Festool feq 150 rotex

Sasa9

Member
Joined
Nov 17, 2018
Messages
9
Hello people, i'm a newbie to this forum and since i'm new to festool world there is one very very
stupid question  ::)
I have bought the rotex 150 feq, and i was curious to see how things works.
I than removed the backing plate and i moved (by hand) gear drive left and right whole circle,then i have checked the plate spins only clockwise when the machine normaly works.
I have been then scared to death that i've screwed something inside by randomly turning the gear mechanism.
Did i do any damage? The machine seems to me quite normal when power on/power off.
Thank you for you time and once again,sorry for my stupid question.

Regards,Sasa.
 
Whilst in gear driven mode (ROTary) it is naturally only going to spin in one direction when powered up.  If you switch to the alternative setting (EXzenter) or eccentric it spins, but in a freewheeling fashion, meaning it can theoretically even spin backwards in some circumstances.

It's just the nature of the beast.  Fear not.  Try switching modes.
 
Thank you for your answer. Yes i have tried both modes but also i have moved it by hand (of course with cable ouf of power supply) in both gear driven where the gears sound different when you turn it opposite from clockwise and eccentric mode,that's the reason for my fear.
I have worked  hard for this machine and don't want to screw something up.
 
Sorry Sasa, can't really help you much further.  I don't have a Rotex any more to check what you're saying.  In fact, I don't have any Festool sanders at all any more.  Festool Australia's incestuous little relationship with the Aust Competition & Consumer Commission was for me the final straw.  Any organisation that dictates selling prices in a deliberately anticompetitive manner to punitively enforce a minimum selling price (resale price maintenance) is both unethical and unconscionable.

Either way, there's absolutely no way I'm going to condone, let alone financially support, this type of disgraceful behaviour.  The Rotex 150 was the last to go:  from nine sanders to zero in 12 months.  From 4 saws to zero in the same time.  From 3 vacs to 1 in the same time-frame.  The last vac I'll keep as it doesn't require any Festo/ol parts to keep running.  I can get everything I require from non-Festool producers -  Starbags, Domel motors, Nilfisk Alto Wap hoses & accessories,  Kemo auto switching circuitry - to keep it running beyond my lifetime.

I now use (& both prefer & recommend)  Mafell's range of saws, & Mirka, Delmeq, Indasa & Rupes brushless sanders.  The latter 3 are still too new to me to definitely recommend, but I intend to augment what I have with another 8mm sweep Mirka DEROS to reproduce the aggression of the Biggest Rotex 150.

I also have a couple of very old Bosch & Metabo detail & mini ROS which actually perform better in many ways than my equivalent Festo/ol Deltex & RO90 sanders ever could.

I'm sure that you'll find your big Rotex useful.  Mine gave me many years of reliable service.  I never had any complaints with my RO150, apart from being a bit too big, heavy & maybe a tad unruly to use overhead & vertically these days....  The RO90 , by contrast, was/is just awful.  Terrible.  Useless.  Tiring.  Evil-mannered.  But in terms of weight, speed & ease of operation, overall ergonomics & smooth running the latest EC sanders from the Finns, Dutch, Portugese/Taiwanese & Italians are just "better mousetraps".

If the Rotex pad can freewheel both ways in EXzenter mode all is well.  Remember, the spindle must lock in the "other" mode for pad exchange.  No Mirka spanners for pad changes here, thank you very much!  If it doen't then send/take it back.  I'm extremely doubtful that anything untoward has happened just from turning the spindle 360 degrees without a pad attached.  Assuming that I've read your post correctly, that is.
 
Sasa9 said:
I have worked  hard for this machine and don't want to screw something up.

I dropped mine 3 meters down the stairs and it didn't screw anything up. Don't worry, a bit of rotation is not going to screw it up, it is sort of made for that.

aloysius said:
Rant rant rant

Helpful.
 
Thanks guys,it seems you have right. It's not china no name sander it is a festool.
I have also saw youtube videos where the festool guy spins the plate in both directions and explains how it works.
 
Definitely moved my Ro125 in both directions. No issues. These things are tough!!!  Mine has been abused for over 5 years, and while I thought I'd finally killed it the other day, £3 on new brushes and away I go again :)

In other news, I LOVE reading how people think selling Festools they already own is a good way to give festool the finger, and not just a MASSIVE waste of their own time and money :)
 
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