Dual Action sander

sander

Sounds like the air pressure is not adjusted right.I have the same sander and have not had any problems with it.If you don't put a few drops of oil in the air inlet every day or so it will shorten the life of the tool.

DA's can use a lot of air volume. What size air tank do you have? Does the compressor have the capacity to keep up with the DA's CFM needs?

I don't know about any DA Sanders but all the PorterCable stuff I've seen in the past has been top line gear. Their drills and circular saws are very good.

we have 180 gallon tank 53 [email protected] psi and 3/4 in. line with 1/2 like attached to that, i think i have the air covered

George, just out of curiosity what size and legnth is your air hose?

jordan said:

we have 180 gallon tank 53 [email protected] psi and 3/4 in. line with 1/2 like attached to that, i think i have the air covered

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I'd say that is a Yes!

I have seen a new version of Porter Cable and Ingersol Rand that are Non-American products going for cheap (15-25 range). So if it is not one of those, I'd go for it. You always need more of your own tools.

DA advice...

jordan... i wouldn't use a DA for anything except final sanding...the best tool i have used for body work is an in-line sander...those things work awesome! and you can do almost any curve with them...trust me, try it out. they also use about half the air as a DA so you won't have to listem to a compressor all night...i have a 80 gal ingersolrand, and it ran constatly with my DA, only every 5-7 mins with my in line. if you really want to use a da get an electric one...they work better for heavy pressure or paint removal (but if it's thick, use paintstripper it works even better)

also, i always take a grinder with a flap disk or 60 grit paper to just 'skim' the bondo after it is cured...if you don't you will clog at least 2 or 3 papers before you make any progress.

my DA is an ingersolrand...very good tool
my in-line is a haborfreight (#280)...best for the money

good luck, jon

air supply

Its a 3/8 inch air line that is 50 feet long with the regulator set at 85-90 pounds.I have used the da to sand the car to bare metal.

oops i for got to tell you my dads friend let me borrow a DA sander (it siezed up) a ingersol rand inline sander, and an ingersol rand flap style grinder (man, that is a tim allen tool!)

oops i forgot again! i bought the portercable 6" DA and it is awesome!

I have never had any luck whatsoever with one of those in-line sanders, it always turns out uneaven for me.

You must have had a coupple of duds, because those are decent brands, I bought a refurbished Cambel hausfed(I think thats how it is spelled) DA for $10, and it has been running great for 4 years on a 100gal tank that is from the 50's and has a worn out compressor.

oh yea im shaping bondo in that area.

well a DA should be able to sand any area that you want, if it is chewing it up then you are using the wrong sand paper, try going with a finer grit, or maybe you are pressing too hard.
You might have to just resort to block sanding, especially since that area is so small.

thats what i was thinking.

sanding

I used a wire brush in a electric drill to clean the paint from that area.I had to try several different brushes to get one that would clean the paint off and not harm the metal.It seems like the chepest wire brush worked the best.

its all down to bare metal there (with use of the flap style grinder) it has fiber glass filler and then surfacer ontop of that, but now i cant get a good finish.

Hey Jordan,

Don't throw the DA out yet. In your original post you said that it wouldn't spin. DA's have a little lever between the orbiting pad and the main frame that locks up the shaft and turns off the orbit feature, in this mode they will not turn with hardly any pressure on them. check for that lever and see if you can get the pad to turn on the shaft that in turn turns.