velcro failure with Mirks Deros sander

[roger wiegand]

I've been using this sander for a while now and really like it, bit have been hugely frustrated by the very rapid failure of the velcro attachment of the sanding disks. I have both a large stock of disks from Klingspor that worked fine on my old Bosch 1370 as well as new Abranet disks from Mirka. I also have some 3M disks, but they don't stay stuck at all.

Long before the disks are worn out they go flying off the sander, and will not re-stick to the sander pad. A new disk will stick just fine. I've changed out the intermediate pad, and also tried sticking the disks directly to the sander pad to no good effect. The intermediate pad never budges from the sander pad. New disks will stick and work until they are about half worn, then go flying across the shop. The used disk won't re-attach but a new one will and will repeat the performance. The sander has had less than 6 hours use at this point, so hard to imagine anything is worn out yet.

When I look at the failed disks the felt side looks very fuzzy, as if the fiber has been pulled off the disks.

Is this sander just too aggressive for the attachment method? I'm wondering if others have seen this problem and how they might have dealt with it.

[David T gray]

your applying to much pressure to the sander let the sander do the work.

[Tom Ewell]

Have not yet had this problem with either the Ceros or the Deros. (many hours on both)

Always use the pad protector as well, sanding discs are Mirka and Festool (my primary sanding kit)

Don't know how 'half worn' is determined other than cutting performance which is either there or not and might be pretty subjective for each user.

If the Mirka discs don't stay fixed then I'd reach out to Mirka ...... my Abranets hang on until they are ragged and time to change out.

The festool discs are actually pretty hard to take off when the cut is no longer there. Feels like I'm going to peel off the protector along with them.

Agree though that the other discs should work reasonably well assuming that too much heat buildup is not going on from overly aggressive sanding.

I have an old Makita that has two pads replaced for bad 'hooks' (flying discs), just changed out two Festool pads where the hooks were good but the pad themselves just broke apart (flying pads)

[peter gagliardi]

I have the festool rotex, and now the festool equivalent to the deros.
The only time this has happened to me is after a couple years of heavy sanding. What happens on mine is that the "hooks" on the sander pad eventually break off, or melt back if too much heat was created like when you tilt the sander a little to grind out an imperfection, or on a hard edge. Every two years or so , i need to change the pad out.

[Jim Becker]

My experience is the same as Peter's. The hook and loop system on a sander needs to be replaced periodically because heat from friction degrades the system. The length of time varies with the tool-user's technique...

[roger wiegand]

Tried at least three sets of brand new "hooks", so that's probably not it. Sounds like a technique issue. I do tend to push down on sanders.

[Jim Becker]

As you push down, you increase frictional heat which in turn "melts" the plastic hooks a little. It also actually slows the sander's motion which in turn may even reduce its effectiveness. ROS are like that...best results come from getting them flat on the workpiece and moving them around in an even pattern while letting them do the work with minimal pressure from above.

[John Lankers]

I had the same issue with the velcro pad on my 2010 or 2011 Ceros (6"), it wore out within weeks. Called the seller (Felder Machinery Imports in Calgary) and was told to just drop in and pick up a replacement on warranty, and after 5 years I can see it is starting to wear out but is still holding. The Ceros has a little green led which turns red when too much pressure is applied. I use Abranet exclusively.

[Van Huskey]

The only time I wear the pads quickly is when I am sanding over edges, which is rare. A ROS should have barely any weight on it, in this case just enough to hold the paddle down and guide it.

[Martin Wasner]

How much is barely any weight? I've been curious about this for a while. I was playing with a mail scale the other day, I figure I put anywhere from no weight to about 8lbs of pressure on the sander whilst sanding.

[Bruce Page]

I sometimes find myself bearing down on the sander but I try to keep it at just the weight of my hand, and just to guide the sander. I went through H&L pads on my old PC ROS sanders pretty regular, my Festool ROS pad is lasting much longer.

[Tom Ewell]

Enough 'weight' to effectively control the sander, replace the urge to dig into areas using more pressure with taking more passes or pausing the sander in an area a tad longer.

[Bill Jobe]

I recently had to replace the pad on mine after putting it down on a bench without a sanding disc or anything else to protect the pad. They fail if laid on a bench with no paper. Can't even see the damage.
But, mine's just a cheap Milwaukee.