Club Flex use with caution

M

Mobilejay

Active member
Josh don't read this LOL. dont worry it should all be taken care of before you come down here.

Whats up guys. This is to all that have and use the 3401. Be carefull, if you feel it vibrating too much....stop using it. Mine broke this afternoon while I had JUST finished polishing a Lexus. I had 3 more panels to finish up on this car and I started to notice a harder vibration than normal. I had to finish this car so I brought it down to speed 5 instead of 6 for the remainder. I thought it might be the backing plate that was loose so I tightened it up but the backing plate would push in and out. When I finished polishing I started on the front fender to wax and thats when it broke. The allen screw that holds the backing plate down screws into another piece in the machine. That piece broke. I don't know how or what happend but it broke. I picked up the backing plate with the allen screw still atached and it all came out. I unscrewd the bp and the other piece that the screw screws into fell to the ground. The pics show what I'm talking about. I called Power House and left a message. I hope this is still under warranty because I need one by Tuesday. I will let you all know what is going on and what they say the problem was. USE WITH CAUTION.



This pic has the actuall piece still inside tha machine



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This is the the piece out of the place it should be



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and this is the bottom of it. It looks like a pin slides into it but theres no pin anywhere

DSC_0653.jpg
 
Huh, thanks for the heads-up. Sorry to hear you're without it, hope they get a replacement to you nice and quick. Keep us apprised...
 
Bummer deal, but thanks for the heads up.



This is one reason why I like having several machines so I don't get stranded mid-job.
 
Lumadar said:
Bummer deal, but thanks for the heads up.



This is one reason why I like having several machines so I don't get stranded mid-job.
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+1 to that! sorry about your lose.



note to self: get a rotary and a flex da as a backup for the udm! :) yah thats it, there necessities not wants if the wifey asks!
 
Really not too much. Less than most probably. I do a some single step correction every once in a while but I don't use it 3 times a week. It shouldn't have broke. I will call them tomorrow if I don't hear from them in the morning and I will keep you all informed.
 
I called them this morning. (my warranty expired in OCT.) The guy was saying to send it in with a note that says I think it should be a warranty issue. He said they will look at it and determin for themselves.

Only thing that sucks is I need one by wed.
 
MobileJay said:
I called them this morning. (my warranty expired in OCT.) The guy was saying to send it in with a note that says I think it should be a warranty issue. He said they will look at it and determin for themselves.

Only thing that sucks is I need one by wed.
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at least they'll look at it, hopefully they can fix it and everything will be okay... :)
 
MobileJay said:
I called them this morning. (my warranty expired in OCT.) The guy was saying to send it in with a note that says I think it should be a warranty issue. He said they will look at it and determin for themselves.

Only thing that sucks is I need one by wed.
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Sorry to hear that.



If you were a bit closer to me, I could ship mine to you. I won't be using it on Wednesday, but it wouldn't get there in time.



Anybody close to him willing to lend the man a hand??
 
Thanks slicknickis3 but I will manage. Joshvette is coming down for 4 days for us to work on some cars. He is bringing a pc that I will use. It is going to feel wierd going back to a pc from the Flex. Oh well, I will try to send the Flex out this week.
 
I just finished this repair to my Flex yesterday! What has happened is at the bottom of the well that the shaft goes in, is a small needle bearing cage that is not lubed from the factory. That flails and over heats the shaft weakening the inner snap ring, once that loses its spring tension the shaft will come out or seizes up. any flex user, if your metal housing is get HOT while using, you have the same problem!!! ( it will get warm )

the parts cost about $60 with shipping and it takes about 30 min to do the repair. Be sure and lube the needle bearings before reassembling with a synthetic grease ( green grease works great ) If I have this problem again I'm going to replace the needle bearing with a bronze bushing like every other buffer or polisher I've ever worked on.
 
Randy,



Thanks for the heads-up.

I'm just an occasional user, but I did think the metal housing was getting very warm. Would you suggest preemptive lubrication?
 
always better to lube up before getting started in a long "detail" or something....sorry that sounded really bad...my mind is in the gutter :)
 
Custom Detail said:
I just finished this repair to my Flex yesterday! What has happened is at the bottom of the well that the shaft goes in, is a small needle bearing cage that is not lubed from the factory. That flails and over heats the shaft weakening the inner snap ring, once that loses its spring tension the shaft come out or seizes up. any flex user, if your metal housing is get HOT while using, you have the same problem!!! ( it will get warm )

the parts cost about $60 with shipping and it take about 30 min to do the repair. Be sure and lube the needle bearings before reassembling with a synthetic grease ( green grease works great ) If I have this problem again I'm going to replace the needle bearing with a bronze bushing like every other buffer or polisher I've ever work on.
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Well that makes sense. I noticed mine was always pretty hot while using. Thanks for the input.
 
I heard back from them today, he said just what Custom Detail said. The needle bearing was replaced and lubed and they are sending it back out. My warranty was up 2 months ago but they are doing it under warranty anyway. Thank god, I didn't want to drop another 300 since I'm planning on buying a rotary.
 
MobileJay said:
I heard back from them today, he said just what Custom Detail said. The needle bearing was replaced and lubed and they are sending it back out. My warranty was up 2 months ago but they are doing it under warranty anyway. Thank god, I didn't want to drop another 300 since I'm planning on buying a rotary.
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glad it worked out for you... :)
 
Setec Astronomy said:
I presume that Flex is lubing these correctly from the factory now? Any idea what serial number or production date this started with?
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i doubt they would have started with a particular batch, and kept track from a certain point on as to which were lubricated (probably did it as they went)... :nixweiss
 
Sheesh Al, you think those crazy Germans never heard of configuration control? They seem to have identified it as a problem, so they must know when they realized they were buying an unlubed bearing or that their assembly procedure didn't include lubing the bearing, so they must know when they started doing it. According to their website they are ISO 9001, so they have procedures for all this stuff.
 
Just because you're ISO certified and have written procedures doesn't mean that the minions are always going to follow them...:secret
 
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