The Flex isn't what I would call a serious tool for a professional detailer. I tried to use my PE-14 for correcting an entire car in a profitable amount of time and the thing was so hot it was burning my hands to hold onto it after just doing the hood and front fenders.
I rarely ever post my opinions in discussion forums, but rather the facts that come to the surface as a result of testing
my style of correcting paint or detailing. So while some may think the above statement is simply an opinion or personal preference,
in my day to day dealings it is based in facts.
Once you get confortable with a rotary, you'll use it all the time especailly stepping up from a PC. Its a huge time saver and you can finish down really well when you use the right pads and product. If your doing this full time, invest in what feels the best in your hands since your going to be using it all day.
This too is a fact in my day to day dealings. When I first stepped up to a rotary from my Cyclo if I had been working with a PE-14, it certainly would have been a step in the right direction as far as time savings would have been concerned, but. As time went by, paint correction became more of a sole means of income and less of a hobby, the jobs started getting bigger and I got more comfortable with my own style of rotary compounding and polishing (which is simply keeping my foam pads primed, flat as possible and applying a good amount of pressure on the correcting steps) the PE-14 would not have had the power to fit my needs without overheating.
The fact that a tool gets hot doesn't mean that such tool is not a serious tool. 3401 gets hot too, so what, we are all using it with a great satisfaction.
The reality is that the 3401 dissipates heat from the plastic gear set above the backing plate very efficiently, thus the searing hot aluminum gear cover that is designed to do just that, dissipate heat. I am admittedly hard on tools in order to maximize my efficiency and on large jobs such as 30 plus foot trailers and large aluminum trucks, I have applied 20 plus pounds of pressure on the 3401 for 12 hour days without giving the tool a break and the
motor never gets too hot to handle.
So what? So we're talking about two different types of heat here. One (3401) that is incorporated into the design of the tool to enable the tool to be the workhorse that it is, and the other being heat retained in the motor of the tool that if continued to be run would have melted down ensuring immanent failure.
I don't believe there are other cons with PE14 apart from getting hot (and not as much as you are describing), there is no job that PE 14 wouldn't be able to complete and 9227 would. I believe this is your personal preference, but in reality PE14 is a very capable tool, smoother, lighter, with better ergonomics then any other rotary, thus the popularity of the same, despite the fact that it cost nearly double then Makita 9227.
One night while using the PE-14 I accidentally dropped the tool from a sitting position onto the garage floor because my hands were slick with detailing products, the plastic gear box cover separated where the two halves join one another. Despite replacing the
plastic screws that the covers are attached with, there's still a gap there that will from time to time pinch the skin of my hands. While the PE-14 is a well balanced, smooth operating tool that for the most part feels good in my hands other than the poorly located speed dial, in
the reality of my life, it's a toy in comparison to the other rotaries that are often seen in "real word" detail shops whose main goal is productivity. Sure it has it's place in my arsenal of tools but if I had it to do all over again, I certainly wouldn't have spent nearly $400 on a machine to spin 3 and 4 inch pads with.
Anyhow, your PE-14 will fetch premium dollar and more than cover the cost of a new 849x.
Yeah, someday I'll be in the right place at the right time and this too will become a reality.
