Rotex chattering

[blewcrowe]

Have the Rotex 125 (new as of last week). Using in conjuction with C22 (also new) vac. Getting an awful lot of chattering / bouncing as I sand. If this is normal, I sure aint happy. Any ideas?

 

[peter halle]

Welcome to the FOG!

It sounds like you have your vacuum up at too high a speed.  Reduce it down to about one quarter of the way and see if that works better.  Also practice letting the sander do the work - hold the sander - don't put alot of downward pressure on it.

You'll like it soon.

Peter

 

[mavrick1903]

keep in mind in Rotax mode, it spins like a floor buffer. tilt up or down and you will be riding heavier on a side, and it will drive in that direction. It's best not to fight that, but learn to control it, and adapt your grip (pressure) to compensate.

 

[bruegf]

The Rotex, while versatile and powerful, isn't the smoothest Festool sander.  As mentioned above, try turning the vacuum down to half or less.  Its also critical to not tip the sander at all.  Lastly, use the softest pad unless sanding edges.

The Rotex and CT22 were my first Festool purchases, and while I wouldn't part w/ them I finally broke down and got the ETS125 as it is soooooo  much smoother and easier to handle.  But its still hard to beat the Rotex when you need to remove alot of material.

Fred

 

[JohnDistai]

I was set on purchasing the Rotex, and I went and tried it and other sanders as Brice suggested.  I changed my mind and got the ETS 150/5 instead.  Granted, I can't grind a bunch of stuff with it, but it was so much easier to handle.

 

[woodguy7]

My Rotex 150 is still away on repair for the exact same problem.  I am sure i am not the only one one here that has had this problem.  It was at the stage where i could not hold the sander on a flat surface as it was like to jump out of my hands.  I have a new Cleantex & it is turned down but no difference.  I believe it is a known problem with the Rotex sanders, i still think it is a superb piece of kit though.  I think it is on its way back to me (after about 3 weeks  [sad]) so hopefully they have it sorted.

Woodguy.

 

[Corwin]

Another issue with the Festool sanders is the needed break in period...  See this aspect and others in the EST 125 EQ Bounces thread.

 

[woodguy7]

My Rotex is over a year old & gets used daily so that rules that one out for me.

Woodguy.

 

[WarnerConstCo.]

They bounce and chatter when you run them over a dip or hump.
You have to get used to how they work.  I fought with mine for a few months before I learned how to use it.

I also notice no difference in it's performance no matter where I set the suction level of my CT.

Most issues I have with it is user error, mostly being in a hurry.

 

[dharmon]

I noticed that mine would not run as smoothly as it did when it was new.  I noticed that dust would cake up in the counterweight, behind the pad.  After I cleaned these holes out, I noticed that it ran very smooth like new again.  I wonder if there is a way to mount these counterweights differently that wouldn't have the holes for the screws that would trap the dust in them?

Dustin

 

[tbellemare]

Do you gentlemen normally blow out your tools after using them?

I try to make a habit of it but sometimes the compressor isn't on and doesn't have any residual pressure and I get lazy. I almost always put the crevice tool on the CT and give them a good going over if I don't blow them out.

I haven't had any problems except with certain materials, like acrylic or other plastics that make strands if I use certain blades.

I'm wondering because I don't have any of the problems I keep seeing here on the FOG with my Rotex. I've opened customer(s) tools and found compressed build-up of stuff inside them. Is it possible that a regular blasting is the difference?

I'm curious to hear from the membership...

Tom

 

[WarnerConstCo.]

Tom-

I try not to blow my tools out with compressed air.  I don't want to force dust where it shouldn't be.  Weather  or not that is going to happen or not, I don't know.  I do not use compressed air on anything with a sealed bearing either.

The only tool I clean is my kapex but, I just sweep it off with my CT.

I have a question.  If I use my ct-22 to clean my ct-22 off, is that a form of vac cannibalism? [big grin]

 

[Jesse Cloud]

A machinist friend of mine totally freaked when I mentioned that I blew dust out of my tools with compressed air.  His view was that one NEVER NEVER uses compressed air around moving parts - it gets nasty bits where you don't want them and packs them in.

On the other hand, I always use air to clean pads and discs when they have been removed from the tool.

It would be helpful to hear the official Festool line on using compressed air to clean their tools....

 

[tbellemare]

Thanks, gent's...

I've heard the same reasoning in my life but I've heard the opposite also...

If I had an offensive chunk of something in a place it didn't belong and it was too hard to get it out without taking something apart that was better left alone, I was always told to blow it out.

I'm not suggesting that one blow dust into a motor or blow air into a motor. I consider it different to clean the area around the working end of a motor. My examples would be cleaning the area around a blade on a saw or around the pad on a sander. Those areas get chock full of residuals and those residuals can get impacted into serious chunks that can cause loss of function.

If I use my ct-22 to clean my ct-22 off, is that a form of vac cannibalism?

I used to always use one shop vac to keep the other's filter clean. It was a continuous dance and a really noisy one...  [huh]

Tom

 

[AlexThePalex]

At my father's body shop we always use to blow out the tools. Never noticed any negative effects and they always became nice and clean.

 

[PaulMarcel]

I blow out most of the tools, but I do it at a low pressure.  At the end of the day, I blow out my garage shop with a leaf blower.  Usually I'll hit the tools I used in passing.  Not a lot of pressure.  If I use compressed air, I have the regulator down to 20 psi and I don't stick the nozzle into any orifices. 

 

[greg mann]

I have a question.  If I use my ct-22 to clean my ct-22 off, is that a form of vac cannibalism? [big grin]

There was a commercial for a time where big M&Ms were caught eating little M&Ms. I thought it was clever and it cracked me up everytime I saw it. They must've received some complaints (obviously from someone with no sense of humor) because I haven't seen it for quite a while.

 

[dharmon]

I've never used compressed air on my tools, either.

 

[Dan Clermont]

I find the 125 size sanders to stutter when a dust extractor is set to full suction. Turn the suction down.

Also concur that the sanders need about 8 hours of run time before the brushes properly seat and run "smoother"

Just my Canadian Two Cents
Dan Clermont