Sent back Pro 5 LTD

[wetndry]

Sent back my Pro 5 after 2 days use.  Hard to control and terrible surface finish.  My RO90 is easier to control and gives a better finish.  Looks like I will have to wait at least 2 more weeks to get a sander that works.  That will make almost 7 months from time of order.  I have seen post from others that had their sanders repaired to their satisfaction.  Hope I fair as well.

The other issue that is not repairable is the new dust collection connector.  It drops about a tsp dust every time you disconnect it and that is a problem when sanding lead paints.  The festool system has been certified for sanding lead paints and is one of the reasons I bought it.  This new connector may be an issue with certification.  I will have to get into a habit of leaving the sander/vacuum running when disconnecting a nd pull hose off slowly.

 

[ear3]

I guess it's too late to experiment, but did you try adjusting suction while using the Pro5?  On the smaller sanders, this can often make a difference in cutting down on the jumpiness/stickiness you observed.

 

[waterloomarc]

I got one of the first sanders sent out, and mine was a dog. I finally got off my arse and set it in a couple weeks back (I have plenty of sanders but couldn't resist the deal). It came back with a letter saying they replaced a bearing shaft and two bearings. Mine works satisfactorily now, at least up to par with the old ETS 125 anyhow.

 

[wetndry]

I guess it's too late to experiment, but did you try adjusting suction while using the Pro5?  On the smaller sanders, this can often make a difference in cutting down on the jumpiness/stickiness you observed.

High suction, low suction, and now suction.  Made no difference.  Low speed, high speed and everything in between. No difference. Light pressure to heavy pressure. Did not help.  The only thing that made a little difference is when the abrasive was worn.  I have owned festool sanders for 7 years so I have been through the learning curve.  Thats why I gave the sander 2 days of sanding before sending in.

 

[Oldwood]

I sent my Pro 5 back last week for the same reasons. Rough to use bounces all over the piece being sanded. I gave it a good try out and could not get it to work properly. I own a ETS150 RO150 and a RO90 all of which work fine. The Pro5 is supposed to be a finish sander like the ETS150 but it was nothing like that sander to use. I understand being a smaller footprint it will less stable but I don't have a issue with the RO90.

FWIW
Gerry

 

[waterloomarc]

I guess it's too late to experiment, but did you try adjusting suction while using the Pro5?  On the smaller sanders, this can often make a difference in cutting down on the jumpiness/stickiness you observed.

High suction, low suction, and now suction.  Made no difference.  Low speed, high speed and everything in between. No difference. Light pressure to heavy pressure. Did not help.  The only thing that made a little difference is when the abrasive was worn.  I have owned festool sanders for 7 years so I have been through the learning curve.  Thats why I gave the sander 2 days of sanding before sending in.

Ditto, this was my 5th festool sander all of which are paired with their extractor. Nothing made the Pro-5, as shipped, usable. The only was i could use mine was to partially lift if off the the wood which obviously negated a lot of the sanding action...and even then it left terrible swirls!

But like I said it seems to work fine now. Although I haven't actually applied a finish over it yet. I just tested it for the jumpiness.

 

[butzla]

I love mine.  Smoother than my ets125 and the brake on the disc makes me wish all my other Festools had it.

 

[Cheese]

...and the brake on the disc makes me wish all my other Festools had it.

FWIW...I decided to time the effectiveness of the brakes on my three 125mm sanders because I noticed such a large variation between the 3.
I cranked all of them up to speed 6 and then measured the time it took for them to come to a complete stop for 5 on/off cycles.

ETS EC 125 = 6.5 sec/5 =1.3 sec avg.
Pro 5 = 13.0 sec/5 = 2.6 sec avg.
ETS 125 = 17.5 sec/5 = 3.5 sec avg. 

No wonder the ETS EC is my favorite 125mm sander... [cool]

 

[travisj]

I sent my Pro 5 and a new DTS400 both in for warranty repairs.  Both sanders behaved the same.  Bounced and bucked all over.  The DTS bounced so bad on an inside corner it messed up the pad.  Speed and suction adjustments did nothing.  The top halves of both sanders are the same and they were manufactured a month apart (July and August of 2016).  I am curious as to the feedback from Festool Service on these two.

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[Cheese]

Interestingly enough, I've been using my Pro 5 sander for the last 5 months on fir, ply, drywall, maple and Jatoba. I've been using it on speed 5 or 6 with excellent results. I am very happy with the results.

So today, I decided to level 5-6 coats of clear poly that I applied to an HVAC vent routed from Jatoba. It literally jumped all over the place when set at speed 6 while using 400 grit Granat. I had to dial it down to speed 1 before it would perform properly and even then it was difficult to properly guide around the item.

Very strange...

 

[antss]

You sending it in for repair ? 

 

[Cheese]

You sending it in for repair ?

Na, I don't think so...it probably only has 8-10 hours of use so it will eventually bed in. Also interesting is that I sanded the same raw HVAC Jatoba vent with 220 Granat and moved in the direction of the routed vent grooves without issues. When performing the same task with the poly and 400 Granat, it bucked hard enough to take out 1 sheet of 400 at speed 6 and 1 sheet of 400 at speed 3 before I finally cranked it down to speed 1. Even on speed 1 I still have to be very, very careful about how I move the Pro 5.

Strange...

 

[Paul G]

I sent my Pro 5 and a new DTS400 both in for warranty repairs.  Both sanders behaved the same.  Bounced and bucked all over.  The DTS bounced so bad on an inside corner it messed up the pad.  Speed and suction adjustments did nothing.  The top halves of both sanders are the same and they were manufactured a month apart (July and August of 2016).  I am curious as to the feedback from Festool Service on these two.

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[member=53578]travisj[/member] did you get them back yet?

 

[Cheese]

Here's a picture of the HVAC vent and the 2 damaged Granat 400 discs.

No discs were destroyed sanding the raw Jatoba and before applying the poly.

 

[travisj]

I sent my Pro 5 and a new DTS400 both in for warranty repairs.  Both sanders behaved the same.  Bounced and bucked all over.  The DTS bounced so bad on an inside corner it messed up the pad.  Speed and suction adjustments did nothing.  The top halves of both sanders are the same and they were manufactured a month apart (July and August of 2016).  I am curious as to the feedback from Festool Service on these two.

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[member=53578]travisj[/member] did you get them back yet?

I had literally just shipped them (I don't think they are even to Festool yet).  I will update this when I hear anything.

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[wetndry]

I am on the west coast and I sent mine on 4/11 and per ups tracking it will arrive by end of day on 4/17.  I figure it will be at least another 7 to 10 days before I get my sander back.  Hopefully before the end of the month. 

If it comes back close to the quality of finish and ease of use as my Mirka Ceros or my 12 year old Porter Cable Speed Bloc
(not dustless) it will be worth the wait.

 

[Goz]

I finally sent my Pro 5 in after a bunch of messing with speed and vac suction, technique, etc. I wasn't happy with its performance. Same issues as other issues: jumpy, difficult to get a smooth finish, etc.

I filled out a repair request and shipped my Pro 5 in on 4/11. It arrived at the service department 4/14 and was shipped out 4/15. I received it yesterday. The repair card says they serviced the "Base plate/foot/flange" and "adjust align or balance."

I haven't had a chance to test the sander out yet, but I'm happy with the repair process. It was simple and relatively fast.  I'll post an update when I have time to test out performance!

Sent from my SM-G930R4 using Tapatalk

 

[wetndry]

I filled out a repair request and shipped my Pro 5 in on 4/11. It arrived at the service department 4/14 and was shipped out 4/15. I received it yesterday. The repair card says they serviced the "Base plate/foot/flange" and "adjust align or balance."

Did festool send you a tracking number when they sent it back?  They have had my sander for 2 days but I have not heard from them. They have a link in the repair confirmation email to check on status of repair but the link sends you to a page that states:

Oops! We can't find what you are looking for..
The webpage doesn't exist or isn't available anymore.

This must be related to all the problems related to there updated web site. 

Tracking number would be nice.  Knowing when a package is coming prevents it from sitting on front porch for days if I am out of town.

 

[Goz]

I filled out a repair request and shipped my Pro 5 in on 4/11. It arrived at the service department 4/14 and was shipped out 4/15. I received it yesterday. The repair card says they serviced the "Base plate/foot/flange" and "adjust align or balance."

Did festool send you a tracking number when they sent it back?  They have had my sander for 2 days but I have not heard from them. They have a link in the repair confirmation email to check on status of repair but the link sends you to a page that states:

Oops! We can't find what you are looking for..
The webpage doesn't exist or isn't available anymore.

This must be related to all the problems related to there updated web site. 

Tracking number would be nice.  Knowing when a package is coming prevents it from sitting on front porch for days if I am out of town.

I did not get any notification from Festool when the sander was shipped, but I have a free UPS My Choice account that lets me know any time a UPS package is shipped to my address, so I was able to track it that way.

Sent from my SM-G930R4 using Tapatalk

 

[yetihunter]

I love mine.  Smoother than my ets125 and the brake on the disc makes me wish all my other Festools had it.

Check out the brake on the ETS EC models.