Sanding discs - Bosch hook and loop

[Picalilli]

Hi all,

recently bought a Bosch pro gex-125 orbital sander and it’s been working great but the hook and loop seems to have stopped gripping discs or the backing pads that came with some mesh carbide discs I bought.
I know there’s a life span to hook and loop but I’ve only used it to sand down the stairs, so a few hours use - seems early for it to be worn out?
Weird thing is it doesn’t look worn. I haven’t worn through the discs while sanding and damaged it from what I can tell.

Are there any magic cures for this or aftermarket products that you can switch these out with to make them grippier? It doesn’t even look grubby with sawdust or anything either. Just weirdly has stopped gripping.
quite frustrating because it’s a great sander otherwise...

 

[Peri]

I've got the same sander.

The only time I have a problem with the discs sticking to the pad is if I'm swapping sanding discs without having the vacuum connected - there's so much sawdust I think it clogs the pad.

Vacuum the pad and try a new disc, see if it sticks ok.

I bought a replacement 'hard' pad for mine, think it was about £35. Also get a couple of these Bosch 125mm Intermediate Sander Backing Pad (Pkt 2) , cheaper than buying new pads.

The other problem I had (luckily I had a backing pad on) was when I didn't have the vacuum connected, I was sanding a board and moving around the shop carrying the sander, and the sanding disc fell off and I didn't notice! I spent 5 minutes sanding the board thinking 'Well, this sanding pad got worn very quickly, it's hardly removing anything'. I went to change it and realized I'd been sanding with the bare pad
Funnily enough it looked and felt fine - but nothing would stick to it !

 

[Picalilli]

Funnily enough it looked and felt fine - but nothing would stick to it !

I think that’s the problem I’ve got - it looks fine but I’ve maybe melted the hooks. I was sanding stairs and was using the edge of the sander on some parts to get into deep gouges - since been reading and that’s one of the things that kills them apparently, because the heat then builds up around the sides of the pad and the discs won’t stick there. I’ve got a couple of pad savers which seem okay, so to get the job finished might superglue one of them to the hook and loop and then go easy, then maybe buy a new pad.

whats the difference between the hard and soft pads out of curiosity?

 

[Peri]

At the risk of stating the obvious, it's just a bit more firm, a little less 'give' to the surface.

I use mine mainly for leveling endgrain chess boards, I want the board to be as flat as possible - so I don't want a pad that follows the contours of what I'm sanding.

 

[Picalilli]

yeah - bit of a daft question really! Makes sense.

 

[Peri]

https://www.mtmc.co.uk/Random-Orbit...it-Sander-Backing-Pad__p-12732943-107992.aspx
Just found new pads for £22 (I think these are the correct ones - check though) - might be of interest

 

[Picalilli]

Thanks - can’t find anywhere on the page that specifies it’s for that model. Tricky because they are very similar to the Bosch green ones I think...superglue worked anyway so got the job finished at least!