maybe the RTS not so ....... but the rest is  [not worthy] [thumbs up]