I found my answer here:
Thoughts on old 6" griots
*sigh*
Looks like I have the original model.
Yep... you have the first dual action polisher Griot's introduced which as I explain in the above thread and in the below thread, that their first entry into the "machine polishing world" was to introduce another wood sander only unlike the Porter Cable which CAN rotate a foam pad under pressure, these wood sanders they sold could not rotate a pad under pressure.
And that's the key to removing defects, having the pad both rotate and oscillate under pressure.
By the way, here's your pictures inserted instead of attached. I uploaded them into the gallery for posterity and to make it much easier for everyone to see....
The shroud and the vanes surrounding the spindle assemble were to capture and remove wood dust while sanding.
The holes in this backing plate were touted to help with keeping the polishing process cool but actually they are for sawdust extraction.
I called them up and they wouldn't help me out. They claimed the first gen is nearly identical to the 2nd & 3rd gen models.
My guess is the person you spoke with is confusing the first generation of the CURRENT polisher with this ACTUAL version pictured above. Perfectly normal as this first version was introduced probably about 8 years ago...
The very first tool never had an improvement, there are no second generations of the wood sander, they switched to a completely different tool which is now on I think the second generation. A couple of years ago Rob Wood asked me and a few other people what improvements we would make to the first generation (of the second polisher they introduced), and the changes you see in the current version are the recommended changes.
To their credit, Griot's listens to their customers and makes changes and improvements to their line in a very pro-active manner.
It's actually been quite reliable and I have enjoyed using it to apply wax over the years. I'm pleased with the purchase honestly.
And if all you did was machine apply wax and you're happy then that's what's really important. I'm sure these tools would spin a THIN disc of sandpaper too and that's the key between a tool that works and a tool that won't work, the ability to spin a THICK foam pad, in the context of comparison to a thin sanding disc.
It was someone at Meguiar's back in the early 1990's that found the Porter Cable Wood Sander would spin the first DA Polishing Pad ever introduced and that was in the body shops, not the car detailing world, see this article,
The history behind polishing paint with a DA Polisher
However, since I want to get more serious into paint correction and take my detailing to the next level, I suppose I'll upgrade on my own and put this one up on eBay.
Sell it as a
wax spreader... not a
swirl remover...
