Backing Plate Melting

jdscooby

jdscooby

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What is going on here. My backing plate on my Flex started melting in the center. Orange pad was stuck in the middle and velcro is delaminating from backing plate. This is not the first time using the Flex so I do not think it is technique.

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maybe flex is the best DA on the market,
but this melting issue is well known issue,
All my friends that have Flex are suffering from this issue.
 
Melting means it's getting hot obviously but why is it getting hot?
That's strange.I have used my 3401 for a couple of years now and I have not seen this issue with mine:dunno:
 
If there's one thing I dislike about my Flex machines is how hot they get.

Now, I've never had them get this hot but they got a lot hotter, not warmer hotter than lets say my Makita or Porter Cable machines. They are guarded but I still wish then ran cooler..

If you take off the backing plate you'll notice a felt ring. Many here put a few drops of oil on it but I use a synthetic grease on mine. I rub it into the felt so I'm certain I have good penetration.

The grease I use is available through Shooters Choice. It's a red translucent grease that's been on the market for over 20 years and I've been using it for several applications both private and commercial....it's great stuff...:props:
 
Funny thing is I used it twice before before oiling the felt ring. I oiled it this time, After reading about on here,with a synthetic gun grease, and this is the result.
 
Next question. I am half way through my car. Can I still use this plate?
 
Funny thing is I used it twice before before oiling the felt ring. I oiled it this time, After reading about on here, with a synthetic gun grease, and this is the result.
Click to expand...
Are you saying it worked fine before oiling the ring and after using synthetic gun grease the plate in your photo was the result?

Next question. I am half way through my car. Can I still use this plate?
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I don't see what not.

The center is a but distorted but other than that there's quite a bit of surface area left to hold onto the pad...
 
I'm not an expert on this subject, but could it be that the grease is too thick for the lubrication of the felt ring? Grease used to lube metal to metal is fine, but felt to plastic. ??? Maybe it's like putting 90 weight gear oil into your engine. Grease is a lubricate, but perhaps too thick for the felt ring? Dunno..Maybe Meghan, Mike or Nick can find out.
jdscooby said:
Funny thing is I used it twice before before oiling the felt ring. I oiled it this time, After reading about on here,with a synthetic gun grease, and this is the result.
Click to expand...
 
I Think Flex should take the comments here and improve their product.

It's clear that there is a heating issue that causes backing plates to melt down.

As much as i want to get one... i will wait for an improved version.
I don't wanna spend my money for changing backing plates faster than i change pads.
 
Were you polishing in the shade or on a hot panel out in the sun? Were you perhaps using a bit too much product, allowing the center of the pad to become loaded with product?

These are 2 things that will contribute to melting the pad and plate velcro on either a 3401 or a traditional DA though I've experienced it more so with a traditional DA. I have a 2 week old Meguiar's DA backing plate that came with the microfiber cutting system that's melted down because of over working where I allowed too much product to become loaded up in the center of the pad.

I have also worked my 3401 so hard on a hot bare aluminum panel truck out in direct sunlight that the velcro had begun to melt but it was more of an overall melting on the entire face of the backing plate rather that just in the center like yours is.

This is what makes me think your problem is more related to excessive product build up in the pad. When this happens, the built up product in the center of the pad actually gets to a point where it begins to steam and if pushed much further the velcro melts. I've experienced this many times over the years and have seen people blame the free rotating spindle assembly for the heat when working with traditional DA polishers. Each time it has happened to me I quickly pulled the backing plate off of my DA to feel how hot the spindle assembly was and each time it was cool to the touch.

This suggests to me that the root cause of this velcro melting issue is using one pad for too long of a period of time with too much product in the pad, allowing it to get to a boiling point. When I started using less product and switching out pads every couple of work sections, this problem went away.

The Meguiar's backing plate I mentioned earlier melted as a result of me pushing the limits of the microfiber cutting disks to see if this was more of a foam pad issue, but I now know that the problem can exist with microfiber cutting/polishing disks as well.

Maybe none of this applies to your problem, I'm just sharing my own experience and observations on the subject.
 
tuscarora dave said:
Were you polishing in the shade or on a hot panel out in the sun? Were you perhaps using a bit too much product, allowing the center of the pad to become loaded with product?

These are 2 things that will contribute to melting the pad and plate velcro on either a 3401 or a traditional DA though I've experienced it more so with a traditional DA. I have a 2 week old Meguiar's DA backing plate that came with the microfiber cutting system that's melted down because of over working where I allowed too much product to become loaded up in the center of the pad.

I have also worked my 3401 so hard on a hot bare aluminum panel truck out in direct sunlight that the velcro had begun to melt but it was more of an overall melting on the entire face of the backing plate rather that just in the center like yours is.

This is what makes me think your problem is more related to excessive product build up in the pad. When this happens, the built up product in the center of the pad actually gets to a point where it begins to steam and if pushed much further the velcro melts. I've experienced this many times over the years and have seen people blame the free rotating spindle assembly for the heat when working with traditional DA polishers. Each time it has happened to me I quickly pulled the backing plate off of my DA to feel how hot the spindle assembly was and each time it was cool to the touch.

This suggests to me that the root cause of this velcro melting issue is using one pad for too long of a period of time with too much product in the pad, allowing it to get to a boiling point. When I started using less product and switching out pads every couple of work sections, this problem went away.

The Meguiar's backing plate I mentioned earlier melted as a result of me pushing the limits of the microfiber cutting disks to see if this was more of a foam pad issue, but I now know that the problem can exist with microfiber cutting/polishing disks as well.

Maybe none of this applies to your problem, I'm just sharing my own experience and observations on the subject.
Click to expand...


Was in the garage in the evening so definately not hot. In fact the high for the day was only in the upper 50's. I guess too much product may be a possibility, but like I mentioned earlier, I had no problems the first 2 times I used it but did this time. I did finish the car using the same backing plate with no further problems.

An idea that came to mind was the pad that the melting occured had been washed and reused. Wondering if a little excess moisture in the pad caused staem as you mentioned, contributing to the problem
shrug.gif
 
What I had described about the product building up in the pad and getting steaming hot, hot enough to melt a backing plate has happened to me probably 3 or 4 times since I started polishing paint and every time it happened my backing plate looked just like the one that you pictured in this thread. (Burned just in the center) I just haven't had it occur with my 3401 yet.
 
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