hello everyone

I am looking at Mirka and serfprep sanders that have that AC/DC conversion units.

For me these are single purpose sanders. I refinish existing cabinets in homes. Part of the process is sanding the old finish, both the flat and the profile. Never white wood. Years ago I purchased a serf prep and the cord between the conversion unit and the sander didn't last. I bought a new cord and it didn't last. So now I need to purchase new sanders as I am growing.

I would like to hear your preferences between surfprep and Mirka?? Looking for quality not price. Air power doesn't work on-site. To much air, to many sanders.

Thanks Jim

festool... done

Festool?
Sure,if you don't mind spending money!!!!

I have a dts400
I like it but tired of having to spend so much money into it

I'm looking at Surf prep Sanders and Mirka
I used the surf prep and liked it very much

Dont leave AirVantage off the list.

We are still running two of the Mirka Ceros sanders with separate transformers and love them which is why I continually look at the Surfprep and the Airvantage. The Mirka Deros comes highly recommended from another contributor here but for whatever reason I really love the dyndabrade envelope for what I do.

I have no idea about bad cords from the transformer to the sander but for one, pertaining to the OP's question, Mirka is out because they no longer offer that format. You are looking at a Surfprep or the AirVantage and thats pretty much it.

3M had the identical tools (likely all come from the same source) for a while but they dropped the electric dynabrade market a couple years ago.

I am in no way, shape, or form, a festool fan. Have had my hands on several and other than a Rotex or a Domino there will likely never be a koolaid tool in my shop and with the Bosch dual mode and the Makita dual mode there likely will never be a Rotex for 2.5x the price.

mark brings up a great point that both makita and bosh have some really good sanders, and matching dust vacs for less than the festool stuff.

i have a bunch of festool sanders, and as of a few months ago a Mirka Deros and Ceros. both great machines - the Deros has become my favorite sander, even ahead of the festools.

I have nerve damage to the hand from using air sanders .

I don't sand like I use to in the old days days but hands down Bosch ROS65VC

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cUqJ5QjowYk

Its the only tool manufacturer taken the long term vibration exposer seriosly

Most of the good air sanders have less vibration than the equivalent electric sanders.

For example, the festool LEX3 air sanders have less vibration than the festool electrics.

The mirkas are similar. the electric DEROS 650CV is rated at 3.4m/s2.
The pneumatic PROS 650CV is rated at 3.2m/s2

Additionally the mirka's will give you the current vibration level and let you track daily vibration exposure automatically over bluetooth.

The bosch you are recommending is worse than the DEROS electric or PROS air sanders for the same orbit.

DEROS 625CV = 2.4m/s2
PROS 625CV = 2.3m/s2
ROS65VC-6 = 2.5m/s2

What makes the Bosh special is the motor is separated from the disk  kills most vibration.To my knowledge have not seen any other manufacturer come up with design or approach .Had one lasted 3 years died because I wet sanded 

The problem starts when a sander is used and gets dropped then the disk is out of balance then the vibration starts . A bluetooth app I have little faith

Daniel, have you used any of these sanders? 

Not sure how you guys afford all those expensive tool geek sanders. They dont necessarily do a better job. I am a believer in quality air sanders for the shop. I use hutchins and dynabrade. but for site work I couldnt imagine any kind of added benifit to using a festool over a bosch or makita.if youre worried about vibration nerve damage wear vibration gloves.

I've actually used all but one for at least a few months each.
I didn't use the Deros, but i did use the 6" electric Ceros.

The vibration numbers are measured at the hand, so whatever effect Bosch's technology has is accounted for in that number ;)

we just retired two, surfprep 6" electric sanders after 14 months of use. both just quit working. both were returned (one twice) for service under the one year warranty. getting them back from surfprep was semi-painful and easily took a several weeks each time for our three returns. this is why i'm going to trash them now instead of sending them back for repair. i don't know what it would cost us to get them repaired and the process wasn't fun. i'm also not sure how long they would last once we would get them back.

the sanders are pretty awesome when they are working properly. my guys tell me that they take off more material quicker than our air sanders and leave a better finish sanded surface. the elusive, win-win.

i just ordered an airvantage sanders. this sander looks exactly the same as the surfpreps, minus a different color scheme, and they are considerably less expensive. same one year warranty. it arrived today and sands the same as our surfpreps did when they were new. a real joy to use (or so i'm told).

at $350-$500/ea, i would hope to get years of trouble-free service from these, but the technology might just not be there. regardless, if we can sand faster, we're saving money on our labor costs (plus none of my guys really like to sand any longer than necessary). these savings with quickly eclipse the cost of the sanders, so if we have to purchase one a year, then it is still a good deal for the business. plus, it helps with sanding moral. not even pizza fridays help with this.

one the flip side, our dynabrades cost considerably less and have been trouble-free for many, many years. right now, they are enjoying a back-up role.

SurfPrep has great support. I also started out with the older surge sanders and the cords were an issue but the new design is very good. We do cabinet refinishing as well as custom cabinets and we use both of our 3x4 sanders every single day. We also have the 6" orbital and it runs every day as well.

The team at SurfPrep is great and they are some of the better owners I have met. I wouldn't be able to do the things in my business the way I do without their products.

I want to do a youtube on my Graveyard of sanders over the past 15 years all-electric. And I have a 40 year old Rockwell flat that still works fine.

1) Festool 6 inch 13 years old.

still works but not on grind mode sent back a few times over the years, it sits.

2) Cervo 1st $600+ amazing just loved it. Worked great for a year then died electrically. Called the MFG had to do a complicated registration and was highly discouraged and insulted. It sits.

3) Cervo 2nd $600+ in a rush and no time for complicated frustrating return processes I bought another. Yes, I love it that much. It sits
4) Cervo flat $500 bought at the same time.
3 and 4) Both died about a year later same electrical issue. I only use them 30 minutes a week on average (hobby) they sit.

5) Bosh 5" $250ish solid does well but not a Cervo and heavy. It's a backup.
6) Festool 5" $600 like most of their tools now (I have most) cheaply made since my first sander and trax saw. It's OK not a Cervo but works. The pads burn out quickly and I'm afraid to drop it unlike my 1st) a tank.

Ranking:
1) Cervo buts disqualified due to poor quality
2) Festool but not as good as the old days
3) Bosh is always solid and I'm sure will figure out a way to beat the other two companies.
Summary: Go to air supplied or buy $70 units that can be replaced. 9 to 1 cost ratio not worth improved performance.

Well...I did it!
Got the 3 x4 surfprep
Black Friday weekend sale
15% off and free shipping
I got the starter kit(sander with dust control connector and whole bunch of sanding paper /pads)Under $500.00
So far I'm loving it.Good ergonomic,good dust control and those sponge sanding pads works great
Will keep you posted on it's performance