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Dead Festool Domino 500

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Dead Festool Domino 500

Postby RogerS » 03 Oct 2019, 07:33

Mine died recently and so it was sent off to Festool for a repair estimate. It's the armature. But their repair estimate said that the 'main girder' was deformed and needed replacing. A pricey item. Only...a couple of things...

The main girder is the bit with the plate, the height adjuster etc. But it's cast alloy and so how do you deform that without it cracking ? I can't see it.

But more importantly, it's currently sitting on the bench in my workshop so how they can tell it's deformed ?? :eusa-think:
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Re: Dead Festool Domino 500

Postby MJ80 » 03 Oct 2019, 09:06

Mine had the main plate replaced as it wasn't indexing properly causing me glue up problems. Luckily it was still under warranty.
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Re: Dead Festool Domino 500

Postby 9fingers » 03 Oct 2019, 09:09

RogerS wrote:Mine died recently and so it was sent off to Festool for a repair estimate. It's the armature. But their repair estimate said that the 'main girder' was deformed and needed replacing. A pricey item. Only...a couple of things...

The main girder is the bit with the plate, the height adjuster etc. But it's cast alloy and so how do you deform that without it cracking ? I can't see it.

But more importantly, it's currently sitting on the bench in my workshop so how they can tell it's deformed ?? :eusa-think:


It could be a "computer says" type of thing such you find on amazon when you buy rope they suggest a book on knots etc

Festool might consider based on experience most people who need new armatures also need a main girder and hopefully if yours is in good nick, they wont just fit it.

There is an argument for replacing commonly worn parts when ever they get a machine back so the repaired item goes on for longer service before needing attention again thus enhancing Festool reputation.

Or maybe it is just to feed customer expectation. Expensive tools need expensive repair bills. :lol:

Interestingly, the prices you published elsewhere for the armature at £50 ish does not seem much different from other brands. Sort of suggesting that the high purchase price for the new tool mainly goes towards design, support, 3 year warranty etc rather than into production costs.

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Re: Dead Festool Domino 500

Postby Woodster » 03 Oct 2019, 10:04

Castings move. I was told this many years ago when training as a mechanic. Engine block castings were left outside for at least a year after casting to “normalise” before machining. I’m not surprised a lightweight casting like this has moved. It could be any one of several reasons including poor design, inferior materials or perhaps a lack of heat treatment. Festool may be aware of the problem but provided it doesn't happen during the warranty period it’s not their problem.
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Re: Dead Festool Domino 500

Postby RogerS » 03 Oct 2019, 14:35

I told them not to replace it. They didn't come back and say ....'but did you realise ?...'
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Re: Dead Festool Domino 500

Postby RogerS » 03 Oct 2019, 19:21

:oops: :oops: :oops: :oops: :oops: :oops:

It's been pointed out to me that what I thought was the main girder was not. But Hey Ho...it seemed to work OK as it was and it would have pushed the price up. The amount of use it gets from me, simply could not justify the extra. By the time it had all been added up, it was half the price of a new one. I can't justify that expense.
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Re: Dead Festool Domino 500

Postby Coley » 03 Oct 2019, 20:41

Ummmm, I cant help but think festool is somewhat overrated. After years of reading how good they are I splashed out on a hoover. It works, it sucks, but so did the previous makita that lasted for years. I had alot of issues with that and felt I needed to jump on the bandwagon so bought a couple of mini systainers to get the ball rolling. I to bought a festool domino just because I think it something that's unique as a tool and I'm sure it will have its place. My main concern is reading about the quality control issues of most of their things they seem to bring out. Unless you've been using it everyday or have left it out in the rain, for the price we pay it should be pretty bullet proof.
Slightly off topic bit helping clear my mums shed the other day I found my cordless black and decker screwdriver I used and abused as a kid. I kept it as a souvenir or my childhood but was mega surprised when it held a charge ( probably only for a week) but even so I used and abused that thing and it didn't skip a beat.

I read a thread from steve maskery a while back about how he'd designed a base to help stop his one handled festool router from tipping. To me that just seemed like a poor design.

Could you ask questions and ask what caused it to fail with so little use ?

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Re: Dead Festool Domino 500

Postby Doug » 03 Oct 2019, 21:19

Coley, there’s a guy on Instagram who posts videos from the American Festool training school showing how their tools are designed to be used, it is staggering from the comments how many people part with their hard earned money but fail to read the instructions.
The design put into their tools is way ahead of other brands & work as a fantastic system which if used correctly increase productivity hugely,I don’t know what problem Steve has with his router but I know I have the same one & have never had a tipping issue.
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Re: Dead Festool Domino 500

Postby Woodster » 03 Oct 2019, 21:51

I wonder if it’s a bit like Mercedes? People only think they’re reliable when in fact they have the same problems as any other make. In fact Japanese and Korean cars are generally at the top for reliability.

This guy was not impressed with this Festool saw.

https://youtu.be/oezp-_DcUgg

Lots of “German” stuff is no longer made in Germany but in the Far East, and quality seems to be variable. There have been many complaints of “premium” German machine tools for hobbyists made in China.
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Re: Dead Festool Domino 500

Postby Coley » 03 Oct 2019, 22:07

Doug wrote:Coley, there’s a guy on Instagram who posts videos from the American Festool training school showing how their tools are designed to be used, it is staggering from the comments how many people part with their hard earned money but fail to read the instructions.
The design put into their tools is way ahead of other brands & work as a fantastic system which if used correctly increase productivity hugely,I don’t know what problem Steve has with his router but I know I have the same one & have never had a tipping issue.
Years ago I watched a guy complaining about kreg pocket hole drill bits snapping. Did you ever see that video ? Lol he just put the drill spinning and just rammed it into the timber. I wanna believe the hype with festool and fill my shop with the stuff but reality is it doesn't seem as good as it should be. I've just bought quite a bit of mechanical tools to do a job. I've got my old snap on stuff that I bought just because I thought it was the best, but have bought the rest of the tools from halfords. Apparently slot of mechanics have ditched snap on cause of the amount of hoops they have to jump through for them to honour their warranty. I haven't had to try it yet but the halfords professional range is bring it to the shop and it's broken, and they replace no quibble no drama. Apparently I wouldnt need to keep the receipt.
Unfortunately I think about festool the same way I think about axminster electrical tools now.....


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