My Flex XC 3401 VR is on the way - see inside for details!
- Thread starter DJ_JonnyV
- Start date
hooked said:
No, it is not and you can not. Making plate design tied to machine is what allows designing to maximize balance (minimize vibrations) and maximized balance is what allows increased speeds. To quote Flex "... the machine's orbital movement has been optimally adapted for the special back pad and sponge 160 x 30 mm included with it."
Backing plate (velcro) should be black according to the folks at Powerhouse distributing. They believe all the new ones in the warehouse have the black velcro pad. I should have it by mid-day, and should be able to post some pics this evening. Unfortunately, my pads don't arrive until tomorrow.
stiffdogg06
New member
frostydog said:
No, the feeling sucks! Cause it was out for delivery at 4:30am. But won't be at his door step until like 3-5pm. LoL
Ok, quick update, the Flex got delivered to my work address over lunch. Unboxed it and it had the red velcro pad instead fo the black. I called Powerhouse and spoke with Dave, and he confirmed my address and is shipping out the replacement black one.
From speaking with Dave, it sounds like the glue/adhesive on the back fo the red velcro pad is not working as expected over time. I should be fine using it with the red for the time being, and then swtich to the black one when needed. it sounded like you would start to notice it coming apart before anything drastic happens. Again, these guys are a pleasure to deal with. i think Dave is usually in the office while Ben is usually out and about from what I gathered. Either way, these guys are top notch!!! Now, I just need some pads...should be arriving tomorrow...
BTW, shipping UPS Ground was $12 and change...pretty reasonable IMO...
From speaking with Dave, it sounds like the glue/adhesive on the back fo the red velcro pad is not working as expected over time. I should be fine using it with the red for the time being, and then swtich to the black one when needed. it sounded like you would start to notice it coming apart before anything drastic happens. Again, these guys are a pleasure to deal with. i think Dave is usually in the office while Ben is usually out and about from what I gathered. Either way, these guys are top notch!!! Now, I just need some pads...should be arriving tomorrow...
BTW, shipping UPS Ground was $12 and change...pretty reasonable IMO...
ZoranC said:DJ_JonnyV, admit it, did you give it at least dry run so far?
Hell's yes!!! One of the first things I did when I got home...right after changing a poopy diaper! That's about all I could do as I don't have any pads until tomorrow. Started reading the instructions...blah, blah, blah...screw this, plugged it in and started on speed 1. It was extemely smooth at 1, so I cranked it up to 6. It was moving pretty good. Didn't think the vibrations or noise were as bad as my PC. I think Frostdog hit it on the head. The PC sounds like all hell is breaking loose, while the Flex has a lot more purpose in it's sound. With just dry running it, it seemed like the vibrations at full speed are less than the PC at full speeds. I can do some more extensive testing this evening/tomorrow.
I'm taking a half-day tomorrow to help a buddy install his home theater and then will be trying to wash my neighbor's car across the street and claying. I'm going to try to start the polishing tomorrow evening depending upon how things go. I made a deal with the neighbor as he is a lawyer. No, I'm not in any legal trouble...just a getting some "life" documents in order. Keep you all posted.
Ok, sorry for the delay in posting. I got after it after the kids went to bed last night with the Flex. I have a lot of detailed notes that I want to type up along with tons of pics, but I'm getting ready to take my son to the Cardinals game. it's his first time going to a ballgame. Overall impressions is that it does work much quicker than PC, you would still have to be an idiot to burn the paint, the vibrations don't seem as bad as PC on full speed, you definitely have to keep 2 hands on it, it will want to walk more when the pad starts caking up which is quicker than on a PC, and the red velcro pad is going to be an issue. That's it for now...will try to work on a full post in Machine Polishing forum this evening w/ pics timer permitting. Later...
I'm in for the evening. I got back from the game (heck, don't even know who won), put the kids to bed, and went back out into the garage. I had to do the left side of the car yet and the bumpers. My neighbor came over and we started drinking a few beers. I didn't get it all done, but here's a quick update on my process thus far.
Washed the hell out of the subject. It's an '04 Camry pretty much loaded that is a similar gold/champagne color as my A6. Clayed the hell out of it (wait to you see pics of claybar). And then started in with Flex, Menz PowerGloss Compound, and Excel Detail yellow Erasure pad. Started with hood first. The whole car had some very bad swirls and scratches for that matter. I was doing about a 2' x 2' section at a time, which equated into about 4 sections for the hood. It seems that there is some confustion as to what a pass is, a hit is, etc., so I'm just going to detail it out.
I put 3 ~1" fingers on the Erasure pad, spread on the section with Flex off, and then hit the trigger on the Flex at about 2.5 speed to spread out the product. Then, I fired it right up to speed 6. Yes, that's speed 6 with yellow pad and Menz PG. I went left right left for the section, then up down up all going nice and slow. Almost as slow as I would go with my PC to tell you the truth. Then, gave it some back and forth action I got off a website that I've seen linked here before. I'd have to dig it up. I would then do some less pressure back and forth and up and down passes quicker just to let the pad some quicker rotation on the section. After that, I would ease back down to a 3 or four to finish things up. I wiped with my MF towel and it looked pretty d@mn good. Good enough to where I'm probably good to go for applying the Menz FMJ tomorrow. Yep, Menz PG finishing down good enough to do a LSP on. The shine is squeaky clean and the PG left a real nice finish on it. I could probably bring it out a little more with my Menz Micro Polish, but this thing has already come a long way!!! The swirls are history. Only thing remaining are fingernail scratchers. It was hard to tell because of paint color, but it had some pretty bad swirling. One thing here is that I would have to do the same using a PC and 4" yellow pad with PG and do a few more right lefts and up downs than with the Flex, and it covers less surface area at a single time. Also, I did warm up the paint pretty good in a few areas, but as long as you keep it somewhat moving, I don't think you're going to burn the paint.
One thing I did notice when I was trying to finish up this evening is the trunk still had some swirling over. If I remember correctly, that's when I switched over to the Detailer's Paradise yellow pad which is sourced from Lake Country I believe. it still had a fair amount of swirls and scratches that should've been removed. I'm not sure if was my technique on the trunk or what, but I hit it again with the Erasure this evening and PG. The difference between the 2 sides of the trunk was like night and day now. No swirls, no sratches (except fingernail catchers), nuttin'. Again, not sure if this was pad, technique, or it just needed to be hit again.
I also did the hood of my A6 last night and that's a different story. I had a chance to apply some FMJ with it. I put it on a 1 and it did a nice job of putting an even spread of wax on my hood. Not sure if it's as nice as the PC on speed 3 though. I really like speed 3 on PC for spreading wax (LSP). Now, I am going to have to break out the PC with 4" pads tomorrow to get into some tight spots and brush the carpets on this thing. It's pretty much trashed. Pics are going to have to wait...pretty much pegged on weekends. I have pics on this Camry pretty much the whole way throughout and of my A6 hood. Next up for Mr. Flex is a Honda Odyssey, Acura RL, Acura MDX, and who know what's else. In closing, judgement is still out a little bit. I do think it's quicker than PC. I think it will be even quicker on paint that isn't so screwed up going forward. I was able to pull of some pretty good fixes today, but the fingernail catchers are still there. Not even sure a rotary would get them...
Stay tuned...
Washed the hell out of the subject. It's an '04 Camry pretty much loaded that is a similar gold/champagne color as my A6. Clayed the hell out of it (wait to you see pics of claybar). And then started in with Flex, Menz PowerGloss Compound, and Excel Detail yellow Erasure pad. Started with hood first. The whole car had some very bad swirls and scratches for that matter. I was doing about a 2' x 2' section at a time, which equated into about 4 sections for the hood. It seems that there is some confustion as to what a pass is, a hit is, etc., so I'm just going to detail it out.
I put 3 ~1" fingers on the Erasure pad, spread on the section with Flex off, and then hit the trigger on the Flex at about 2.5 speed to spread out the product. Then, I fired it right up to speed 6. Yes, that's speed 6 with yellow pad and Menz PG. I went left right left for the section, then up down up all going nice and slow. Almost as slow as I would go with my PC to tell you the truth. Then, gave it some back and forth action I got off a website that I've seen linked here before. I'd have to dig it up. I would then do some less pressure back and forth and up and down passes quicker just to let the pad some quicker rotation on the section. After that, I would ease back down to a 3 or four to finish things up. I wiped with my MF towel and it looked pretty d@mn good. Good enough to where I'm probably good to go for applying the Menz FMJ tomorrow. Yep, Menz PG finishing down good enough to do a LSP on. The shine is squeaky clean and the PG left a real nice finish on it. I could probably bring it out a little more with my Menz Micro Polish, but this thing has already come a long way!!! The swirls are history. Only thing remaining are fingernail scratchers. It was hard to tell because of paint color, but it had some pretty bad swirling. One thing here is that I would have to do the same using a PC and 4" yellow pad with PG and do a few more right lefts and up downs than with the Flex, and it covers less surface area at a single time. Also, I did warm up the paint pretty good in a few areas, but as long as you keep it somewhat moving, I don't think you're going to burn the paint.
One thing I did notice when I was trying to finish up this evening is the trunk still had some swirling over. If I remember correctly, that's when I switched over to the Detailer's Paradise yellow pad which is sourced from Lake Country I believe. it still had a fair amount of swirls and scratches that should've been removed. I'm not sure if was my technique on the trunk or what, but I hit it again with the Erasure this evening and PG. The difference between the 2 sides of the trunk was like night and day now. No swirls, no sratches (except fingernail catchers), nuttin'. Again, not sure if this was pad, technique, or it just needed to be hit again.
I also did the hood of my A6 last night and that's a different story. I had a chance to apply some FMJ with it. I put it on a 1 and it did a nice job of putting an even spread of wax on my hood. Not sure if it's as nice as the PC on speed 3 though. I really like speed 3 on PC for spreading wax (LSP). Now, I am going to have to break out the PC with 4" pads tomorrow to get into some tight spots and brush the carpets on this thing. It's pretty much trashed. Pics are going to have to wait...pretty much pegged on weekends. I have pics on this Camry pretty much the whole way throughout and of my A6 hood. Next up for Mr. Flex is a Honda Odyssey, Acura RL, Acura MDX, and who know what's else. In closing, judgement is still out a little bit. I do think it's quicker than PC. I think it will be even quicker on paint that isn't so screwed up going forward. I was able to pull of some pretty good fixes today, but the fingernail catchers are still there. Not even sure a rotary would get them...
Stay tuned...
I wanted to try and post some teaser pics, so here goes:
This is my 2 1/2 year old son. He likes to help do the wheels. This is the Camry that I'm currently working on:
Here is a shot from when I did my A6 last night. It's about the best I could show of the current swirl marks on the hood:
Here's an after using Flex and Menz PG:
This combo does a real nice job of removing swirls.
Also, here's a few other of what I'm up against from the Cammie:
I'm not sure what the blue marks are, but they came out using the Flex. And, yes, that is a rust spot on the passenger side rear door.
This is my 2 1/2 year old son. He likes to help do the wheels. This is the Camry that I'm currently working on:
Here is a shot from when I did my A6 last night. It's about the best I could show of the current swirl marks on the hood:
Here's an after using Flex and Menz PG:
This combo does a real nice job of removing swirls.
Also, here's a few other of what I'm up against from the Cammie:
I'm not sure what the blue marks are, but they came out using the Flex. And, yes, that is a rust spot on the passenger side rear door.
First off....cute kid.
That's great to hear the yellow pad/PG combo finished good enough for LSP...although that is a forgiving color you're working with. Still good to hear, I haven't had the need/chance to use the Flex with an aggresive combo yet.
I also agree 100%, for applying AIO's/LSP's...a PC with a black pad on speed 4 is still the way to go for me. You just can't beat the "one hand" usage a PC offers.
I was working with my Flex also this weekend...I'll be posting some new thoughts/pics later today hopefully.
Until then...enjoy!!!
That's great to hear the yellow pad/PG combo finished good enough for LSP...although that is a forgiving color you're working with. Still good to hear, I haven't had the need/chance to use the Flex with an aggresive combo yet.
I also agree 100%, for applying AIO's/LSP's...a PC with a black pad on speed 4 is still the way to go for me. You just can't beat the "one hand" usage a PC offers.
I was working with my Flex also this weekend...I'll be posting some new thoughts/pics later today hopefully.
Until then...enjoy!!!