5" Random orbit sander 5 hole or 8 hole.

[Mike Schuch]

I picked up a Porter cable 332 5" random orbit sander at a garage sale for $5. The pad is shot but the rest of the sander is in great shape. All of my other ROS sanders use 6" PSA disks. Since this is my first 5" ROS I decided to try a hook-n-loop pad and sanding disks even though I NEVER change grits on my sanders. I found 5" 5 hole and 5" 8 hole after market pads available for my 332. Is there any advantage of one over the other? Better dust removal? Better paper availability? Unfortunately my $5 garage sale find didn't come with a dust collection shield.

I assume ordering a new belt is a good idea?

[Michael Dye]

I personally use the 5 hole sheets, but I also have the shields and vac adapters on all of my 332's. Search Ebay for the parts. I have found switches, cords, rubber bands,and even the occasional dead sander on the website. Most of the time they are very inexpensive, considering the sander has been out of production for a long time. Good luck, it is a great machine.

[Bruce Wrenn]

PC used to make a pad that took either 5 or 8 holes.I run 5 hole because that's what most of my 333's have on them. A couple have 5/8 hole pads.

[Mike Henderson]

My sanders are 8-hole but I don't know if the extra holes make any difference. I never looked to see if there's more selection in 5-hole or 9-hole sandpaper.

Mike

[Mike Schuch]

Thank you guys for the feedback. I knew I could rely on this site for good answers! :-) I think I will just go for the 5 hole version, a 2 pack of the aftermarket pads are cheap and get good reviews.

[Gene Takae]

I assume ordering a new belt is a good idea?

Definitely change the drive belt at the same time as the pad and keep a spare on hand. Very inexpensive on Ebay.