Chicago Electric D/A Polisher Vibration question

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loveclassics69

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New to the polishing scene did a lot of reading i had to go budget for now so I bought the CE D/A polisher. My main question and I did a lot of searching. Is thing supposed to have harsh vibration can't go passed setting 4 without my hand flying off. I am using the handle. Do i take it back and get another one or just deal with it and buy i better one soon which i will do soon when my budget allows me to. I am just trying to get my truck done on a budget for now.Feed back please Thanks watched all Mikes videos the job is going good just the shaking is killin me.

Thanks.
 
You're talking about Harbor Freight, Right? I have one and its not as smooth as other polishers. Mine is not as bad as York described. There's write ups here about changing out the greese to make smoother, but it sounds like yours is defective.
 
Before taking it back and buying another one, which backing plate and pad you are using? The gg6 is a much smoother machine and worth the extra money purely on that factor alone. Not to mention the exceptional customer service you get with the folks at griots. That said, the HF DA is way more powerful than the 7424xp but if you aren't using a quality backing plate & pads then that is most likely the culprit.

Try the Griot's 5 inch backing plate paired with a flat buff and shine pad and make sure it's centered perfectly on the backing plate. Also, there's no reason you should ever really need to go over speed 5 with that polisher.
 
Yes harbor frieght one using the 6in plate that it came with may take it back and swap it out and see if it better yeah wouldn't go above 5 anyways
 
I guarentee the problem is with the backing plate, not the machine. Throw that backing plate away
 
Well im going to finish the job i started then return it and upgrade to a beter one for sure
 
Hey, I experienced the same Exact problem with the vibration and everything.

I just replaced the HF backing plate, like everyone said, with the Megs 5" plate and used Megs pads and I no longer have had that problem. I've been using the HF D/A for a year and a half now, with no problems knock on wood.
 
mwoywod said:
I guarentee the problem is with the backing plate, not the machine. Throw that backing plate away
Click to expand...

Exactly.

Anything rotating at speeds in the 1,000-5,000 area, tool-wise have to have a balanced rotating assembly. The junk Chinese backing plate on the HF is far from that. And therein produces that horrible vibration.

Have you ever experienced a tire in which the wheel (balancing weight) fell off?

A high rpm rotating assembly needs perfect balance. any slight variation gets magnified.
 
out of curiosity, what size counterweight is on the HF DA? this may help with the vibration if you use a 5" counterweight instead of a 6" if that's what is comes with...
 
loveclassics69 said:
New to the polishing scene did a lot of reading i had to go budget for now so I bought the CE D/A polisher. My main question and I did a lot of searching. Is thing supposed to have harsh vibration can't go passed setting 4 without my hand flying off. I am using the handle. Do i take it back and get another one or just deal with it and buy i better one soon which i will do soon when my budget allows me to. I am just trying to get my truck done on a budget for now.Feed back please Thanks watched all Mikes videos the job is going good just the shaking is killin me.

Thanks.
Click to expand...

I learned on the harbor frieght da but I didn't notice excessive vibration but I'm used to using power tools and at that time I never wanted to use it above 4 so it's hard to say. It should be "useable"? You have to use ur own judgement
 
Another vote from ditching the backing plate.

Mine didn't vibrate as bad as the OP's, but you could tell when it was running that it was not perfectly flat and a little "off" in some way. I switched up to the Lake Country 5" backing plate and everything has been fine ever since.
 
So you guys are leaving the 6" counter weight on the HF unit and NOT changing out to the PC 5" counter weight? I havent found much info of people doing it with the LC backing plat and pads, just the HF stuff.
 
MrOneEyedBoh said:
So you guys are leaving the 6" counter weight on the HF unit and NOT changing out to the PC 5" counter weight? I havent found much info of people doing it with the LC backing plat and pads, just the HF stuff.
Click to expand...

No counter-weight change here. I simply changed out the backing plate and it works just fine, with no real vibration issues. In fact, when I tried out a Lake Country Thin Pro Pad a couple weeks ago, I found it to run quite smooth compared to when I used the Flat Pads.

I'd run far away from the HF pads. The ones I used were not terribly good and would fall apart after a job or two. Total junk.
 
I've used my HF with a 5" plate for many hours. I'm an old(er) woman and didn't notice untoward vibration. OP should exchange the machine for a different one and get a 5" backing plate. If the polisher is that rough, there's got to be a problem with it.
Just re packed the grease today, and it definitely sounds quieter, but haven't actually tried it to polish yet.

Side note- Found a piece of foam in the gearbox while changing the grease. It was wedged under the drive pin, so hadn't gotten torn up or jammed.


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All good thanks for all the help i picked up a porter cable and the lake country backing plate
 
I use the LC flat pads and their backing plate. I have too many new flat pads to switch now
 
loveclassics69 said:
New to the polishing scene did a lot of reading. I am using the handle.
Click to expand...

If you did alot of reading, why are you using the handle?

loveclassics69 said:
Yes harbor frieght one using the 6in plate that it came with
Click to expand...

Again, if you did alot or even just a little bit of reading, you should've known to not use the 6" backing plate it came with...
 
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