I’ve had two rotex 125s that I beat like heck over many years. Regularly putting huge weight into the pad in geared mode for super fast removal. The kind of weight that would stop any normal RO in its tracks. Neither pad has given up yet, both still hold paper wonderfully.

My 2nd hand ETS EC 125 also has a rather old pad on it, that I’m also inclined to lean on somewhat and that is still gripping paper like new.

So my experience with festool pads is top notch reliability and durability. I’ve not really used the sander you refer to though.

I know I should not lean on pads, but sometimes I’m impatient and when you’re in the 60-80 grit sanding range it’s not really affecting the final finish if you start a more proper approach once you’ve done the bulk of removal and then work properly through the grits.

So I’m surprised any festool pad gave out in two months. Sounds more like someone used it without paper on. . It’ll sand great like that for about 30 seconds then your Velcro is melted flat.

Is the customer using abrasive net instead of stickfix paper?  There's supposed to be an interface pad to allow for that to keep it from ruining the hooks.

I wonder if they're using a hard pad where they should be using a soft pad (contoured surfaces or breaking corners)?

And of course, too high of suction can mimic high applied pressure if the client claims to be using a "soft touch".

He probably abused the pad. I ruined the Velcro hooks on my ETS 125 by beveling the ends of a bunch of dowels. Too much heat was produced in a very small area. But I’ve never ruined the pad using the sander the right way.

I have 2 ETS EC 125 sanders. Both purchased at the same time a few years ago. The hooks on both original pads failed within a few months. The pads were not abused & used with hook & loop paper. The replacement pads have held up fine.

I got an ETS EC 125 EQ maybe a year and a half ago.    I am just a DIYer and it doesn't get a heck of a lot of use.   

Past couple of months, I have noticed the sandpaper disc moving around a little.   I think the velcro connection is starting to degrade.  I use the original pad, and mostly 150 paper.   Pretty sure I am NOT putting too much pressure on it, but have to admit I try to get the maximum out of each sheet of paper before replacing it. I always use vacuum.

Def seems like this sander has at least a batch or more with pads inferior to the usual festool quality. Given my comments above I’m astonished that the pads on a way less powerful machine would give up so easily. But it seems they can/do.

Unless all these examples are using net abrasive in an aggressive manner without a backing pad saver thingy, I have to assume there’sa bunch of crappy pads out there on these machines. Cos as. Said before, this isn’t even close to my experience with festool pads. I’ve used my rotex to shorten/finish lots of 10mm titanium tube to length. Lots of pressure, no damage.

Def seems like this sander has at least a batch or more with pads inferior to the usual festool quality. Given my comments above I’m astonished that the pads on a way less powerful machine would give up so easily. But it seems they can/do.

Unless all these examples are using net abrasive in an aggressive manner without a backing pad saver thingy, I have to assume there’sa bunch of crappy pads out there on these machines. Cos as. Said before, this isn’t even close to my experience with festool pads. I’ve used my rotex to shorten/finish lots of 10mm titanium tube to length. Lots of pressure, no damage.

Rotex (in rotex mode) would not heat up the pad locally like an ETS EC could.