My Love Affair with the Flex XCE 125-8

richy

richy

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So I took delivery of my new cordless Flex XCE. I was so excited to get rid of the damned cord that I forgot about the other beef I have with my beloved 3401...the heat. I have only used the new XCE on one vehicle so far but I'd like to share my experience. For those who don't know me (and justifiably as I haven't been around a lot in the last few years), I am a police officer in Ontario for 28 years and I do detailing on the side, specializing in Feynlab coatings. I have been using the 3401 for probably 10 years and I love, love, love the job it does. I have my own method of correcting using the 3401 to its fullest ability...but...it would get damned hot. Especially with heavy correcting. I would have to put it in front of my portable air conditioner in the hottest times.

Fast forward to last weekend. I did a 2017 Ford Edge (no pics, sorry) with a 2 step compound/polish. I wanted to test how long a battery would last. The time almost seems irrelevant. What I found that if I ran the battery down to 1 bar out of 4, I still had OK power but decided to change out the battery. I don't want to ever run the battery down to 0. I was able to do the 2 step process to the hood (no swirls so it wasn't bad at all), 2 fenders and the front bumper all on the same battery. I did buy a 3rd battery so that after using it, it will be put in a cool down stage while one is on the machine and one in the charger. This might be overkill but I waited a long time to get it and didn't want any issues if I get a major correction job.

My observations and feelings using the machine: I love how more quiet it is. Perhaps it is the brushless motor, but the motor emits a different sound than before and it is much less noisy. I hate background noise and always use noise cancelling buds when I work. I could not get it to heat up other than a slight, slight warming, but not hot by any means. The only other test I'd like to do is use it to correct a nasty, typical 4 hour correction time on a black, heavily swirled hood. From what I've seen so far, I am not concerned.

So, in summary, the improvements I found are:

1) Quiet running
2) Cool running
3) Good battery performance
4) No power difference in correcting



The bar has now been moved significantly higher...well done Flex!!
 
I love my CBeast and I’ve been using the heck out of it lately polishing home theater subwoofer lacquer to a high gloss.
 
good to hear from you richy, hope all is well!
 
Way cool to read your thoughts. I too have the 3401 and love it. But it was loud, heavy and did get hot, however, manageable for me. It was the noise that made me detail with ear plugs on. After 5+ years of heavy use and abuse, I have relegated the 3401 as my BACK - UP DA now that I have the corded Supa Beast.

Love it! It's quieter, easier to use, lighter and can correct IMO about 95%-99% of what the 3401 can do. The only difference is that yours is the cordless and mine is corded.

Either way, bot are excellent choices and are now the standard of the forced rotation DA's IMO.

KEEP ON ROCKING!
 
dgage said:
I love my CBeast and I’ve been using the heck out of it lately polishing home theater subwoofer lacquer to a high gloss.
Click to expand...
The thing I'm looking forward to is being able to easily use it inside my house to polish my glass top stove! I've done it with the 3401 before but I prefer not having my dirty cords in the house.

VISITOR said:
good to hear from you richy, hope all is well!
Click to expand...

Thanks bud!! Yes, all is very good. In the last year I've managed to get back to less than the weight at which I was at when I was hired in 1994. I'm back in the pool training for the Can-Am competitive games next summer...going to compete in 5 different swimming events. The funny thing is it will have been 38 years since I have swam in a race!!! For some sick, twisted reason I'm actually looking forward to it, LOL.

Can-Am 2022 – 2022 Police Fire Games

Kamakaz1961 said:
Way cool to read your thoughts. I too have the 3401 and love it. But it was loud, heavy and did get hot, however, manageable for me. It was the noise that made me detail with ear plugs on. After 5+ years of heavy use and abuse, I have relegated the 3401 as my BACK - UP DA now that I have the corded Supa Beast.

Love it! It's quieter, easier to use, lighter and can correct IMO about 95%-99% of what the 3401 can do. The only difference is that yours is the cordless and mine is corded.

Either way, bot are excellent choices and are now the standard of the forced rotation DA's IMO.

KEEP ON ROCKING!
Click to expand...

Thanks! The true test will be difficult correction. I considered staying with the cord but I hate it too much, LOL. The only thing I haven't read yet is how long do they expect the motor to last since it doesn't require a change of brushes. Is there any other maintenance to it? I hope the motor lasts as long with no brushes.
The other thing is I bought a Rupes polisher years ago that I used once or twice and hated it compared to the 3401. Gotta find that thing and turn it into cash. I now have 2 3401's as backup so I no longer need my inferior Rupes. (Them are fighting words, hehehehehehe)
 
richy said:
The thing I'm looking forward to is being able to easily use it inside my house to polish my glass top stove! I've done it with the 3401 before but I prefer not having my dirty cords in the house.



Thanks bud!! Yes, all is very good. In the last year I've managed to get back to less than the weight at which I was at when I was hired in 1994. I'm back in the pool training for the Can-Am competitive games next summer...going to compete in 5 different swimming events. The funny thing is it will have been 38 years since I have swam in a race!!! For some sick, twisted reason I'm actually looking forward to it, LOL.

Can-Am 2022 – 2022 Police Fire Games



Thanks! The true test will be difficult correction. I considered staying with the cord but I hate it too much, LOL. The only thing I haven't read yet is how long do they expect the motor to last since it doesn't require a change of brushes. Is there any other maintenance to it? I hope the motor lasts as long with no brushes.
The other thing is I bought a Rupes polisher years ago that I used once or twice and hated it compared to the 3401. Gotta find that thing and turn it into cash. I now have 2 3401's as backup so I no longer need my inferior Rupes. (Them are fighting words, hehehehehehe)
Click to expand...

You hated the RUPES polisher?!?
I AM SHOCKED !!!
 
richy said:
The only thing I haven't read yet is how long do they expect the motor to last since it doesn't require a change of brushes. Is there any other maintenance to it? I hope the motor lasts as long with no brushes.
Click to expand...

Not that I expect Richy to see/answer this, but the whole idea with brushless motors is that they eliminate the brush/commutator wear of a brushed motor, so you should expect longer life out of your brushless motor.
 
Setec Astronomy said:
Not that I expect Richy to see/answer this, but the whole idea with brushless motors is that they eliminate the brush/commutator wear of a brushed motor, so you should expect longer life out of your brushless motor.
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I hope he didn't go WOKE and chop his tally whacker off

A lot of people changed during covid
 
Now you're reminding me of Tim Kazarinski(?) from that Neighbors movie from 40+ years ago. You know, the tow truck scene.
 
Setec Astronomy said:
Now you're reminding me of Tim Kazarinski(?) from that Neighbors movie from 40+ years ago. You know, the tow truck scene.
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Omg. That is one of my favorite movies
If I could only remember the name I would watch it again during my Christmas break
 
Oh, you were thinking of Rick Ducommun. He had a small part in Die Hard, also.

Yes, that's the scene, where the tow truck guy says to Belushi something like "stand back, if that cable snaps back between your legs it'll lass your whacker up something fierce". It was better the way I remembered it rather than the actuality of watching it now.
 
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