Club Flex use with caution

Sheesh, you guys are a bunch of naysayers. My Flex has a mfg. date on it, I'm pretty sure they have some idea when they discovered the problem. Heck, Flex is German, I'm sure there must be a reason you guys buy your BMW's and M-B's and Audis and Porsches and such...you wouldn't be telling me that Audi doesn't follow their procedures...
 
chml17l said:
Maybe that's why the wife's TT Roadster had so many problems...:nixweiss
Click to expand...



Yeah, well, I haven't been too impressed with "German" engineering of late either, but it was no fair of you guys to shoot me down without a parachute...sheesh. IIRC that TT is made in Poland or Bulgaria or somewhere, but hey, it's a world economy, right?
 
Setec Astronomy said:
IIRC that TT is made in Poland or Bulgaria or somewhere, but hey, it's a world economy, right?
Click to expand...



Setec, you're spot on about the assembled in Poland fact. I didn't even think it would be fair of me to insert some kind of Polish joke about Audi's being built in Poland, but I think you did it for me.:D
 
Hey, not that there's anything wrong with German cars being made in Poland (heck we make them here, too :nervous: ), I think it has to do more with the experience level and the degree of ownership of the job the employees take, and of course with the management, etc. Whatever, I'm just hoping that they started greasing those Flex needle bearings before April. Heck, maybe it was just an Octoberfest thing and the bearing greaser had too many dark beers and was too sleepy to put the grease in...:rofl
 
I would suggest that ALL Flex owners/users take the time to do the necessary PM to the machine!

It's very easy to do

1. remove the backing plate

2. remove the snap ring retaining the large outer bearing

3. using a puller or small slide hammer remove the shaft and bearing as a unit ( if you don't have the tools you can improvise by using a socket large enough for the bearing to slide into, a 8mm bolt and washer)

4. check to make sure your needle bearings are not already damaged and the inside snap ring is tight on the shaft. if not replace both!

5. lube with a synthetic grease and reassemble, don't forget the outside snap ring



Depending on how much you use your Flex this should be done at least every 6 months, in my case I'm going to check it once a month until I'm sure it can go longer. And if this doesn't work, like I said before I will replace the needle bearing with a bronze bushing like other polishers and buffers have.

By the way I have had my Flex 18months, started noticing a lot of vibration and the metal housing getting hot about 6 months ago, took it a part than and lubed it but it was already to late but kept using it. After the repair what a difference! I hope others can learn from my experience and not have this problem or catch it before it's to late
 
Custom Detail said:
I would suggest that ALL Flex owners/users take the time to do the necessary PM to the machine!

It's very easy to do

1. remove the backing plate

2. remove the snap ring retaining the large outer bearing

3. using a puller or small slide hammer remove the shaft and bearing as a unit ( if you don't have the tools you can improvise by using a socket large enough for the bearing to slide into, a 8mm bolt and washer)

4. check to make sure your needle bearings are not already damaged and the inside snap ring is tight on the shaft. if not replace both!

5. lube with a synthetic grease and reassemble, don't forget the outside snap ring



Depending on how much you use your Flex this should be done at least every 6 months, in my case I'm going to check it once a month until I'm sure it can go longer. And if this doesn't work, like I said before I will replace the needle bearing with a bronze bushing like other polishers and buffers have.

By the way I have had my Flex 18months, started noticing a lot of vibration and the metal housing getting hot about 6 months ago, took it a part than and lubed it but it was already to late but kept using it. After the repair what a difference! I hope others can learn from my experience and not have this problem or catch it before it's to late
Click to expand...



It would be great if you could add a couple pics to the above instructions.
 
Custom Detail said:
Depending on how much you use your Flex this should be done at least every 6 months....
Click to expand...



You have me totally confused now. I thought this was an issue where the bearing wasn't getting lubed at the factory? If it really needs to be lubed that often they need to put a zerk on the side of the thing, or at least a hole for a zerk. Shoot, all the cars now have lubed-for-life chassis that you can't lube if you want to, but my polisher which never sees rain or snow I have to take apart every six months? Now I see why you want to put an Oilite in there.
 
Wow there is always someone who has something to add whether it's relevant or not!



If I would not have added something about checking or relubrication, you would have jumped all over that asking why not!



At this point no one knows if this is going to be a recurring problem or not and if the lubrication is the answer. It may be the weak point of the Flex VRG and there will be a retro fit fix, just as the first backing plates had a problem.



PM is a very important part in the care of any power or hand tool, When we have down time, equipment PM is the first thing we do, for example I have a Cyclo that has been in service for 23 years and other than new brushes, a on/off switch is the only problem I've had, and that kind of service does not come by accident.



If I have time over the weekend I will take some pictures of the process, also in you Flex owners manual there is a breakdown of the parts and part numbers in question
 
Custom Detail said:
Wow there is always someone who has something to add whether it's relevant or not!
Click to expand...



I'm sorry you think my posts are not relevant. Maybe I don't spend enough time on the forum, but I have never read any threads about lubricating any PC bearings, or any other polisher for that matter. But my new DA which cost 2.5 times my PC apparently has to be lubricated every 6 mos. or it will blow up.



I don't think this is going to be worth arguing, but I have a car which cost over 100 times as much as my Flex but only requires about 30 minutes of maintenance every 6 mos., just like my Flex (or, if it's your Flex, 30 minutes a month). I like PM just as much as the next guy, but in today's world it's just bad design to have to do a 30 minute repair on a hand tool every 6 months. Use a sealed bearing, a self lubricating bearing (like the bronze bushing you mentioned), or provide an external lube point for grease or oil.
 
Setec Astronomy said:
I'm sorry you think my posts are not relevant. Maybe I don't spend enough time on the forum, but I have never read any threads about lubricating any PC bearings, or any other polisher for that matter. But my new DA which cost 2.5 times my PC apparently has to be lubricated every 6 mos. or it will blow up.



I don't think this is going to be worth arguing, but I have a car which cost over 100 times as much as my Flex but only requires about 30 minutes of maintenance every 6 mos., just like my Flex (or, if it's your Flex, 30 minutes a month). I like PM just as much as the next guy, but in today's world it's just bad design to have to do a 30 minute repair on a hand tool every 6 months. Use a sealed bearing, a self lubricating bearing (like the bronze bushing you mentioned), or provide an external lube point for grease or oil.
Click to expand...



i could see why you ask and it's unfortunate that one may have to do PM, especially on a tool that costs this much...
 
...and of course its well proven that the minute you start to tinker with machinery (aka PM) you massively increase the faiure rate.... ask any quality engineer ;)



Hope this is an isolated issue and not going to be a recurring issue...
 
Has anyone other than the OP had a Flex failure like this? Ok, the backing plate is well known and a buddy of mine had his trigger lock break but other than that - isn't this a one time thing? I sure hope so cause I have a Flex and really like it - but if it breaks, it's Makita BO6040 time.
 
Theres a much easier way of getting to this bearing - take the BP off then undo the 4 allen screws that hold the ali housing on. Remove the housing complete with mechanism and the bearing will be exposed. Mine is full of grease as the gears run around this area, I think the OP must have been unlucky!



Although packed with grease the gears were actually quite dry so I took the opportunity to add some more grease and spread it onto the gears and the bearing in question.
 
Get out your owners manual find the the spare parts list, its a single sheet of paper unfold it you will find an exploded view of the Flex 3401 VRG.

in the lower left hand corner is the assembly we are referring to it, starts with part

# 102.105 and end with #104.949 which is the needle bearings we are talking about. That assembly goes into #322.83 on the right

The needle bearing you are looking at are in the view on the right # 159.271

Hopes this helps you understand it better.
 
Setec Astronomy said:
I don't think this is going to be worth arguing, but I have a car which cost over 100 times as much as my Flex but only requires about 30 minutes of maintenance every 6 mos., just like my Flex (or, if it's your Flex, 30 minutes a month). I like PM just as much as the next guy, but in today's world it's just bad design to have to do a 30 minute repair on a hand tool every 6 months. Use a sealed bearing, a self lubricating bearing (like the bronze bushing you mentioned), or provide an external lube point for grease or oil.
Click to expand...



Actually the PM of the Flex sounds quite legitimate and reasonable to me. Now as far as documentation of said PM, it would appear as if that is lacking from the manufacturer. The design itself I'd call sound from the description (I've yet to hold one in my hand). The needle bearing is a good design for quiet, smooth and consistent operation, but comes at the cost of needing lubrication and maintenance. Brass bearings would work but they'll still wear over time, requiring replacement, just the interval will be extended (with all other constants remaining) but during that time the vibration and noise will be higher for the tool. Now a reasonable solution would be a service port for grease, but maybe the position of the bearing doesn't allow for such an opportunity, again, I've yet to handle one so I cannot comment.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top