Porter Cable

Finick

New member
Jul 31, 2017
885
0
Picked up a used PC 7335 after some suggestions. Got it cleaned up and I plan on taking it somewhere to have it checked out and given a clean bill of health.

My only experience with a DA thus far has been my MT300, which spins freely when the machine is off. This PC unit however does not do this. I'm wondering if someone who has experience with these units can tell me if that's normal? There's a definite sound when I spin the pad and it's off, and I'm not a tool person so I couldn't tell you if it's a good or bad noise, but it doesn't sound like a happy noise to me.
 
can you post a video? it shouldn't be any different than any other porter cable (7424/XP/7335/6,etc)...
Right%20Angle%20Random%20Orbit%20Sander.jpg
 
That sounds normal to me.

Post one of it running, and I can say for sure.
 
YouTube

running. It sounds pretty normal when it's running to me, my limited experience with DAs just made me think when it's not on it would rotate freely with no gear noise happening, like my MT300 does;

YouTube
 
That first one doesn't sound right. It should free spin like the MT300.
 
That first one doesn't sound right. It should free spin like the MT300.

that was my thinking as well. I'm not 100% sure why it's not doing that. I'm unable to even spin the pad without it oscillating.
 
I have an old PC sander (circa 1998) that sounds similar.

It is still a workhorse.


Edit: Just grabbed my 7424XP, and like dlc said, it freely spins. (No oscillating). But my old PC has the gear noise and oscillates.
 
I have an old PC sander (circa 1998) that sounds similar.

It is still a workhorse.


Edit: Just grabbed my 7424XP, and like dlc said, it freely spins. (No oscillating). But my old PC has the gear noise and oscillates.

I'm probably gonna take the 40 minute drive to the nearest PC service center tomorrow and have them check it out. Hopefully nothing is up, but I find it very odd that is doesn't spin freely.
 
I'm probably gonna take the 40 minute drive to the nearest PC service center tomorrow and have them check it out. Hopefully nothing is up, but I find it very odd that is doesn't spin freely.

Never hurts to check.

Good luck with it, man. :)
 
if i mimic what you just did (i have a G100 which is a rebranded 7424), only the backing plate will spin freely in a circle. otherwise if i forcibly put pressure on the backing plate to move it, then it will make that noise. i would suggest what PaulMys mentioned and see if there is any abnormal sounds or difference in the way it spins/performs...
 
Never hurts to check.

Good luck with it, man.

Thanks, fingers crossed!

if i mimic what you just did (i have a G100 which is a rebranded 7424), only the backing plate will spin freely in a circle. otherwise if i forcibly put pressure on the backing plate to move it, then it will make that noise. i would suggest what PaulMys mentioned and see if there is any abnormal sounds or difference in the way it spins/performs...

If I grab onto the backing plate and simply try to rotate it independently, it won't budge at all. The only way any movement occurs is when I finally twist hard enough to make it oscillate. Unlike the video of my MT300, where a flick of my thumb is enough to rotate the backing plate freely. So something definitely seems odd.
 
If I grab onto the backing plate and simply try to rotate it independently, it won't budge at all. The only way any movement occurs is when I finally twist hard enough to make it oscillate. Unlike the video of my MT300, where a flick of my thumb is enough to rotate the backing plate freely. So something definitely seems odd.

my thoughts as well, definitely get it checked out. you don't ever want to use it and have the spindle snap off and potentially gouge the paint. hopefully, it's just something minor and not too much to take care of...
 
my thoughts as well, definitely get it checked out. you don't ever want to use it and have the spindle snap off and potentially gouge the paint. hopefully, it's just something minor and not too much to take care of...

I'm hoping so too. It was pretty caked with gunk when I got it and I cleaned it all up on the outside. If I could figure out how to take it apart I'd gladly clean the inside, it could just be all caked in there stopping it from spinning freely. Either way if it turns out to be a bust I didn't lose a lot of money picking it up, although it would be pretty nice if it turns out to be something simple and it's good to go after that's taken care of.
 
Well I called porter cable and talked to a fellow who didn’t really sound like he knew much more than what I could’ve gathered from reading the website (wasn’t surprised.) He did seem pretty adamant it should freely spin though, and that I should get it looked at.

I just dropped the tool off at the closest service center (40 minutes each way) and told them to keep the repairs under $75 if possible. I’m hoping they won’t find anything major wrong and the cost is pretty low to get it serviceable.

Will update in 7-10 days when I find out from the tool doctor what’s up


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
I would think so.

But then again, with labor rates these days I don't think repairing tools is generally a good idea unless you're doing it yourself. If you have to pay to have the work done I'd be sure to consider the cost of a new tool vs. repairing a used one.
 
I would think so.

But then again, with labor rates these days I don't think repairing tools is generally a good idea unless you're doing it yourself. If you have to pay to have the work done I'd be sure to consider the cost of a new tool vs. repairing a used one.

Yeah definitely.

If I could’ve opened it up myself I definitely would have. The place i took it charged a 30 dollar deposit, which would be put towards the repair. Kind of silly, but I did pick the tool up for 30 bucks, so fingers crossed it’s just something really cheap


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Back
Top