Anyone tried the Chicago Electric Platinum 6" DA from Harbor Freight

crober53 said:
I've had mine for over a year. LOTS of hours. No issues yet. Mine does run hot, hasn't caused any issues though.

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Never had to regrease it? No modifications?
 
Mine has run flawlessley as well for a year now. I don't have any heat issues either.

I am bailing out on using the original backing plate and their pads this season. I've had too many polish and cuting pads fall apart on me and even their finishing pads have not held up as well as I'd like. I'm going to a LC 5" backing plate and LC 5.5" pads.
 
Desertnate said:
Mine has run flawlessley as well for a year now. I don't have any heat issues either.

I am bailing out on using the original backing plate and their pads this season. I've had too many polish and cuting pads fall apart on me and even their finishing pads have not held up as well as I'd like. I'm going to a LC 5" backing plate and LC 5.5" pads.
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Good to hear about the operating performance.

I'm doing the EXACT same thing with BP and LC pads.
 
Well, this is great I was in that store the other day and I would've never thought about using it as a dedicated upholstery cleaner rather than changing out the pads on the main polisher all the time.
 
I have 2 - one for larger pads and one for 3 inch tight spaces. All I did was change the backing plate and it runs like a champ. I have upgraded to the Flex for the larger surfaces, but plan to keep my smaller one for tight spaces and the other as my spare.

I also get their 9mil latex gloves - $12 a box and they are awesome.
 
I might buy one, its on sale for 54.99 if you have the coupon. Or 64.99 minus 20% (or 25%) if you have the single item coupon instead.

Currently rocking my ages old PC 7336, the HF should be a welcome improvement. Im not a business so a Flex or Rupes seems overkill (and out of my budget)...would be great to have one but doubt its going to happen.
 
chris11le said:
I might buy one, its on sale for 54.99 if you have the coupon. Or 64.99 minus 20% (or 25%) if you have the single item coupon instead.

Currently rocking my ages old PC 7336, the HF should be a welcome improvement. Im not a business so a Flex or Rupes seems overkill (and out of my budget)...would be great to have one but doubt its going to happen.
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I bought mine for the exact same reasons. It's also why I didn't shell out the money for the PC either. I detail out three cars twice a year. My income does not depend on being fast nor the equipment holding up to heavy daily use, so it was a no-brainer.
 
I have had one for over a year. I did the extension cord mod and repacked it with the hi-temp grease. So far so good. The grease helped quite a bit. I find myself using the HF da over the PC.
 
Desertnate said:
Mine has run flawlessley as well for a year now. I don't have any heat issues either.

I am bailing out on using the original backing plate and their pads this season. I've had too many polish and cuting pads fall apart on me and even their finishing pads have not held up as well as I'd like. I'm going to a LC 5" backing plate and LC 5.5" pads.
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you can't use the HF 6" bp with the HF (Warrior) 6" pads due to the pads loop coverage. Swap out the bp to a 5" and the HF (Warrior) 6" pads work as well as others
 
Just picked up the HF dual action (largely due to the positive reviews on this forum) and did my first car with it for practice. It was my daily driver F150 which lives outside and sees lots of harsh weather and conditions. Worked great! Have a Q5 on the way and wanted to test/practice a bit before working on a brand new car...

Very pleased for a $49 (after 25% coupon) polisher.

Before first use, I upgraded as follows:
  • Astro-Pneumatic5" backing pad ($9)
  • High-Pressure Sta-plex grease repack ($5, with 98% of the grease left over)
  • Rotated handle 90 degrees for switch on top ($0)

I used the following products:
  • HF orange pad with Meguiar's M105
  • HF blue pad with Meguiar's M205
  • HF black pad with Collinite Insulator Wax
 
I bought this tool about a week or so ago. Finally was able to use it yesterday. I didn't do any mods except for a 5" BP from LC. I used LC 5.5" pads. It ran beautifully. Didn't run hot since I only worked 2x2' areas, so it wasn't running for extended periods of time. No noticeable vibration except for those expected of DA polishers. Beautiful results. I would highly recommend it to anyone not looking to spend a ton of money.
 
Quick how do you use this as a upholstery cleaner

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Bought this over the weekend, along with th 2 year warranty. I'm planning on using a different backing plate. I see that the Lake County 5" was used by someone in this thread. Can anyone recommend a startup kit with a backing plate and pads from Autogeek.net? I see Lake County has some, but I'd like to get some feedback here. I'll just be detailing my personal vehicles. :buffing:
 
Azure said:
Bought this over the weekend, along with th 2 year warranty. I'm planning on using a different backing plate. I see that the Lake County 5" was used by someone in this thread. Can anyone recommend a startup kit with a backing plate and pads from Autogeek.net? I see Lake County has some, but I'd like to get some feedback here. I'll just be detailing my personal vehicles. :buffing:
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The general advice I've seen here is to match the backing plate to the pads you wish to use.

In my case, I too went with the LC 5" backing plate and 5.5" LC Flat pads. I haven't used them yet, but Saturday I'll find out how well this combo works. I've installed the backing plate and it went on with no issues
 
Had mine since Christmas. It's an excellent machine, but the factory backing plate definitely sucks.
 
Azure said:
Bought this over the weekend, along with th 2 year warranty. I'm planning on using a different backing plate. I see that the Lake County 5" was used by someone in this thread. Can anyone recommend a startup kit with a backing plate and pads from Autogeek.net? I see Lake County has some, but I'd like to get some feedback here. I'll just be detailing my personal vehicles. :buffing:
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I use the LC 5" back plate with the 5.5" flat pads. They were recommended to me from another person on AG. He does this professionally. I like them because they are not too expensive, easy to clean, and are very controllable when doing any sort of paint correction, polishing, or waxing.
 
As a proud owner of a Flex Dual Action---Get the Harbor Freight. Sure the Flex is an incredible machine, but my car's paint is in excellent condition and with the high-powered sealants I learned about here, I only use it three times a year. I could get by with twice a year if I wanted to. I'd say the Flex is justified if you use it at least six times per year. i.e. taking care of two cars.

They didn't have these when I bought my Flex.

Re: Girot's. To me it seemed like the worst of both worlds: Something built in a no-name factory, but with a name-brand price (and, I admit, an excellent warranty). Better to go to either extreme, cheap but serviceable equipment, or the real deal, but not in-between. I admit my opinion is a minority here.
 
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