Porta Cable 333 sander???

[John Terefenko]

I have a porta cable #333 5" random orbital sander. It has gone bad on me. Whenever I apply pressure of the slightest the pad stops spinning or spins real slow. Has anyone taken one apart and run into this problem??? Or is this something I have to get repaired by a tech.??? Thanks for the replys.

[David Christopher]

John, mine done the same thing and I greesed the bearing thats right under the pad and it was good as new.......... I would think you could get a new bearing if needed

[mickey cassiba]

Two bearings, both on the bottom. the first is right on top of the pad. claen it. Sometimes all you have to do is pull it and twist it back and forth. If it's rough, replace it...dont use the PC bearing. A generic(fafnir) will do well. If it's still locked, throw it on the floor(really). The impact will loosen the lower motor bearing. Don't pitch it hard enough to break the housing, just sort of bounce it. Those little guys are nearly bulletproof. I've got 30 of them in the plant, and five on the shelf. We use them to smooth minor imperfections in the moulding, and touch up stair treads and door casings. Some of them have been"serviced" this way 10+ times. Keep it blowed out. Do NOT rely on the dust collection spout to keep it clean...it wont.
Mickey

[John Terefenko]

Two bearings, both on the bottom. the first is right on top of the pad. claen it. Sometimes all you have to do is pull it and twist it back and forth. If it's rough, replace it...dont use the PC bearing. A generic(fafnir) will do well. If it's still locked, throw it on the floor(really). The impact will loosen the lower motor bearing. Don't pitch it hard enough to break the housing, just sort of bounce it. Those little guys are nearly bulletproof. I've got 30 of them in the plant, and five on the shelf. We use them to smooth minor imperfections in the moulding, and touch up stair treads and door casings. Some of them have been"serviced" this way 10+ times. Keep it blowed out. Do NOT rely on the dust collection spout to keep it clean...it wont.
Mickey


Now that is good news. Will give a look see and while I am at I will blow the devil out of it. I try to keep it clean because it is a workhorse for me and has always did me well. Thanks.

[Ben Franz]

These sanders have always been one of the best examples of high quality portable tools made. They work well, last a long time and are almost always worth repairing. Parts are easy to find (ereplacementparts.com is pretty good). I recently bought a 1/4 sheet Ryobi (cheap) to use in a pinch and I'll be surprised if it lasts a couple of years.

[John Terefenko]

These sanders have always been one of the best examples of high quality portable tools made. They work well, last a long time and are almost always worth repairing. Parts are easy to find (ereplacementparts.com is pretty good). I recently bought a 1/4 sheet Ryobi (cheap) to use in a pinch and I'll be surprised if it lasts a couple of years.

I agree. I am on my 3rd velcro pad on this sander. Like I said it is one of my go to sanders along with porta cable's bloc sander. That one too is my finishing sander. I do need to get this fixed.

[Steven DeMars]

Check the little rubber/plastic drive belt . . . might be stretched . . .

Steve

[Bill White]

Steven made a good point. That's what happened to mine. Been runnin' just fine since I replaced the band. PORTER Cable. :p
Bill

[mickey cassiba]

Check the little rubber/plastic drive belt . . . might be stretched . . .

Steve
The clear plastic belt is a brake, intended to keep the pad from spinning too fast, especially when the pad is not in contact with the work piece. if it is stretched, the pad will spin up when switched on. Correct function is to spin up slowly as more pressure is applied. That's what the engineers from PC told us. Yours may be bad, but I don't think that is your problem. 95% of the repairs were on the pad bearing located in the finned aluminum casting directly over the pad. Remember that on a 333 the dust is sucked through the pad, and over the aluminum wheel into the dust port. all that dust shoots straight over the pad bearing. My personal fix is to remove the pad with the dust holes and replace with a 334 pad. No dust collection capability, but a lot less dust in the machine. All of the sanders at work have been modified this way, and it has reduced downtime by about 60%. I keep a spread sheet documenting repairs made, and root cause. I also order pad bearings in case lots, to support our 30+ sanders.

[Jason Roehl]

Check the little rubber/plastic drive belt . . . might be stretched . . .

Steve

That's not a "drive" belt--it's actually a pad brake--it keeps the pad from free spinning when the sander is running but not in contact with any surface. A friend of mine had an old one that didn't have this feature, and it would spin up to very high speeds, with great potential for damage to the work surface.

Those pad brake "belts" (they're more like a re-purposed o-ring) can break and wedge themselves into odd places causing the sander to do exactly what you describe. BTDT. When that happened to me, it was about a $1.50 part from P-C, and about $2.50 shipping, but that was 7-8 years ago.

[mickey cassiba]

I forgot to add the fact that about 80% of the time the bearing did not need replacement, just a good cleaning. Remember that this bearing operates in one direction only and over time the dust(which can go places that no other material can) will wedge between the balls and races.. Reversing will break this wedge, and free it up. It is a shield bearing, so lubrication is a hit or miss thing. usually all I have to do is pop the bearing out and twist the outer race back and forth to free it up I then mount it on a wooden tapered dowel and spin it up in the direction reverse from the normal operating direction. I use a drill motor with a drum sanding attachment(sans abrasive) to spin it. Do NOT clamp the bearing in a vise or you may distort it, or even break the outer race.
Please excuse spelling errors. I'm on my first cup of coffee!
Mickey