Bosch Orbital sander 1295DVS dead?

[Craig D Peltier]

Hi, this morning I was using the Bosch 1295DVS orbital sander, its the 5 inch with variable speed.I was using it for 15 minutes under light use and it just shut off while running. Just like I hit the switch , no spark or anything unordinary when it shut down.
I opened the top up , blew it out ,looked at the few wires and connections and all seemed fine. There is a circuit board.

Any ideas? Dont see a fuse.No fuse on cord either.
From experience is it worth repairing due to cost or just replacing? It also needs a new sanding pad which with shipping will cost $20.

Thanks

[Michael Weber]

Hi, this morning I was using the Bosch 1295DVS orbital sander, its the 5 inch with variable speed.I was using it for 15 minutes under light use and it just shut off while running. Just like I hit the switch , no spark or anything unordinary when it shut down.
I opened the top up , blew it out ,looked at the few wires and connections and all seemed fine. There is a circuit board.

Any ideas? Dont see a fuse.No fuse on cord either.
From experience is it worth repairing due to cost or just replacing? It also needs a new sanding pad which with shipping will cost $20.

Thanks

I've had the same problem a couple of times. Once it was the board that controls the speed. I just took it out and wired it direct to the power. Never used the VS anyway. Next time it was the brushes. Well, not the brushes themselves but the spring that holds the brushes in. The too small brushes build up heat enough for the springs to loose their temper. Also, as you've found the velcro pads don't last very long, especially if you apply much pressure when sanding. My overall impression of this model isn't great. If you can afford to, replace it with something better. Just my .02 worth.

[Don Bullock]

Craig, after my Bosch sander did that for the second time with very little use I insisted on a full refund which was sent to me by the company. When I took the sander in the first time it stopped the repairman said that he knew what was wrong and had the parts in stock. The problem was the on/off switch. This seems to be a very common problem with these sanders. The variable speed control also seems to cause sanders to fail as well. If you search you'll find people who love this sander, but you'll also see many who have reported the same problems you are having.

[Peter Scoma]

Not to threadjack but I had a similar experience today. I was sanding outside using a PC ROS and thought it looked like it was producing a little more "dust" than usual. Kept on sanding until I felt my palm heating up and turned it off only to realize that the extra "dust" was actually smoke.

Sounds like I shouldnt swap it out for the bosch huh

[John Thompson]

I replaced my Bosch today with a Milwaukee ROS. I hated the dust adaptor on the Bosch as I couldn't keep it on except with duct tape. That was a pain as I set up 3 ROS's with different grits to do a piece complete from start to finish. I have a Ridgid 6" .. a Ridgid 5" and now a Milwaukee which all 3 have the same dust adapter which can be quickly changed from one to the other with my 1 1/2" Shop Vac hose.

I did not have a problem with the switch yet but.. I certainly did with a 2 1/4 HP router until I got rid of it. I do stand by my Bosch barrel grip though as one of the best tools in my shop.

Good luck...

Sarge..

[Craig D Peltier]

Thanks for the replys.Well I talked to bosch and he just told me the way he would go about it. One was wiring out the VS. One was checking the brushes , on this unit though it has to be fully disassembled to get at them.
Bosch has this thing where thye will repair it for no more than a reconditioned one goes for , catch is you pay for shipping out an return.

So I bought the newest one for 79. Its not as powerful , thats the only difference I found, which I dont like at all.I find the aggressiveness of it nice. I once tried a festool that was very aggressive which was nice but a bit big.
I might get old one repaired but first skip the VS switch.