How hot do your ROS(s) get?

[Wayne Jolly]

I've had a couple of ROSs, but not too many. Mostly Craftsman that have all decided to crap out quickly. Got a DeWalt, and have used my sons DeWalt too, and my latest one is a used Bosch model (I think) 3725devs, and I have just ordered a new Makita BO5041K.

That Bosch is a beast of a sander and is very aggressive compared to the other smaller sanders that I have owned, but it gets very hot in short order. I have read some reviews on this sander and some people have commented on how hot it gets, and others comment on how fast the rubber pad fails. I assume the rubber pad fails because it gets so hot it deteriorates the rubber. But I think the heat comes from the motor because the metal housing just above the pad gets too hot to handle. It won't burn you, but you will definetly move your hand away very quickly should you contact that surface. I should probably replace bearings, etc., but it still works so good I dont want to mess it up. Smooth and FAST. So I was just wondering if some of you have high power (lets just say 3A or better) ROSs that you use, and if so how hot do they get and how quickly.


Thanks,

Wayne

[Charlie Kocourek]

I have a few Bosch power tools, but not a Bosch ROS. I do have a 5" Festool and a 6" Rigid ROS, and I have used several other brands. The Rigid is a beast of a sander, and I like it very much! All sanders get warm if I use them a lot, but none of them have ever gotten as hot as you describe.

[Wade Lippman]

I have a couple each of PCs, Boschs and Rigids. None get particularly warm, even after extended use. Don't know without looking, but they are all about 3a.

[Chris Padilla]

I've gotten my Festool sanders good and toasty and even hot. They keep on truckin' however so I don't worry about it.

[Greg Portland]

Are you pushing down on the sander? You should just let the weight of the sander do the work (it will give you a better finish too). I have a Bosch and a Festool and neither get hot... even with multi-hour use.

[Wayne Jolly]

I might go for a rebuild on my Bosch. I like it a lot but I think it gets hot enough that it is causing the rubber pad to fail prematurely. The lower motor housing gets hot enough that I REALLY do not want to hold it there. Good thing it has two handles. :-) No, I don't press down when I am using it. Just use the handles enough to keep it flat(ish) and controllable, although occassionlly I do find myself pressing a little too hard and immediately lighten up. The sanding disk itself doesn't get too hot as I can grab it when I want to stop the sander quickly.

I also got a new Makita BO5041K recently so I will see how that goes.


Thanks,

Wayne

[Jim Becker]

The old PCs I used to use got pretty warm because I had to press down so hard. My Festool 150/3 doesn't get hot at all. And doesn't vibrate, either... That said, over the years I've had it, I have had to replace the hook and loop pad twice because they do deteriorate over time from frictional heat and other stresses. Nature of the beast.

[John TenEyck]

Yes, probably the bearings are bad, or you are really leaning on it which has the additional action of defeating the RO action. I have the Bosch ROS65VC model and it will run for hours w/o getting hot. Pretty much vibration free and excellent on board dust collection, too - better than the green Kool-Aid machine in a FWW test.

John

[Wayne Jolly]

Yeah, I'm going for the bearings and probably brushes too. I probably should have mentioned in my original post that I got this sander used from a shop that was going out of business. I spend a small fortune on it if you consider $20 to be a small fortune. I have been hesitant because with the exception of the heat generated in the lower housing, it works so well. Now would be a good time for me to work on it since one of my other hobbies bit the livin' excrement out of the back of my hand. Got myself a nice "y" shaped cut that took 13 stitches. I'd like to tell you that it smarted a little, but I don't feel any smarter at all.

Time to do a Googly Woogly for Bosch parts . . .

Wayne

[lowell holmes]

Since I discovered card scrapers, I don't use my Rigid ros that much. I've never gotten it hot.