RO90 Dust Build Up

[nkpaintingvt]

Hello folks,

I'm having some issues with my RO90 accumulating lots of dust in the chamber where the different heads attach. It's definitely worse with the delta head but still occurs with the circular head. This occurs regardless of what I'm sanding, sander speed, and vacuum suction.

This is really only a mild annoyance, as it makes it difficult to switch heads when it gets that gummed up. I do wonder if it's detrimental to the sander in any way though. Thoughts or remedies?

Thanks,

Noah

 

[Locks14]

Same thing happens to mine.

I recently mentioned I'm not overly impressed with the sander. It's what I'd describe as just an adequate tool, but at £350 I expected more. I expected better dust collection, I expected it not to get so hot and I didn't expect this issue of having to unclog the dust with a screwdriver or other implement.

The material removal rate of the delta head is also sub par IMO, my £100 Bosch multitool with delta head is much more proficient at removing stripping painted surfaces than the RO90. 

 

[Scott B.]

Mine does it too.

In the picture, where the tip of my pencil is, there is the slot where dust heads to the extraction port and on to the hose and extractor. If that slot gets clogged, I'd be very concerned. I have not seen that happen yet.

Keep in mind that the shiny circular piece is spinning when the sander is on, and the U shaped shoulder on it seems to act as a spinning shroud to keep dust heading to extraction. Mine usually ends up pretty loaded about the same time as the sander has passed more than its own weight in dust. I don't think it really has much effect on extraction. If I am sanding all day with it, I do scratch it out 2-3 times during the day. I think it is just the heat of the dust passing through that causes some to gum up and load.

It only bothers me in the same way as having dirt under my fingernails does. Doesn't really change the way the fingers work. Just reminds me to trim my nails.

[attachimg=1]

 

[Scott B.]

When I first started noticing it, to put it in perspective I looked up the rpm's for the sander. It is listed at 3500-7000. If we figured an average of 5000, then in 6 hours of sanding, that is almost 2 million. Then I think of hand sanding.  [scared]

 

[nkpaintingvt]

Good to know it's not just mine. It's not a deal breaker, and although I definitely have to clear mine far more than 2-3 times/day, I suppose all I can do is live with it. Scott, you make a valid point that it's leagues better than the hand sanding alternative!

The material removal rate of the delta head is also sub par IMO, my £100 Bosch multitool with delta head is much more proficient at removing stripping painted surfaces than the RO90. 

Other than the dust clogging I'm extremely happy with the delta function, and I never expected its material removal rate on painted surfaces to be stellar. I generally use a hand tool to clean out corners and use it for a finish sand.

 

[Scott B.]

When I first started noticing it, to put it in perspective I looked up the rpm's for the sander. It is listed at 3500-7000. If we figured an average of 5000, then in 6 hours of sanding, that is almost 2 million. Then I think of hand sanding.  [scared]

Maybe that makes it hundreds of dollars better than hand sanding.
However it doesn't make it hundreds of dollars better than a different sander.
For that one needs to understand whether the $50 and the $500 sanders all suffer from dust entrapment similarly. Or whether the material and finish of the sander affect it, or whether some teflon or sputter coating would mitigate dust entrapment.

The 1.8 million orbits is ~17 km of linear sanding.
If one is hand-stroking a sanding pad, then that is about a 15" stroke and back every second to the get the 17 km of sanding.
I suspect that hand sanding requires less sanding and when I hand sanding I do not generally see swirls. [wink]

I guess I didn't see this as a price gripe thread.

If anyone can demonstrate to me that the residual dust shown in the pictures has any negative impact on extraction, I will make it my mission to solve it.

I will also solve mud that sticks to tires.

[wink]

 

[Cheese]

WOW...must be that time of the month when common sense regresses and radical thoughts prevale. It's probably a moon earth thing...I guess I'd much rather use electricity than use my elbow.

 

[jools]

All sanders gum up. My belt sanders (Makita) fur up internally as does an old AEG and Bosch orbital. If you want real problems run a fein as a delta sander with or without their rubbish dust extraction and see what the inside of the motor compartment looks like. You've got dust extraction going with the RO90 so just suck the build up off. It's not detrimental to the sanders performance. I like my RO90 and it was my first Festool. For sanding the surfaces it was designed for it is the king and I have had no problem with removal rates of old paint and varnish on door and window frames. Any delta headed sander is going to perform poorly on internal corners with limited movement, heat buildup and small amount of grit to remove old coatings. I use a scraper first, sharp chisel etc. then sand and that works best for me. Hand sanding. No way I'd do that anymore [big grin] my days of hand removal of finishes are long gone. Hand finishing that's different. Where the final work is best done by hand, the best interface between you and the work

 

[AlexThePalex]

However it doesn't make it hundreds of dollars better than a different sander.

What different sander? There is no sander like the RO90 that has 3 modes.

 

[Holmz]

That is my point Alex...
whoa!
Did the post get edited?
I swore it said something like "it was worth every penny compared to hand sanding".

As there is no context... I'll remove posts.

 

[TomE]

Same when I use mine, don't really notice until I change the heads, just use a flux brush kept in the case to clean it out at mid day break.
Claimed for relatively dust free with extraction over time of use.
Not claimed for maintenance free over same time of use.

 

[jacko9]

I used my RO90 yesterday and today to sand the old finish off a Ipe Deck railing and as soon as the interface chamber filled up with dust the extraction efficiency fell off where dust  was everywhere around the head and on the decking.  I had the clean out the head with every disc change (or more often) and this is a little more than annoying since the Ipe dust was all over the place instead of in my CT22 extractor.  Yes it could have been worst without the CT22 but there seems to be a design flaw in the dust flow path that might be fixed in future releases.  I was using 60 and 80 grit Granat with both the circular pad and the extended tip delta pad.

Jack