Lubricating the Felt Ring on the Flex 3401

[Mike.Phillips@Autogeek]

Lubricating the Felt Ring on the Flex 3401


First there is no official recommendation from Flex on this procedure but most owners of the Flex 3401 like to lubricate the Felt Ring to ensure there are no issues between it and the hard plastic backing material that it comes into contact with during operation.

For preventative maintenance reasons, it's okay to lubricate the felt ring after purchase and periodically depending upon how much use your Flex 3401 sees.

What to use?I went to NAPA and purchased some Air Tool Lubricant, (see picture), but any light machine oil should work including the traditional 3-in-1 Oil.


Here's the felt ring on the Flex 3401



Here I've placed some oil on my finger ...



and then spread it onto the felt ring...



You can see the oil penetrate into the felt to lubricate it and from here it will migrate through the felt...



You could also place some drops around the felt ring and then spread it and work it in using your finger...



This brand new Flex 3401 is ready to go to work for a new project next week...

[BobbyG]

Now that's exactly the way I would have done it!!

Thanks Mike!!

[termigator]

Cool. It's been a couple of years since I purchased the Flex. Never did oil the ring. Guess it couldn't hurt at this point.

[fredcandetail]

What's the mechanical reason behind doing this? Does it assist with reducing heat build up between the two parts? Are thEy known to wear out prematurely If this isn't done? I've done about 20-30 cars with it and haven't lubed it but definitely will... I have some gUn lube, I think that would work....

[BobbyG]

Originally Posted by fredcandetail

What's the mechanical reason behind doing this? Does it assist with reducing heat build up between the two parts? Are thEy known to wear out prematurely If this isn't done? I've done about 20-30 cars with it and haven't lubed it but definitely will... I have some gUn lube, I think that would work....

The mechanical reason is friction due to force and rotation.

A lubricating film here is important in my opinion and cannot hurt but will only help. I clean mine and lube it twice annually however I use a light high pressure transparent grease.

[Mike.Phillips@Autogeek]

***Bump***


Dang, just went to look for this article on my article list and it's not listed...

Time to update the article list...