Been having a lot of trouble getting any life out of the sanding pads on my 5" festool finishing sander. The last one we replaced we only got about half a job sanded with it. I have talked to the tech. and was told to set the vac on as low as possible. Couple of years ago I talked to them about swirl marks after sanding and they told me to have it set so it just floats over the piece being sanded and that is set higher. Either way the vac is set we still get very little life out of the pad. The original pad lasted a year and can't say were doing anything different. We use a Bosch vac. My retailer in town said he had a couple other complaints. We do really like the sander but it is getting expensive replacing pads at $40 each.

I have two 5" ETS and one 5" Rotex that get used daily in the shop - about 4 yrs old. Ive changed the Rotex pad once, but the ETS 125's which get used every day several times (any where from an hour to several), have never had nor needed the pads swapped.

I can't see why they'd be wearing so fast for you?

Are you sanding a lot of edges or mainly flat?

We sand both surfaces

About 12 years ago, before we changed to Festool sanders, the Bosch DA orbitals we used needed new pads. The replacement ones lasted about a week or a month before they also could not hold a disc. I complained to my local tool seller and he confessed that Bosch knew they had the problem and would exchange any pad I wanted for one that would work. The difference was night and day.

The odd part was that instead of saying "We screwed up and shipped a bunch of bad pads", they did it quietly. You had to complain, and do so to the right person - not every dealer had access to the better pads. You have to wonder how many shops struggled with half a** pads until they replaced the entire sander - with another brand, no doubt.

You would think Festool would step up and correct the problem - so be sure to contact them and send a link to this thread.

I was told if you press hard on the sander while sanding it wears the pad quite quickly

I have a Bosch sander and have received some bad pads as well. I have found that if you take it off the sander and scrub the surface with a nylon brush like one you would use to clean dishes, it works again for awhile, though not quite as good as new. Hopefully Festool will correct the problem and keep their reputation strong.

I have a 6" 150 and a 6" rotex. I bought the hard pad for the rotex and use it as a flattening and leveling tool. 6 years same pad...1 hour or so use a day. 150 sander with a medium pad hasn't been changed in 1.5 years but needs replacing as there are nicks in the edges.