PC Problem Trying to narrow it down

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inDetail

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This past week I had some issues with my PC acting up. Speed six it spins fine lower speeds it spins but depending on the angle or curve of a panel it stops spinning. The other issue is when I put the least amount of pressure on it I can make it stop at speed six. I mean a little bit. I'm not going over 15 lbs buy a long shot. It also felt a little warm to the touch. It may have been me because I realized something was not right with the polisher. It's something I never noticed before

Things I ruled out: I did this all the past weekend.
Primed using different polishes and used different pads all 5.5" with a 5" counter balance. All pads were Hex Logic and Sure Buff MF.
Priming the pad
Too much product
Not enough product
Cleaning pads.
Over saturation of spent polish.
Not keeping the polisher parrallel to the surface I'm working.
Correct size extension cord. I'm using a 16 awg by 25'. I think I may have changed cords since my last detail but I'm going to confirm that in the morning and hook the polisher up to my other 16 awg by 25' and see if I can stop it pressing against me hand.

Things I am unsure of:
I have seen people keep the metal washer that comes with the PC and put that on top of the compression washer before attaching the backing plate to give more clearance to the polisher. I have also read you always use that washer no matter what. I also have seen demo's not using that metal washer as well. I have always used the metal washer.
My outside electrical outlet that I always use but I will also check that in the morning to see if that is pulling consistent juice. I will try my other outlets to see if that is the problem. The one I do use seems to be the one that trips the breakers the rare times it does trip them. It may be beat after the long winter we had. I have used other equipment with that outlet with no problems. I think it has tripped 3 times in the last two years.
If you guys can think of anything else or something I am over looking that would be huge
 
To be honest I think it's the nature of the beast. Unless I also have a broken one that's how mine is.

However, are you saying that it stops rotating all together or just the spinning stops but it still oscillates?

Sent from my HTC6435LVW using AG Online
 
As brondondolon stated; it's the nature of the beast..

Unless you're using a Flex 3401 or similar machine with forced rotation, ensuring the polishing pad is rotating can be "challenging".

A few reasons that can cause it to stop spinning are:

  1. Too much pressure
  2. Too light pressure
  3. To larger pad
  4. Uneven pressure
  5. A curved surface
  6. Too much product
  7. A dirty pad

Should the pad spin for maximum results and efficiency? Ideally yes, but if it occasionally stops it's not a show stopper, it'll just take a bit longer to correct the area..

Here's some great information by Mike Phillips that will help you.

 
It will still oscillate but not spin. Thanks for the input guys. I have been digging through AG for days reading everything I can.
 
Yea I have the same problem with mine and I've tried all of the above. Extremely frustrating
 
I finally figured out my problem. It seemed to be a bum extension cord as well as my electrical outlet. It did stop spinning on speeds 1-4 under load. 5-6 I could not stop it with either foam or MF pads. The MF pads did run smoother as well.
I will probably never use speeds 1-3 except for spreading polish so as long as 5-6 don't stop spinning I'm good.
 
There is a post of someone with the exact same problem. Assuming if your using an extension cord it if the proper one it's the switch. He replaced his and it works great. I will try to find his post
 
I'm on my iPad and don't know how to post links. In the search box type in porter cable internal switch repair guide and it will pull it up
 
That's why since I got my Flex 3401 I hardly ever pull out the PC. I basically have it in case the Flex goes down now but I don't know what the chances of that are since I only use it mainly on weekends. Not everyday like some of you guys.
 
In the last 6 months I've recently taken on the task of 3-4 cars a week, if not more.

I purchased 2 new XP's and corresponding pad kits. Worked great until I got a few cars in. Pad rotation became harder than ever to maintain or even achieve.

I have learned now that pads that have lost their true round, have little chance of properly rotating on this machine. I was using 6.5 inch pads.

I have since switch to 5.5 inch with BP and no longer have rotation issues, ever. Also found that the thinner the pad, the less issues I've had. Microfiber pads have been AWESOME with this machine.

I have since moved on to the world of Rotary. But not for every car. My trust PC XP still comes out and the 5.5" pads and BP, along with some microfiber pads have been an excellent combination that work well on contoured cars.
 
inDetail said:
All pads were Hex Logic and Sure Buff MF.
Click to expand...

I'm not sure since I don't use Hex Logic pads but I think the Hex Logic pads I've seen are on the THICK side?

Here's a saying...

Thin is in...

Thin, smaller pads rotate better on Porter Cable style tools better than thick pads.

The extra thickness of foam ABSORBS the power coming out of the tool and dissipates it. That means it makes the power go away.

You see this as a lack of pad rotation.


Pad Saturation
As buffing pads become wet with product, WET FOAM absorbs and dissipates the power coming out of the tool. All you have to do to see and understand this is replace a wet pad with the exact same pad that's clean and dry and you'll see amazingly... the pad rotates well.



Surbuf pads
Surbuf pads are about 5/8" thin, they should rotate better than your Hex Logic pads.



inDetail said:
Things I am unsure of:

I have seen people keep the metal washer that comes with the PC and put that on top of the compression washer before attaching the backing plate to give more clearance to the polisher.
Click to expand...

That's completely bogus.

Placing a second washer between the spindle and the backing plate won't improve pad rotation. Not sure where you heard or read this but not on this forum.

If you can find anything like that on this forum please post the link to it. IF you can find this kind of misinformation on some other forum then give them the link to this thread to bring them up to speed.


The right way

Here's my article on the compression washer, in the article I explain the PURPOSE of this compressible washer so there should be no confusion on what it's for and why it's important if you read the article and look at the pictures.



Don't use your polisher without it!


That is... the Compression Washer
5inchbackingpatesonDAPs013.jpg



If you don't use a compression washer, the rivets on the backing plate attachment base will come into contact with the counterweight assembly on your DA Polisher.

Damage caused by not using the Compression Washer
DamagedCounterweight01.jpg



Damaged and Gouged Metal
The rivets have gouged the metal because the compression washer was left off. Not only does it gouge the metal it will usually make a horrible noise and that should be your first clue to turn the polisher off and inspect for issues.
DamagedCounterweight02.jpg




Treat the compression washer like GOLD. Don't lose it.


Keep the little rubber nut to lock it into place when not using that backing plate. It's probably more likely you'll own more backing plates into the future than less likely.

The Rubber Nut - Keeps the Compression Washer from getting lost and protects the threads when the backing plate is not in use.
5inchbackingpatesonDAPs012.jpg


I have scads of backing plates in drawer in the studio and it's nice reaching for a backing plate and having the spacer washer intact with the backing plate.



The Purpose of the Compression Washer

The compression washer performs multiple functions,


Crushable Interface
The compression washer provides a crushable or malleable interface between two pieces of metal that are going to see a lot of pressure from being tightened together with a wrench and my guess is a lot of punishment from the operator. I punish all my tools... so it's not a reach to think others are going to punish their's too. Add to the above mix, the violent oscillating action of the tool on the highest speed setting and add to that t-i-m-e...

By time, I mean putting your polisher to work buffing out a car section-by-section, panel-after-panel. As Pros know and anyone that wants to get the job in a decent amount of time, when you start buffing out a car you have to keep the tool running and buffing on paint. There's no breaks. That's time of endured punishment.

Point being is you want and need the crushable interface between two pieces of metal on an electric tool capable of running at high OPM's.


Spacer
They also act as an actual spacer between the arbor or stud seat where there are the raised heads of a type of rivet or brad that anchors the arbor base to the the backing plate and the threaded portion of the Free Rotating Spindle Bearing Assembly.


Free Rotating Spindle Bearing Assembly
FreeRotatingSpingleAssembley004.jpg




Here you can see a compression washer seated at the base or seat of the 5/16" arbor or stud where it's attached into the backing plate surrounded by the raised heads of the rivets or attachment anchors.
5_0BackingPlates06.jpg




So keep track of both the compression washer and the rubber nut and don't use your DA Polisher, be it a Porter Cable, Meguiar's or Griot's without it.


Compression washers do wear out with use, that is if you remove and replace backing plates often you're going to wear your compression washer out.



Autogeek carries replacements...

Lake Country Compression Washers 5-Pack





:dunno:
 
inDetail said:
I finally figured out my problem.

It seemed to be a bum extension cord as well as my electrical outlet.
Click to expand...


Thanks for the follow-up.... :dblthumb2:



inDetail said:
It did stop spinning on speeds 1-4 under load.
Click to expand...

Yep... that's normal for the PC.


inDetail said:
5-6 I could not stop it with either foam or MF pads.
Click to expand...

That sounds normal too...

I'm pretty sure in my how-to book and in the DVD I share that for doing any correction work you're going to need to set the spead dial on the 5-6 setting.

For the most part you're going to want to put it on the 6 but when I type out recommendations I learned a long time ago to give a range, not a specfici number as people are different and working in different situation.


inDetail said:
I will probably never use speeds 1-3
Click to expand...

I never use speeds 1 to 3 and rarely use 4

If I'm using 4 it's probablyl to machine apply a finishing wax to a finish I just machine polihsed so all I need is to spread out a thin coat of wax or sealant and I don't need pad rotation to do this. Pad rotation HELPS the pad to glide over the surface but it's not neccassarey when machine applying a finishing wax.

I also use the Nanoskin Autoscrub pads on the 4-5 speed setting. I mark my bakcing plate to make sure I can see the pad rotating otherwise it's not effective at removing above surface bonded contaminants.


Video: Mark your backing plate to make it easy to see pad rotation


MarkYourBackingPlate01.jpg




:)
 
inDetail said:
I finally figured out my problem. It seemed to be a bum extension cord as well as my electrical outlet. It did stop spinning on speeds 1-4 under load. 5-6 I could not stop it with either foam or MF pads. The MF pads did run smoother as well.
I will probably never use speeds 1-3 except for spreading polish so as long as 5-6 don't stop spinning I'm good.
Click to expand...

Glad you figured it out!
 
Mike.Phillips@Autogeek said:
I'm not sure since I don't use Hex Logic pads but I think the Hex Logic pads I've seen are on the THICK side?
Click to expand...

The Hex Logic pads have a raised area that's approximately 1/8" higher than the rest of the pad. A 5" backing plate fits perfectly on this raised portion. It's not too much higher than a LC, CCS 5.5" pad.
 
That write up is pure gold, Mike. Many thanks!
 
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