Festool sander repair

[Cliff Polubinsky]

Or, more accurately, non repair.

My 6 year old ETS EC 135/3 gave out earlier this week. When I'd turn it on it would try to spin up and then shut down. No indication of any problem beforehand. Worked fine the day before. Sent it to Festool for an estimate that came back at $341. I'd bought it for $385 (in 2017) so repairing it didn't make a lot of sense. Bought a new one for $475 which still made more sense than paying $341 for a 6 year old sander. Would have hoped it would last longer but that's the way it goes.

Cliff

[Jim Becker]

I had my Rotex 150 repaired a few months ago...and in that case, it was worth it for sure. I think you made the correct decision, Cliff, based on the numbers. Now, my 150/3 from about 2005 is still going strong. A recent version 150/5 joined it (used) so if the 150/3 did decide to go kaput, I'd likely not worry about it.

[Jamie Buxton]

Yeah, Festools are longer-lived than most other power tools, but they do have a finite lifetime.

[Richard Coers]

Pretty certain I would not buy another sander from Festool since a repair would cost basically new replacement cost. You must have put a ton of hours on that sander to blow it up in 6 years!

[Dave Sabo]

Pretty certain I would not buy another sander from Festool since a repair would cost basically new replacement cost. You must have put a ton of hours on that sander to blow it up in 6 years!

maybe or maybe not.

The EC sanders have a reputation of being their least reliable sanders from my perspective. The electronic goes out on them more than any other sander I have experienced or read about. One of mine lasted mere minutes.

[Larry Edgerton]

I have a Bosch 6" RO that started making bearing noises yesterday. Really, not bad, its had continuous shop duty for 4 years. I'm going to pull it apart and see if I can save it. Its the one with vibration control, my favorite even over the Festools. And my EC had its board replaced twice as well. First time no bill, last time there was a bill. May not buy another if it goes again.

[Jonathan Jung]

One of mine would intermittently shut down. Turned out to be the $15 plug-it port.

[George Yetka]

There must be a formula for small tool replacement. Commercially anything between $150-$500 we will replace nothing more than a $50 part. Anything under $150 we will replace cords and anything cheap and easily diagnosed(blade guard/blade guide/etc. Above 500 we drop them off for repair assuming they arent too old(propress guns/welders/etc). With these more expensive tools we have a weigh the cost of repair with the age.

For home use because the items will most likely be taken better care of Im assuming I would repair more But at 75% of cost of new, you have to replace it. Especialy with festool sander buy it and sell it systainer and you get back 20% of its cost

[Edwin Santos]

For the benefit of others here - don't make the mistake I just did. I recently sent in a ETS EC 125 for repair.
It started doing the thing described above, trying to spin up and then shutting down.
Leading up to this, I was in the middle of a time sensitive project and ran out of sandpaper discs in the Festool hole pattern. So I grabbed the box of 5 hole discs that I used for a now deceased DeWalt. Obviously this means the hole pattern was wrong and the sander could not perform dust collection properly.
But that wasn't the mistake. Out of habit, I left the vacuum connected to the sander and I think this is what brought about the failure.

Festool's repair estimate was $185 all in and indicated the bearing needed to be replaced. I think the vacuum suction without any form of make-up air from the sander holes probably caused the bearing to fail. At least that's my theory.

[Dave Sabo]

Festool's repair estimate was $185 all in and indicated the bearing needed to be replaced. I think the vacuum suction without any form of make-up air from the sander holes probably caused the bearing to fail. At least that's my theory.

Not sure what I think of your theory. Sounds plausible, but given the quality of the product I have a hard time believing that caused your bearing failure. Many of their other sanders are designed to run with bags or canisters (no suction) so ???

I also think $185 for an almost new sander is pretty good especially for a new electronic and main bearing swap.

YMMV

[Rob Sack]

I have a theory as to why their repairs are so expensive. I discovered that the right fence extension on my Kapex was bent. It was obvious that it came that way as there was no indication of trauma of any kind. I contacted Festool requesting a replacement extension, which just slides on. The saw was under warranty. Festool initially insisted I send the whole saw back to their service center. When I asked why I had to send the saw back, at their expense, for a slide on part, they said they would go over the whole saw, take it apart and check everything out. I told them the saw worked fine, I just needed the replacement fence extension. I finally had to go to a supervisor, who, after I sent pictures of the bent extension, acknowledged it was bent and not due to trauma, and reluctantly sent me a replacement, which solved the problem.

The point of all this is that they preferred that I send the saw back to them, even if it meant having it packaged professionally, at their expense, disassemble and reassemble a perfectly good saw, at their expense, and then return it to me, at their expense, with the replacement extension. Clearly this would have resulted in a major expense by Festool in order to just replace a slide on part. Not to mention my having to pack it up or arrange for packing it up, taking it to UPS or FedEx, and being without the saw for at least three weeks. All this over a bent slide on part. If this is a regular occurrence, no wonder their repair costs are so high.

I have quite a few Festool tools and while I think they are over priced, their function and quality are top notch. But only when I cannot find a comparable tool, will I pull the trigger on a Festool. And my previous posts regarding dust collection for the Kapex speaks for itself.

[John C Bush]

I found a YouTuber channel--"Dean Doherty"-- who repairs a wide variety of hand power tools--corded and battery-- and most seem to be repairable. He is from Ireland (??) and
tool branding varies for the same tool and he is good at explaing common failures, logic in repair cost vs toss and replace, and which brand and models are better made tools. I've only seen one Festool repair--he's a big Makita fan. Interesting to watch.

[George Yetka]

I have a theory as to why their repairs are so expensive. I discovered that the right fence extension on my Kapex was bent. It was obvious that it came that way as there was no indication of trauma of any kind. I contacted Festool requesting a replacement extension, which just slides on. The saw was under warranty. Festool initially insisted I send the whole saw back to their service center. When I asked why I had to send the saw back, at their expense, for a slide on part, they said they would go over the whole saw, take it apart and check everything out. I told them the saw worked fine, I just needed the replacement fence extension. I finally had to go to a supervisor, who, after I sent pictures of the bent extension, acknowledged it was bent and not due to trauma, and reluctantly sent me a replacement, which solved the problem.

The point of all this is that they preferred that I send the saw back to them, even if it meant having it packaged professionally, at their expense, disassemble and reassemble a perfectly good saw, at their expense, and then return it to me, at their expense, with the replacement extension. Clearly this would have resulted in a major expense by Festool in order to just replace a slide on part. Not to mention my having to pack it up or arrange for packing it up, taking it to UPS or FedEx, and being without the saw for at least three weeks. All this over a bent slide on part. If this is a regular occurrence, no wonder their repair costs are so high.

I have quite a few Festool tools and while I think they are over priced, their function and quality are top notch. But only when I cannot find a comparable tool, will I pull the trigger on a Festool. And my previous posts regarding dust collection for the Kapex speaks for itself.

Im not sure what they would have charged for the repair even if they deemed it to be your fault. But I would think they would run each tool through its own 50 point test. Even if the problem were clear(cord cut for example). I think they are looking at it as a perk to buying green. I agree it would be wasteful and lead to a long downtime in your case.

[George Yetka]

Not sure what I think of your theory. Sounds plausible, but given the quality of the product I have a hard time believing that caused your bearing failure. Many of their other sanders are designed to run with bags or canisters (no suction) so ???

I also think $185 for an almost new sander is pretty good especially for a new electronic and main bearing swap.

YMMV

I would think this would be more risk to the vacuum

[Dan Barber]

I would think this would be more risk to the vacuum

I would agree...