Faq’s Troubleshooting

Motor doesn’t start

Turn switch to the “on” position.
Prime the carburettor until fuel appears in the tube leading to the carburettor.
Remove spark plug and allow cylinder to dry out.
Petrol contaminated, stale or not of good quality. Replace with fresh fuel.
Air filter clogged. Remove filter and clean with petrol or turps.
Fuel mixture screw needs resetting. Reset as per section 11.
“On/off switch accidentally moved to “off” position. Turn to “on” and restart.

Sanding disc flew off

Fit backing plates to all Alderson “Combo” discs that have a central PVC core with 10mm hole.
Remove nails and don’t sand near other protrusions. Use the “Grunty Rippa” around protrusions such as flashings, joiners and soakers.
Only use the “Single Sided Combo”, “The Shredder”, “Grunty Rippa” discs with nut and spring washer to tighten disc to the orbital attachment.

The Shredder 16 grit disc wears out prematurely

The most common cause for this is too much force pushing on the disc. There is no need to push too hard with these or any of our discs. It is just that with the 16 grit discs there is so much resistance with such a powerful motor that the abrasive surface will “ripple” and wear too quickly if too much force is used. Just let the disc do all the work. Disc must be used “flat” on the surface being sanded. Use Sea to Sky stripper, spray it on at a rate of 1 litre per 2 sq meters Leave overnight then use the 16# disc the next morning. No need to scrape the boards before using the Shredder.

The sander is too heavy

The machine is heavier than traditional dry sanding orbital sanders and you will find muscles that you are not used to using.

The most common cause we have found when a user complains that the machine is too heavy, is that they are not using the machine correctly. We have found some people holding the machine out in front of them like they would use an orbital sander. This puts all the weight on the arms and it definitely will be very heavy by the end of the day.

IMPORTANT: Adjust the shoulder strap properly so that the weight of the machine is taken mainly on the shoulders and upper body. Hold the machine close to your body so that the sanding disc rests lightly on the boards to be sanded – sort of lock your arms and the machine to your body. Now you are ready to start sanding. Move your hips and sway your body to move the sanding head along the board. Don’t swing the arms backwards and forwards because that will result in the disc not staying flat on the board.

Motor running slow

Push this button and you will hear the motor speed up or slow down. Select the desired speed.

Slow speed is good for around windows and in tricky or tight spots.

Sanding disc flew off

Ensure that the washer attached to the new disc is in place underneath the nut. Tighten the nut really tight, preferably with a 19mm socket or spanner. If the washer is not in place  and or the nut is not really tight, the hole in the disc will elongate and the middle of the disc will crack until the disc flies off.
Remove nails and don’t sand near other protrusions.

The HD Stripping disc wears out prematurely

The most common cause for this is too much force pushing on the disc. There is no need to push too hard with these or any of our discs.  It is just that with the HDSD  there is so much resistance with such a powerful motor that the abrasive surface will “ripple” and wear too quickly if too much force is used.  Just let the disc do all the work. With the new Flexi disc, it is hard to use them on the edge – they will always want to stay flat on the boards.  It is better to at least try and keep them flat because they will last a lot longer.

The second most common cause for this is that the paint you are stripping contains hard lead and the disc will only strip about 1 sq m.  Hard lead is difficult for any stripping system to remove but we will always strip at least 1 sq m with our HDSD so that costs $16 and still takes about 15 minutes, same as for soft or no lead to remove a square meter.   Compare this with say using stripper at $30-$40 in the pail before application and paint removal.  Also, with hard lead, it is likely that you will need at least two coats of stripper.