My Flex starting smoking on me..

Check your extension chord like another member mentioned. Same exact thing happened to me. I had to replace the felt ring and backing plate on my Flex b/c of overheating.

I was using a 50 ft. 16 gauge I think prior but I switched to a 50ft. 12 gauge. Haven't had a problem since.

Its just one of those things for me that got overlooked...
 
JHL88 said:
Check your extension chord like another member mentioned. Same exact thing happened to me. I had to replace the felt ring and backing plate on my Flex b/c of overheating.

I was using a 50 ft. 16 gauge I think prior but I switched to a 50ft. 12 gauge. Haven't had a problem since.

Its just one of those things for me that got overlooked...
Click to expand...

Thank you for this advise too. My Flex 3401 has the 12 Ft cord, however, I bought a heavy duty 15ft cord with a surge protector on it. I would rather buy the expensive cord and on top of that it has a surge protector too. I know it is heavy duty, however, I do not know the gauge thickness (I think it is 12 gauge or 14 gauge).

The longest cord I use along with this surge protection cord is 25FT.

But I saw a post similar to this regarding getting the right gauge cord when you use a DA or rotary.

IMO, it can't hurt getting the proper gauge cord and for better measures get the heavy duty gauge cord with a surge protector. It has 6 plugs you could use if need be.

:buffing:
 
My thoughts....

1. The problem was the felt ring, why did it tear up I don't know.
2. When it happened I noticed the Flex was getting pretty hot, in fact very hot but I continued, it's close to a $400.00 machine , it has to keep up with me:dblthumb2:
3. I agree with J88, it's important to use the correct gauge extension cord to help prevent over heating but IMO that's not what caused the felt right no go bad.
4. The backing plate wasn't too tight ,if it was then it came from the factory that way.
As I said, I have been using the Flex every day, at times all day but it should not have happened , not for how much they cost, but like any machine things do happen.
It's running fine now.

Thanks for all the advice and tips:dblthumb2:
 
HateSwirls said:
My thoughts....

1. The problem was the felt ring, why did it tear up I don't know.
2. When it happened I noticed the Flex was getting pretty hot, in fact very hot but I continued, it's close to a $400.00 machine , it has to keep up with me:dblthumb2:
3. I agree with J88, it's important to use the correct gauge extension cord to help prevent over heating but IMO that's not what caused the felt right no go bad.
4. The backing plate wasn't too tight ,if it was then it came from the factory that way.
As I said, I have been using the Flex every day, at times all day but it should not have happened , not for how much they cost, but like any machine things do happen.
It's running fine now.

Thanks for all the advice and tips:dblthumb2:
Click to expand...


Sounds like you found the culprit. did you replace the felt ring then ?
 
I've never had that problem. I oil my felt ring about every 6 details and when I ordered my 3401 i got the HD with the 25 ft cord. Maybe that has something to do with it.
 
SonOfOC said:
I've seen this happen way too often. The culprit is a poor size extension cord. Make sure your using at least a 14/3 extension cord, no longer than 25ft. If you must use 50ft or longer, then go up to a 12/3 to be safe. I can tell you that not all 14/3 extension cords are made the same, copper is expensive and many companies have much smaller wires than spec'd. Sometimes the plugs on each ended have been bent back and forth so much that inside wire has been compromised; thus reducing the current capacity of the wire. This will make a power hungry tool heat up real quick.
Click to expand...

Good post. Makes total sense.

To add to this line of thinking, corrosion and loose internal female plug contacts can also add to the problem of electrical resistance or loss of current.

If you are working with a cord and it comes unplugged on you while you're working, you may want to consider replacing the plug end with a good quality replacement one.

I twist, wrap, screw and solder the internal connections when I replace a plug end on one of my cords. It avoids a lot of resistance issues. Kind of an insurance policy against resistance and annoying cord failures.
 
Another thought I have on this subject...

I wonder if a lot of this heat issue isn't caused by the brushes arcing a little until they become fully broken in, or take the exact curved shape of the armature's commutator?

I'd imagine that there is some amount of break in of the brushes at the factory, but can't imagine this being a very consistent and absolute break in. I think my PE14 suffered some overheating issues until I worked through the first 5 full corrections or so. There was a good bit of smoke coming out of the vents on that machine that caused me some level of alarm in the beginning, however it did eventually correct itself before I sold the machine.

My 3401's have been worked super hard in summer heat with lots of applied force of me leaning against the machines for many 10-12 hour days working on trucks, buses, 40ft. trailers etc.

I've been nothing short of amazed at their out of the box performance.
 
Kamakaz1961 said:
Thank you for this advise too. My Flex 3401 has the 12 Ft cord, however, I bought a heavy duty 15ft cord with a surge protector on it. I would rather buy the expensive cord and on top of that it has a surge protector too. I know it is heavy duty, however, I do not know the gauge thickness (I think it is 12 gauge or 14 gauge).

The longest cord I use along with this surge protection cord is 25FT.

But I saw a post similar to this regarding getting the right gauge cord when you use a DA or rotary.

IMO, it can't hurt getting the proper gauge cord and for better measures get the heavy duty gauge cord with a surge protector. It has 6 plugs you could use if need be.

:buffing:
Click to expand...

:xyxthumbs:
 
Setec Astronomy said:
Um...yes? I'm pretty sure when the 3401 came out we had a number of instances of people melting the backing plate and making the machine unusable...which is why Mike Phillips has that thread that someone else linked about oiling the felt ring.

EDIT:

Need a little help here. I think my flex BP melted.

Hopefully my Flex issues are over...

Flex issue again

Need Help with Flex BP

My Flex's Backing Plate is Shredding on Me

I'm also pretty sure that at the beginning there was some problem with the bevel gearset not being greased and everybody was taking apart theirs to make sure there was grease in it before it overheated. That being said I think I got mine a little later and I never checked the gears and I don't think I've ever even lubed the felt ring. I'm sure mine doesn't have the hours on it of you guys who use yours every day.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I've read all these threads in the past. I've not been convinced by any of them that lack of oil in the felt ring had caused any of these meltdowns.

It looks more to me like a good percentage of the folks posting these meltdown issues weren't really sure if the attaching screw was tight enough before they had the issue. Yes, I did see where a few confirmed that their screw was tightened sufficiently before hand but this doesn't rule out a factory defect in the original plate.

IMO the jury's still out on this issue.

None of this really matters that much to me as I've personally never had issues, just more curious and skeptical than anything I guess.

I'm more just stirring the pot than looking for answers.

It's my belief that either loose attaching screws or a clearance issue of sorts between the backing plate and bell housing (defective backing plate) was the issue more so than lack of lubrication in the felt ring.

In every single case I've seen, the backing plate was replaced with a new one with the recommendation of oiling the felt ring upon replacement of the new parts, which I can see as a good proactive maintenance practice.

In any case, it looks as though (for the most part anyway) these clearance issues have been worked out.

I guess I got lucky with both of my Flex VRG polishers.
 
Since the mishap with my Flex I did two full paint corrections without any issues.
She ran just fine:dblthumb2:
 
My Flex just died last night. I used it for about 3 minutes, laid it down to wipe off compound and inspect, picked it up and tried to use it again and nothing. It won't run now. I had to finish the job with a Rupes. It made my hands itch but got the job done. I'm guessing the brushes are worn on the Flex but it really doesn't have many hours on it. I hope this isn't a theme. It has some funky screws that hold it together. Opening it up will be harder than changing the brushes.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top