So I bought an Festool ETS EC 150/5 EQ-Plus along with a CT MIDI I one week ago.

Within one week of light use, the sanding pad needs to be replaced. Sanding disc will no longer stick to it. Somebody please tell me this is not normal.

It’s very hard to wrap my head around a tool, this expensive, having an issue so soon, and 30 times the cost of the palm sander it replaced, that I’ve never had a single problem with it in years of use. Granted when the Festool is working, it’s a Best orbital sander I’ve ever used! It’s not even close, however, if this is what I’m going to expect from their tools, that’s unacceptable to me. So I’m boxing the whole thing up and returning it, and getting a brand new one, if I have this issue again that soon, I’ll never buy another Festool product again.

We all know that the pads have to be replaced on any orbital sander from time to time, however, not after one week of use in a home garage.  I have two DeWalt orbital sanders, that I’ve had for over 10 years, and then those 10 years, I’ve may be replaced the pad 8 or 9 times between the two of them.

Velcro (hook and loop) technology has been fairly fully debugged.  I hear almost no durability complaints about longevity using hook and loop pads.

I did try to “sand” smooth a exterior post once and I was not making much progress.  I found that I failed to attach the sandpaper.  The hook pad was largely destroyed. Replacement was easy (Porter Cable sander).

I don’t have  a Festool sander, but the tech for hook/loop fastening is pretty much shared across all platforms. 

In my case, I seriously goofed. BarryJ suggested another possible cause of early failure.  I am more likely to suspect some usage issue rather than an actual problem with the Velcro.

As an aside the first time I ever saw or heard of Velcro was in the owners’ manual from my 1967 Alfa Romeo.   For several years I thought “Velcro” was an Italian word.

To answer the questions, I’m using Festool sand paper.

I’m not sure if the one comment about me saying Festool tools are expensive was genuine or sarcastic?  I love the MIDI by the way.

As to the warranty, I would agree if I’d the units a while , but a week?  I have no idea if this kind of thing is isolated or typical.  I would expect these things at the price to be solid as a tank.

All that said, when it was working it was by far the best sander I’ve ever used.  I’m simply shocked to have an issue so soon for a plus $500 sander.  I hardly think that’s an unreasonable expectation.

Because I'm not in the mood to go back and forth chasing this, please see

https://www.festool.com/accessory/203343---pp-stf-d150-2

Grab yourself a set if you're using cubitron or granat net or abranet sanding discs.

I’ll reassure you by saying that one of the many things i love about festool sanders is the quality and longevity of their pads.

What you have experienced is definitely not normal. Is either an unlucky defect or because of one of the reasons mentioned previously.

The pads do wear out over time from heat generated by friction, etc. But I've only replaced the one on my 150/3 three times since I bought the tool in the mid-2000s. If the pad is failing that quickly and you're using normal, non-mesh abrasives, it's defective. If you're using mesh abrasives it's "required" to use an interface pad to protect the hook/loop pad on the machine as has been mentioned.