My Rigid random orbital sander is going berserk

[Packard]

I have a Rigid random orbital sander for about 5 years.  It works well.  The dust collection is particularly effective, even just using the included catcher bag.

Yesterday, the sander started running at vastly higher speeds.  It has a selector that runs from 1 to 9.  The “1” is now faster than the “9” ever was. 

This is the second one that has done this.  Like this one, the first one lasted about 5 years.  These are inexpensive sanders and it probably comes to less than $10.00 per year.

I have ordered a Bosch unit to replace this. 

I am curious as to what would be going on that makes an electric motor speed up like this.  I have not experienced this with any other electric tool.

 

[squall_line]

If it's brushless, then possibly a control board going out.

If it's brushed, a bad/dead brush can cause all sorts of issues.  To wit, my coffee grinder's motor went to a much higher speed/pitch when the non-user-replaceable brushes died.  I diagnosed it as a brush issue because it occasionally would not start, but would start if you manually turned the rotor 90 degrees and tried again (that was specific to that motor and brush arrangement, I believe).

If it has a pad brake, maybe the pad brake is worn through?

 

[twistsol1]

Did you register it with Ridgid when you bought it? I have a 5" sander from them that has been repaired 3 times in a decade under the lifetime service agreement. It wasn't the speediest of repairs, but it was free.

 

[Packard]

I was about 5 years ago.  I probably did not register it.  I simply do not remember.

I assume that all the manufacturers specify and buy the motors and controllers.  I doubt that any of them actually manufacture the motors or controllers. 

Question:  Is a 5 year life span typical?  Unlike an electric drill, the sander may log much longer times of use.  Drilling a hole takes about 15 or so seconds.

Sanding a panel can take minutes or longer.  So sanders have longer usages under load. 

My central dust collection runs for far longer periods of time.  I don’t know if it would be considered “under load” though.

 

[squall_line]

Question:  Is a 5 year life span typical?  Unlike an electric drill, the sander may log much longer times of use.  Drilling a hole takes about 15 or so seconds.

Sanding a panel can take minutes or longer.  So sanders have longer usages under load. 

My central dust collection runs for far longer periods of time.  I don’t know if it would be considered “under load” though.

Honestly, for a $50 sander (you mentioned it amortized to $10/year for the 5 years you used it), a 5 year life seems pretty generous if it received more than just occasional use touching up a nail fill here and there.

 

[Packard]

Question:  Is a 5 year life span typical?  Unlike an electric drill, the sander may log much longer times of use.  Drilling a hole takes about 15 or so seconds.

Sanding a panel can take minutes or longer.  So sanders have longer usages under load. 

My central dust collection runs for far longer periods of time.  I don’t know if it would be considered “under load” though.

Honestly, for a $50 sander (you mentioned it amortized to $10/year for the 5 years you used it), a 5 year life seems pretty generous if it received more than just occasional use touching up a nail fill here and there.

I bought the same sander as before because $10.00 per year seemed like an OK assessment. 

The problem was, I was sanding some pieces with 320 grit paper and when it sped up unexpectedly it left burn marks on the wood (which was to recieve a beeswax finish).

I hand sanded out the burn marks but it took a good bit of time.  The Bosch unit is priced similarly.  Hopefully it will give some warning that it is about to fail.  The Rigid unit ambushed me.

 

[smorgasbord]

Since this is the FESTOOL Owner's Group, I'll just put out here that I recently upgraded from my 'worked fine for decades of home shop use' Bosch random orbit sander to an ETS EC and the difference is performance and comfort is night and day.

I know the ETS 125 is probably twice the price of the Bosch you just ordered, but if you can swing the extra cash, I bet you wouldn't be disappointed.

 

[Packard]

Since this is the FESTOOL Owner's Group, I'll just put out here that I recently upgraded from my 'worked fine for decades of home shop use' Bosch random orbit sander to an ETS EC and the difference is performance and comfort is night and day.

I know the ETS 125 is probably twice the price of the Bosch you just ordered, but if you can swing the extra cash, I bet you wouldn't be disappointed.

I paid $60.00 for the Bosch.  The ETS 125 is $250.00.  It would have to last 30 years for it to make sense dollars and cents-wise.  I’m 75; so that would put be at 105 years of age.  I’m having doubts about that.

 

[squall_line]

Since this is the FESTOOL Owner's Group, I'll just put out here that I recently upgraded from my 'worked fine for decades of home shop use' Bosch random orbit sander to an ETS EC and the difference is performance and comfort is night and day.

I know the ETS 125 is probably twice the price of the Bosch you just ordered, but if you can swing the extra cash, I bet you wouldn't be disappointed.

I paid $60.00 for the Bosch.  The ETS 125 is $250.00.  It would have to last 30 years for it to make sense dollars and cents-wise.  I’m 75; so that would put be at 105 years of age.  I’m having doubts about that.

Unless the next piece of wood that gets burnt is an expensive piece of rare wood that happens the day before you need to finish the project, of course.

As a hobbyist, that's probably not the case, just pointing out the value proposition of opportunity costs for others who may come later.

 

[Packard]

The Bosch has a convenient way to hook up central dust collection.  The Rigid does too, but a small sanding job would have me re-attaching it 5 or more times.  I’m hoping that the Bosch works better in that regard.

Thirty years ago the random orbital sander industry was still finding its way.  The differences in performance appears to be much smaller than the early iterations were. 

I think that all the manufacturers are gravitating to a similar design spec. 

 

[smorgasbord]

... It would have to last 30 years for it to make sense dollars and cents-wise.  I’m 75; so that would put be at 105 years of age.  I’m having doubts about that.

It's not just longevity. I found the performance and comfort of Festool tools to be superior. I'm no youngster myself, so having a sander that doesn't fatigue me and doesn't lead to numbness is worth the money.

 

[luvmytoolz]

It's not just longevity. I found the performance and comfort of Festool tools to be superior. I'm no youngster myself, so having a sander that doesn't fatigue me and doesn't lead to numbness is worth the money.

This is exactly how I ended up buying my Festool sander 40+ years ago after starting to develop quite painful RSI on jobs, never looked back! The prices are actually quite reasonable once you factor in performance, and the ergonomics and health benefits!

 

[Packard]

The Bosch random orbital sander arrived late yesterday (it was supposed to arrive today—no complaint).

I just made a 20 second test.  It transmits substantially less vibrations to my hand. Quieter too.  (Compared to the Rigid).

I will have to read the instructions to figure out how to remove the dust collection bag. 

I will test it later today.

 

[woodferret]

I am curious as to what would be going on that makes an electric motor speed up like this.  I have not experienced this with any other electric tool.

Pure conjecture without seeing it, but...

Short circuit on the rotary potentiometer switch.  Probably the contact wore out and then arc fused the circuit... but why?  Vibrations.  I know the Makita trim router one is free-rotating at certain freqs, so I guess your Rigid sander after much bouncy just wore out the contacts, caused excess heat, then bam!  Vcc+ is typically right next to Output which when short-circuited is dial setting 11.

 

[Packard]

By placing my finger tip on the Velcro pad, I sense that the oscillations are smaller, which would explain the lowered vibrations.

I will have to work with it a bit to see if it cuts as fast.

 

[squall_line]

By placing my finger tip on the Velcro pad, I sense that the oscillations are smaller, which would explain the lowered vibrations.

I will have to work with it a bit to see if it cuts as fast.

Do neither the Ridgid nor Bosch publish the specs of the orbits of their sanders as Festool does on their website and in their manuals?

 

[Packard]

I'll have to check.

 

[smorgasbord]

For Bosch model ROS20VSC there's this:https://www.boschtools.com/us/en/boschtools-ocs/sanders-ros20vsc-39460-p/

1.2 mm orbit, 7500-12000 opm (orbits per minute_)

The Festool ETS 125 REQ-Plus has a 2mm orbit, 6000-12000 rpm.

 

[Packard]

So the smaller orbit means less across the grain sanding?  Smoother? Less vibrations?

The larger orbit means more across the grain sanding and faster cutting?

Ridgid specs:

Specifications
Input 120V, 3 Amps
No Load Speed 7,000 – 12,000 OPM
Orbit Diameter 3/32”
Pad Size 5"
Vacuum Adaptor 2-1/2” and 1-1/4”