Flex Problems, NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

blkyukon said:
Excessive Detail check your hex screw on the backing plate and make sure it's not loose....when I got my Flex, all the screws on mine needed to be tightened. If the backing plate is loose I could see it causing excessive rubbing when pressure is applied.

With that being said, I can see if you do apply pressure on an angle (using the edge of a pad) that it can cause the backing plate to rub too.


When I was testing the Flex I did apply pressure and never experienced any "plastic burning". I don't normally use pressure with it though...if I need more cutting, I just slow down the passes.





The Flex 3401 is new but not that new....IIRC, the Flex XC 3401 was released over a year ago.
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What hex screw are you talking about? Is it the hex screw shown below: if not, can you please explain further on what to do?

DSC01503.JPG


I did tighten this bolt down and it still had room to go.

Thanks guys!
 
Also, I noticed that my Flex is really REALLY noisy and it vibrates a lot! It seems that the black piece in between the white part and the metal part is loose. (Shown in picture below) Even if I already tightened the bolt shown above. Is this normal?

DSC01504.JPG


Thanks guys!
 
ZoranC said:
Yes, that is the one. Make sure it is properly seated though before tightening, it can sometimes be finicky to get it seated right and if you don't it will be loose. Also, you might want to try using two washers underneath the bolt's head.
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What do you mean properly seated? I can't jiggle it or anything. I was just able to tighten it by a quarter of a revolution. Is that enough?

Also, is your Flex noisy as well? Does it vibrate like crazy? It seems that the black plastic below the metal head is loose. When I turn the machine on, it seems like the black piece is loose and vibrates a lot. It's not solid. What do you guys think about this?
 
I did tighten mine. It was already pretty tight to begin with but I tightened it pretty hard this time and have not had this problem any more.
 
ZoranC said:
I went ahead and just took felt out on mine. I will let you know if I end up regretting it but at this moment nothing indicates that I would.

... and yes, approximately querter of a turn to tighten bp down sounds right now that I have been paying attention when doing it.
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blkyukon said:
Yes, there is a small amount of play in the backing plate, and if the hex screw is tight, it does take some pressure for the backing plate to touch the machine....but if the screw is loose the backing plate does have more play and if pressure is applied will cause it to rub.
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Based on this quote, this is what I think is happening. The BP has a small amount of play where it can rotate a bit with respect to the vertical axis. I would have assumed that it would always be flat and parallel with respect to the horizontal axis. But it seems that it's tilting like a degree or so when I play around with it. Is this normal for you too ZoranC?

Another thing I noticed, when I set the speed to around 4-5 and depress the trigger completely, the machine seems off-balanced. But yeah, I'm doing this in free air so that might be why. Still, I would have assumed that it should be completely balanced especially when it has a rotary feature built in.

I agree that it's subjective but how would I let other people over the forums judge my tool? LOL! I just don't want to have a defective device and not know.

Thanks for your help.
 
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Man I didn't think this would thread would get this big, but anyway after taking my flex apart I noticed that the backing plate was very loose and tightned it, like many of you suggested, and have been uding it since without any problem at all, no smell or dust coming from it at all.
 
ZoranC said:
Go to Home Depot and take a wooden rod, another piece of wood, a single nail, and nail those two together to resemble how Flex bp is being mounted on the tool. Now play with it in horizontal axis and you will notice it is easy for it to tilt and that degree of how much you can tilt depends on how thick rod is and how wide head of nail is. So tilting is inherent in design. Bolt not being perfectly tight will increase amount of tilt possible. That is why I went with two washers, to increase chance I can tighten that down to a maximum. Does it still tilt when pressed down under angle? Yes, but much much less than when I tried it with single washer. So what do I do to completely eliminate tilt? I do not press down under offset and I do not press excessively.


No machine that has random orbit component can feel balanced :) That is how random orbit works :) What you are feeling is a counterweight being thrown around in random fashion :) Now stop playing with your tool in the air as not having resistance from pad touching the surface is bad for machines, some people have damaged their PC when doing so. :)


I know, we all face that problem :)
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ZoranC,

WOW!!! Thanks a bunch for replying in a detailed and timely manner! Ok ok ok I'll stop playing with my Flex in the air hahaha! I'll be detailing our car tomorrow so at least I can now test it out on the paint's surface. Sorry for being anal about it but I just wanted to make sure that I didn't get a defective product especially with the money I paid for it.
 
ZoranC said:
Now stop playing with your tool in the air as not having resistance from pad touching the surface is bad for machines, some people have damaged their PC when doing so. :)
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Bwaaahahhahhaahha! That's funny. :D
 
ZoranC said:
Do what I did, polish shower wall LOL At least that won't make you go blind :D J/K!


Of course and don't worry, I see that question often, quite a number of persons that buy new tool plug it in for quick dry run. Very very often first reaction of people that do that with PC is panic shut down and question "What is broken?"

:welcome:
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hey man,

Well, I already have the Meguiar's G100 (PC7424) and it doesn't violently shake like that or isn't off-balanced as bad as the Flex. That's why I panic.
 
ZoranC,

What's IIRC?

Anyway, I just finished detailing today and I must say that the Flex is amazing!!! You're right that it felt more solid and more balanced than the G100! I used Menzerna 106FF with a white LC polishing pad throughout the whole car (will post pics once the sun comes out). After, I used the G100 to apply wax and the G100 felt like a weakling! LOL!

The quality is superb! It felt solid as I was using it! There are only 2 complaints though... It's freaking heavy! When I polish the vertical panels, my shoulders just starts to wear out LOL! Also, since it has a forced rotation feature, the buffer will take you out of your path once you hit a very irregular surface. But other than that, I think I was able to move through panels at a quicker pace than the G100! I was only using speeds between 4-5!

I'm extremely happy with my Flex!!! Why didn't they make them way back then!!!!?!??
 
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