My Flex starting smoking on me..

HateSwirls

HateSwirls

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Yesterday I was working on a Ford Fuzion, paint was in bad shape.
Anyway , as I was working on a panel I saw smoke coming from the Flex, at the same time it quit running so I unplugged it.
As I was looking for what caused it I saw some of the felt ring, it was visible.
I then removed the backing plate, sure enough some of the felt ring was damaged, I removed it and flipped it over and added little oil to the ring, just as I did when I first bought it.

I had about two hours left and didn't have any problems.

Question,

Can I order just the felt ring?

I've been working it hard daily since I got it, I know it was just one of those things as the Flex is well built.
Sure hope it's fine because I have more work today and next week.

After I flipped over the ring I let it sit a while to cool down, I worked with my GG6 for about a half hour, there I saw a big difference between the two, ,y GG6 takes much longer to correct than of my Flex.
I appreciate my Flex more now since this happened.
 
No damage to the backing plate? That's what the felt ring is rubbing against. Try powerhousetoolparts or it looks like there is a service center in New Orleans (go to the Flex USA site).
 
I feel silicone spray is a much better option.
I would think the oil would heat up and hold dirt.
Using silicone spray on sliding vinyl type windows with felt weather strip is the only way to lubricate them. Oil will eventually gum up.

Since there are vague similarities between the Flex mechanics and a window, I opted for silicone spray.
 
I have moved away from oil.....found that White Lithium Grease to be a safer product...
 
I've never touched my felt rings with anything and haven't seen any issues whatsoever. I wonder if half the problems we see with these machines isn't from people squirting oil where it's really not needed or recommended...??

Who knows?

Has anyone here ever seen a thread where a 3401 failed because the felt ring wasn't oiled?

Just wondering..
 
Wow sorry to hear the Flex smoking. I usually put WD-40 or some type of oil on the felt part of the Flex. Not much....just a dab around the felt part.

No need for tool oil, WD-40 or equivalent would be fine. I have not encountered any problems by doing this.

Again, my $.02 worth.
 
I've seen this happen way too often. The culprit is a poor size extension cord. Make sure your using at least a 14/3 extension cord, no longer than 25ft. If you must use 50ft or longer, then go up to a 12/3 to be safe. I can tell you that not all 14/3 extension cords are made the same, copper is expensive and many companies have much smaller wires than spec'd. Sometimes the plugs on each ended have been bent back and forth so much that inside wire has been compromised; thus reducing the current capacity of the wire. This will make a power hungry tool heat up real quick.
 
tuscarora dave said:
Has anyone here ever seen a thread where a 3401 failed because the felt ring wasn't oiled?
Click to expand...

Um...yes? I'm pretty sure when the 3401 came out we had a number of instances of people melting the backing plate and making the machine unusable...which is why Mike Phillips has that thread that someone else linked about oiling the felt ring.

EDIT:

Need a little help here. I think my flex BP melted.

Hopefully my Flex issues are over...

Flex issue again

Need Help with Flex BP

My Flex's Backing Plate is Shredding on Me

I'm also pretty sure that at the beginning there was some problem with the bevel gearset not being greased and everybody was taking apart theirs to make sure there was grease in it before it overheated. That being said I think I got mine a little later and I never checked the gears and I don't think I've ever even lubed the felt ring. I'm sure mine doesn't have the hours on it of you guys who use yours every day.

SonOfOC said:
I've seen this happen way too often. The culprit is a poor size extension cord.
Click to expand...

First of all the OP says the problem was with the felt ring, not the motor. Second, I have never seen an explanation of this extension cord phenomenon that holds up to Ohm's Law. How does putting less power into the machine (by using a high resistance cord) cause the machine to overheat? A bad/small conductor cord may cause the cord to overheat, but not the machine.
 
HateSwirls said:
Yesterday I was working on a Ford Fuzion, paint was in bad shape.
Anyway , as I was working on a panel I saw smoke coming from the Flex, at the same time it quit running so I unplugged it.
As I was looking for what caused it I saw some of the felt ring, it was visible.
I then removed the backing plate, sure enough some of the felt ring was damaged, I removed it and flipped it over and added little oil to the ring, just as I did when I first bought it.

I had about two hours left and didn't have any problems.

Question,

Can I order just the felt ring?

I've been working it hard daily since I got it, I know it was just one of those things as the Flex is well built.
Sure hope it's fine because I have more work today and next week.

After I flipped over the ring I let it sit a while to cool down, I worked with my GG6 for about a half hour, there I saw a big difference between the two, ,y GG6 takes much longer to correct than of my Flex.
I appreciate my Flex more now since this happened.
Click to expand...


Just curious, were you using the Flex plate, or an LC plate?
 
Setec Astronomy said:
No damage to the backing plate? That's what the felt ring is rubbing against. Try powerhousetoolparts or it looks like there is a service center in New Orleans (go to the Flex USA site).
Click to expand...


Backing plate is fine.
I used it for a few hours today , all well so far.
 
SonOfOC said:
I've seen this happen way too often. The culprit is a poor size extension cord. Make sure your using at least a 14/3 extension cord, no longer than 25ft. If you must use 50ft or longer, then go up to a 12/3 to be safe. I can tell you that not all 14/3 extension cords are made the same, copper is expensive and many companies have much smaller wires than spec'd. Sometimes the plugs on each ended have been bent back and forth so much that inside wire has been compromised; thus reducing the current capacity of the wire. This will make a power hungry tool heat up real quick.
Click to expand...


Great tip.
May be what caused it.
Dunno!

Thanks for the heads up.
 
My guess is the smoke is from overheating the machine & has nothing to do with oil, felt rings, BPs, extension cords, etc.... A new machine may smoke a tiny bit from oil or grease burning off stuff getting hot. An overheated / overworked / smoking machine just needs time to cool down. You should be checking the temps of the BP periodically by just touching it with your hand. My guess is the direct drive mechanism combined with a lot of pressure gets HOT.

Disclaimer: non 3401 user.
 
Setec Astronomy said:
First of all the OP says the problem was with the felt ring, not the motor. Second, I have never seen an explanation of this extension cord phenomenon that holds up to Ohm's Law. How does putting less power into the machine (by using a high resistance cord) cause the machine to overheat? A bad/small conductor cord may cause the cord to overheat, but not the machine.
Click to expand...

Without getting into the science, go plug in a rotary polisher, circular saw, or something that pulls 10-12amp; then use one of those skinny 18awg white extension cords or a 16 awg cord.

You will feel that both the tool and the cord get hot much faster than using a thick cable. Under continuous loaded the the skinny corded will melt or you will smell or see smoke from the tool. The motor brushes will get so hot that I had it melt the plastic caps that hold them in.
 
I work it hard each day.
At the time that the felt ring tore some I had good pressure on it,working it for three hours none stop.
Thing that worries me is it stopped running for a few seconds.
 
HateSwirls said:
I work it hard each day.
At the time that the felt ring tore some I had good pressure on it,working it for three hours none stop.
Thing that worries me is it stopped running for a few seconds.
Click to expand...

It's supposed to stop when it gets too hot. This feature was designed into the machine.
 
HateSwirls said:
I work it hard each day.
At the time that the felt ring tore some I had good pressure on it,working it for three hours none stop.
Thing that worries me is it stopped running for a few seconds.
Click to expand...

Hmm I know I used my Flex 3401 recently for about 4 hrs non stop and had no issues. With you saying the felt ring tearing I am wondering if that is the issue as I have not experienced that before.

Maybe you have the bolt for the backing plate on too tight? If your BP are not too hot then my assumption that the felt part is the culprit.

Man I do not know what to tell you. But when you do find out what the problem is I would really like to hear what it was and how you fixed it so us Flex users could know.
 
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