Porter Cable Drywall Sander

oruscire

Has anyone used the PC Drywall Sander (model # 7800)? I recently saw this on a job and I was quit impressed. It seems like it would be a lot easier to then hand sanding. Is the unit worth the cost? Does it hold up on the job site? I did notice that it was a great way to reduce the dust when it was attached to the vacuum.

Anyone have any thoughts?

Drywall1

I use it a lot to sand ceilings. Works great. Biggest obstacle for me is finding a vac. that can handle the dust without clogging every 30 sec.

__________________
Rockin the Midwest from the time I could walk.

butcherman

A couple of things here. A regular shop vac works great. You just need to use bags in the shop vac. Lowes has everything you need.You also need a coupler for the hose to connect. You could go direct but the seal isn't as good. I use the contractors model it goes for about 80 bucks. You need run a seperate cord. You lose the on/off feature control on the sander. The vacuums (no matter which one you use) need to be replaced every year. The price trade off is worth it. Also don't lose the sliding black piece inside the shop vac.You need to take it out,put it on the bag and slide it in the slot. If you don't use a bag the filter clogs in about 30 seconds. Also the bags need to be changed when they are about 1/3 full. If you try to fill them the dust kicks back.

butcherman

It takes a while to get use to it (much like when you started with the pole). When you first get it new you may notice swirl marks thats because the brushes on the unit need to broken in. Don't give up on it. Also i find topping with mid-weight sands great without swirling. If you're new to this set the control on 3 till you're comfortable with the bulkyness of the unit. Also keep it moving at all times. If you stop, pull off the wall or you will burn swirls in the work. The other thing is you still need to block the corners. The sander does'nt get in them at all.

taper71

I' ve used it once. I had a 240 grit radious 360 disc on there and it still took way too much off for my liking. I have always been of the mind set that I get paid to put it on , I do a good job putting it on , so why do I want to take it all off again. I have no doubt that it is a decent enough tool , it just takes too much off on my finished product.

Drywall1

Remind me of when we did the "Extreme makeover house" Some guy that thought he was the man showed up after we had all been there for hours and hours with his porter cable sander. But he did not have a vac. he started it up and then proceded to get yelled at by the 50 or so finishers that were there. You could not see 20 foot across the room. Just makes me laugh everytime I think about it.

Nate

__________________
Rockin the Midwest from the time I could walk.

savant

Some guys abuse it, and have problems. I love mine. My first 1 was swirly, and skippy. But this one is real nice. I set it @ 1 on a new disk, and as it wears, it gets gentler. when it gets too slow @ removal, I dial it up to 2,3,4 and up as I wear out the disk. I polish the joints. With proper mud control, you don't need to remove much. I use 220grit, only. I have the other grits, but never use them. I also use only velcro-backed round sheets, not the donuts.

My current Vac. is a RIGID 1450, almost no dust. 1bag, 1HEPA filter.

Durability? It's a nice power tool. It's delicate, like any nice power tool.

1wallboardsman

Gee, there is an "old-dog" idea that seems to have stuck.

jdl

JCardoza

I own several of the powersanders and vacs, they work good for a quick sand for texture, but for smooth you should go back with some 240 on a radius 360 sander. I (my guys, mine lasted for years when I used to sand all the time) kill sanders and vacs all the time but you can order parts for the sanders at all-wall.com and fix them yourself. The brushes on the motor are the first thing to go... UNPLUG IT FIRST!!! LOL that seems obvious but I've seen guys work on them plugged in way to many times LOL if you have to test it with it apart step on the motor first before plugging it in and turning it on! Or have a good electrical repair kit on hand... Your choice!

Kozzmo

240 took off way too much ? Sounds like your pushing way too hard .Ease up on the pressure, but keep it flat{obviously}Maybe you could slow the tool down to 2 or 3.We also get paid for a good sanding job.I think it can make or break all the effort in finishing.Love to see those sharp, clean corners !That is done best by hand with a wore out piece of round sand paper, folded in half..works perfect !

butcherman

They make a drywall sponge with a diagonal corner that gets the point of the block in the corner. It's easier to control and is better than the paper. If you can find one try it,i'm sure you will love it. Also finishing with mid-weight seams to hold up to the sander. If the job is finished correctly it should require one sweep on edges and one in the middle. If you go over it three or more times you are over sanding.

Kozzmo

Yea...I like the sponges to.The best thing for horz. corners is CROWN molding ! [ lol ]Fire tape it and move on......

brdn_drywall

the porter cable sander was designed to get you to yur next job faster and it does just that. i use it for all edge sanding, screws,and ceilings that are getting texured. still use radius disk sanders for field sanding on wall flats, butts , bead and angled sponges for inside 90 and off angle sanding.

wnybassman

I've been using the 7800 for about 12-14 years now. Wouldn't be doing it anymore if it wasn't for that. I am on my 3rd "wand" and believe or not the original vacuum (7810 I think) just bit the dust (no pun intended). When we got it we never thought it would last more than a year or two. We were very wrong!! Used to use 100 grit almost exclusively but a couple years ago I switched to 120. I generally break in a new pad by grinding it on a metal corner bead for a minute to take off the heavy grit. After that a single pad generally lasts a whole house. Has anyone ever changed the bearing behind the sanding pad before? Seems like an easy enough job as long as it is not pressed into place. I've got the head torn down, but can't figure out how to get the abrasive disc (the disc that keeps the sanding pad from slipping) off the threaded spindle.

joepro0000

I have the Porter Cable sander, with less than a month the rubber hose burnt up and did not spin anymore, but I brought it to a shop and got it fixed for free, still under warranty. I use 120 Grit, but find out it sands about 95% of the stuff on the wall. You still need to go with a lamp and a sponge to double check for stuff, unless you want to be coming back doing touch up on small nicks and dents. Anyways, I love the tool, its great. I use it for all joints, beads, screws, and angles. However, I go over all angles with a sponge to get the best finish. Best tool I purchased, and team it up with a radius 360 sander and your golden!

OLDSKOOL TAPER

we have 3 portertercable sanders and got there dedicated vac,s,but one blew up cos of the dust,we now use a nilfisk vac that doesn,t need any kind of bag but has a big filter that uses only one side of the filter when it starts to clog it blasts the air from the side not being used and cleans the clogged side of the filter,it does all this automatically,saving a small fortune on bags!we only use the silly stick to sand where the power sander can,t get.We have had a collappesed bearing on the sander and you need the inside/outside pliers to remove the C clips to get at the bearing,you may have to buy new clips if you over bend getting em out,but you can get here from automotive spares+the bearing,saving a bit of cash instead of buying from p/cable.

allenmudslinger

Yes, this is a great tool. I have hade mine for 6 years has yet to breakdown. The biggest problem i hsd was with the right dust sytem. I used the pc, loveless. they work good except you have to stop too often to clean the filter. Also that little rod that lets you shake out the filter in the loveless just didn't do it for me. There is another system that you can use with a shop vac and that is another water filter that you attach to a shop vac. this sytem works well but now you have to carry another piece of equipment. I did some research and found a german vacum by nilfisk. this vacum has unbeleivable suction and is super quite. the best feature is it send a blast of air every so often back through the filter witch in turn keeps the filter clean. you can sand the hole job with out stopping. It also has a plug built in that you can plug into and when you turn on or off your sander so does your vacum. It broke down 1 time in 5 years and all i had to do was replace a circuit board. I did it myself because it is just a couple of quick connectors. cost was $120.00. You can get a vac from 700 to 1000 depending on what options you want. This may sound like alot but I can tell you this I will not sand by hand again.

DSJOHN

Snap ring pliers,also be careful with the white metal piece around the head they break way too easy-be gentle with it,when you purchase the bearing buy 2 and extra snap ring-- we replace the black dust hose with sump pump hose ;same stuff[50' roll] we own 3 sanders;since 1997,I replaced the PC vac with a craftsman [more powerful] you just have to bang the filter off each room or evry 20 or so sheets,my vacs last about 4 years[$99]

croozer

I have been using them for 10 years now and when coupled to a good vac, there is no comparison. They are the way to finish drywall.Having said that my first one lasted about 8 years and gave me great, reliable service. My new one is a pile of crap. You name anything that can go wrong with them and it has. Cost more in repairs than to purchase.
As for a vacuum, I use starmix, a very very good german brand that I have found very reliable.
You guys using 100-120 grit disks, what are you topping with, hot mud?
I top with usg mid weight and use a 220 disk and only have the machine on 1-3 speed setting. This gives a great finish and a quick light check and touch up with a soft sponge and your done.
Ive sanded hundreds of houses by hand in the early days, but I wouldnt even consider doing one by hand now.

cazna

I had a karcher cheap as yellow vacumm with a festool 150mm sander on it for years at first, or after hand sanding that is.
Went well never let me down at all, the bearing went in the sander and it started to wobble so i splashed out and got a festool vacuum and another 150mm hand held sander, like a panel beaters sander, used that for ages too but got fed up with swinging on it so got a flex giraffe sander, like a porter cable, but the red one, and hooked it to the festool vacumm, goes great had it for 7 years or so now, another great german product, dam they build some fine gear, if they made drywall auto tools i would think it would be very well made indeed. Oh and only 220g sanding as well, i do give it a quick swipe over with the 360 as well to remove any stray machine marks, and a flex edge lightly in the corners before checking it a sanding block, which i have found the 3m sandblaster sanding blocks 180g a fantastic block, very nice and square and the the 180g is more like 220g, they are yellow in colour.