Rotax RO 150 E Replace bearings

[dboy]

First post, bare with for a newbie question.

Got my first used Festool, and it turns out the bearings are worn out. It makes an unpleasent sound (not terrible, but definitely not ok). I dissassembled it partly and it is a clear wobble and play in some of the bearings, but I am not sure how to get the bearings of the shafts and seats the best way.

Is there some instructions/manuals somewhere? I want to avoid the cost of sending it away if in anyway possible. I assume it is quite possible to diy it without special tools?

 

[AlexThePalex]

You're in virgin territory here, I don't think many people here have experience with that, never read about it here in the last 9 years I'm a member.

Bearings in powertools are often pressure fit, sometimes with a temperature treatment (hot or cold) to add some extra clamping pressure due to shrinking when the temperature evens out. Not sure if Festool uses that.

I do think you might need some special tools or custom made jigs to distribute the force evenly around the bearing. Let us know how it works out.

 

[greg mann]

If you are in virgin territory from Alex's perspective that is saying something. Maybe some pictures would help us (Alex) advise you without getting you into part damaging trouble.

 

[DynaGlide]

Depends on the bearings. Heat/cold are your friend. You'll need a way to extract the old without damaging the bores. Again need to see pictures. I've R&R'ed pretty much any bearing situation you'd encounter.

 

[RpeII]

My Rotex just broke after about 4 years. If you do not have experience in working with bearings and gears and understand how to shim gears I would suggest sending it to an authorized service company.
I have been working with percision equipment for over 35 years so it was pretty simple for me. A nice little arbor press would almost be a must but with a little ingenuity you could use your vice and another set of hands to ease the process.
My advice to you would be take a lot of pictures as you disassemble your sander. My armature and bevel gear gave out not electrically the gear stripped. I went ahead and just replaced all the bearings while it was apart bearings are cheap. Assembly can be a bit tricky if you don't know what your doing you will just be wasting your time and money. I also went ahead and just replaced the brushes since I replaced the armature. It works perfect. Rotex sanders are loud and do sound like it's about to come apart right out of the box. My rebuild went perfect I spent a little over 100 US dollars to fix it well worth it considering I would have to drop a bunch of money to purchase another sander. Hands down the best sander on the market I'm going to purchase the RO 90 soon since most of my projects are small.