This is aggravating

Eldorado2k

Eldorado2k

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So I’m polishing a car just now and I start noticing some black specs on the paint as I’m going along… I’m not sure what it is or where it’s coming from but I have to keep dusting them off before buffing each section clean as I’m going along. This happened with 2 Megs microfiber pads.

Near the end of the 2nd panel it started getting worse with the specs until near disaster struck completely by surprise. Not just the pad, but the entire freakin backing plate flies off, and to make it even crazier I was doing a big horizontal panel so I was holding the polisher with One Hand when this happened!

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Fyi it’s a Griots Boss 21mm with a stock 5” backing plate. I left a small pigtail on the paint. It could’ve been worse, alot worse. But damn! How does that even happen?!
 
Wear and tear my friend. How old and how many hours on the machine?
 
You say stock backing plate..that may be so, but not stock to the 21.
 
Rsurfer said:
You say stock backing plate..that may be so, but not stock to the 21.
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It’s a Griots Boss backing plate. This backing plate got less use than the 6” backing plate.

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any backing plate (on any machine) is a consumable product that at some point will need to be replaced. nothing lasts forever..
 
Ok, has anyone ever had this happen to 1 of their backing plates while polishing?
 
Eldorado2k said:
Ok, has anyone ever had this happen to 1 of their backing plates while polishing?
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Not yet, but that foam they use between the velcro and the hard rubber most definitely decays over time.
 
Eldorado2k said:
Ok, has anyone ever had this happen to 1 of their backing plates while polishing?
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Yes and luckily it didn’t do any damage to you or the car. I had a Rupes bp and pad literally explode once
 
Yes, I had original Flex BP flying off last year .. used for about 2yrs.
 
Eldorado2k said:
Ok, has anyone ever had this happen to 1 of their backing plates while polishing?
Click to expand...

The black specks are a sign that your backing plate is disintegrating. A wise man would change out the plate when they start to notice this happening.
Yes it's happened to me
 
Yesterday Amazon delivered a new backing plate for my 13 yr old 3401. I noticed the foam was splitting.

Using a Rupes Bigfoot to separate the pad from the velcro will help lessen the stress on the backing plate foam.
 
Has happened to me...luckily, not a giant fiasco thank goodness!
 
Flash Gordon said:
The black specks are a sign that your backing plate is disintegrating. A wise man would change out the plate when they start to notice this happening.
Yes it's happened to me
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I didn’t know where exactly they were coming from. At 1st I thought it might’ve been debris from a tree. My next guess was the foam from the pad. I even thought about blowing out the vent holes on my polisher. I didn’t even consider it being the backing plate.
 
Eldorado2k said:
I didn’t know where exactly they were coming from. At 1st I thought it might’ve been debris from a tree. My next guess was the foam from the pad. I even thought about blowing out the vent holes on my polisher. I didn’t even consider it being the backing plate.
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Everyone that's experienced this thought along the same lines.

Did you finish the car?
 
IMO, the long throw machines are going to be harder on the backing plate than the shorter throw machines.
 
Flash Gordon said:
Everyone that's experienced this thought along the same lines.

Did you finish the car?
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Yes. I compounded the hood with 1 microfiber pad, and the trunk with another, both times I was getting the specs until it flew off but I was actually pretty much done with the trunk at that point.

I switched to the 6” backing plate/pads for the vertical panels.

DUBL0WS6 said:
IMO, the long throw machines are going to be harder on the backing plate than the shorter throw machines.
Click to expand...

I already ordered a replacement. I thought my only option was ordering direct from Griots $23 bucks + tax and I was going to until I found out it was going to be another $16 shipping. Ouch.

Luckily I found out Maxshine sells an identical backing plate and it was on sale for $12 bucks + free shipping. It’ll be here Wednesday.
 
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