Death of a Sander

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BALANCE
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Death of a Sander

Post by BALANCE »

Or perhaps there is a way to revive ole faithful. It's a Dewalt orbital. When I turned it on today it started to whine (can't really blame it) and then it would just stop. Turn if off, turn it back on...same thing. I tried tightening all screws. No change. Any thoughts?
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Rachel
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Re: Death of a Sander

Post by Rachel »

I hesitated to respond as I'm far from clueful on this sort of thing, but while you are at it perhaps blowing the dust out of the guts would be helpful.
BALANCE
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Re: Death of a Sander

Post by BALANCE »

And there's my pat, economy boosting answer: Off to Home Cheapo. This time I will pay attention to the ass end of this sander. I have two, one with a round fanny and one with an oblong ovalish fanny. Guess which one broke? The one that connects to my shop vac hose without major Rubing! I never even noticed these differences until 2 years ago, the sander being at least 6 years old. She led a good loyal and trusty life.
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Paulus
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Re: Death of a Sander

Post by Paulus »

Balance, the sander has an eccentric bearing in the center around which the pad makes very rapid, tiny circles (orbits). As the sander ages and the bearing wears, it gets hot and the paint/shellac/fiberglass dirt starts sticking to it more and more seriously and after a while it gums up the works. When the sander is not used, the gum cools and hardens - when you turn the sander on, it breaks the hardened gum and the sander works for a little while until the bearing heats up and turns the gum back into the sticky, molasses paste that really gives that bearing a run for its money - and slowly the sander starts bucking and slowing down.

The only fix is to take the bearing out and replace it - or perhaps you can save it (i.e. get another sanding or two out of it) by soaking the bearing in MEK for an hour or so and then blow it out with compressed air, then soak it in a thin oil - like WD40 or something.

The hardest part will be getting the bearing out - it is a press fit.

I hope this helps a bit.
ILikeRust
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Re: Death of a Sander

Post by ILikeRust »

By the title, I thought perhaps one of your employees had passed away. You know - the guy who does all the sanding in the shop.

Reminds me of an old joke about the pickle slicer.
Bill T.
Richmond, VA

"All men dream: but not equally. Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their minds wake in the day to find that it was vanity: but the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act their dreams with open eyes, to make it possible." - T E Lawrence
Quetzalsailor
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Re: Death of a Sander

Post by Quetzalsailor »

As said, disassemble the beast and clean the bearings on the eccentric or the two on the motor with whatever solvent is handy. You'll get some more time out of it. You can buy the replacement bearings from such places as McMaster-Carr or Philadelphia Bearings Inc. Read the number off the side and they'll be able to cross-reference it.

That said, you probably won't get a whole second life out of it if the housing is damaged.
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Re: Death of a Sander

Post by Skipper599 »

I think Rachel provided excellent advice. We tend to forget about our power tools and the way they operate in extremme dust conditions. When it comes to cleaning them, nothing works as well as a blast of compressed air. In fact it would be a good practice to do that at the end of each days useage. Dang. i think I've convinced myself. That means I'll have to go and buy me a portable compressor.

Talk about co-incidences, my wife just walked through the door and told me one of the neighbours has one - New and unused. Apparently he asked her if I would sell it for him in my next garage sale in a few weeks time. If it's in the size range I'm thinking of, I may have already got one.
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