porter cable no go

[jeepe]

Has anyone had this to happen,just received my pc five weeks ago. Couldn't wait to try it out so I detailed a friends truck. Must say it looked great, even though the pc did virbrate what I thought was quite bad, so I posted my concerns, but was advised that the pc did virbrate, so I thought maybe I would just get use to it. Went to use it yesterday and even thougt the motor turns the pad will not, if I lift the pad up it will turn, but any pressure at all the pad stops. Is there a quick fix for this or do I need to return it. I am hoping for a easy fix since I have several cars to detail next month...Thanks for any advice on this

[Fly bye]

The Porter Cable is an "Orbital" buffing machine. It will spin a little bit, but only on speeds 5-6. The PC is not a true dual action polisher, as it doesn't really spin that much. The PC is primarily an orbital.

When you say the pad stopped spinning, were you on speed 6?

[jeepe]

will not spin at all . you can lay your hand on the pad at any speed 1-6 and it will not turn, no torgue at all

[budman3]

Interesting. As Fly Bye said, the PC is not a forced rotation machine (like the flex) meaning that it orbits side to side but does not spin. The spinning is a biproduct of the orbiting. If the machine isn't flat on the paint it will not spin and of course the slower the speed the less it'll spin. What pad and BP do you have on the machine? I have not done this, but some have added a washer to the threads on the PC and that helped an issue similar to this. So that may help, even though many members have no washer and great results still. Also, many will argue that the spinning motion on the PC has no effect on the performance of the machine, maybe they have changed their opinions now since the Flex is a forced rotation...

[MikeyC]

As others have stated the motor of the PC does not cause the spinning of the pad. The motor does cause the pad to orbit and since the pad is mounted on a free rotating shaft the pad will rotate as a by product of the orbiting motion. As you have found out it doesn't take much downward pressure to stop the spinning motion. If you use a heavier double sided pad like Edge 2000, it's even easier to make it stop spinning.

It's not a big deal. You don't really need the pad to spin. The important part is that the pad orbits. Even when the pad is spinning it's not doing so at a fast enough speed to really add anything to the correction abilities of the machine.

[jeepe]

thank guys,I talked to Bobby at AG today and I"m sending my pc back.

[Tex Star Detail]

I can take my pc, put it on the paint and press down. No pad spinning, but it does orbit. I can pick it up and hold the pad. No pad spinning, but again, it does orbit.

Your PC is fine. As others had mentioned, it is not a forced rotation machine.

[jeepe]

thanks everyone, I have found the problem and even though I feel like a dumb a_ _ I will tell so if anyone else has this problem they will know what to look for. Thanks to budman 3 for mentioning a washer because that is what happen. When I took my backing plate off, the washer came off without me seeing it and being new to the pc I did not miss it when I replaced the backing plate causing the backing plate to rub the counterweight when I placed the pad on any surface which caused it to lock up. Again thanks to everyone for their help.....I did learn one good lesson today

[Fly bye]

My wrench that came with my PC will become wedged in between the backing plate and the PC itself before the backing plate is even tight, if the washer is not installed.

Good to see ya got it figured out :cheers:

[MikeyC]

thanks everyone, I have found the problem and even though I feel like a dumb a_ _ I will tell so if anyone else has this problem they will know what to look for. Thanks to budman 3 for mentioning a washer because that is what happen. When I took my backing plate off, the washer came off without me seeing it and being new to the pc I did not miss it when I replaced the backing plate causing the backing plate to rub the counterweight when I placed the pad on any surface which caused it to lock up. Again thanks to everyone for their help.....I did learn one good lesson today
I've never ever used a washer with my PC and the pad spins fine.

[budman3]

I've never ever used a washer with my PC and the pad spins fine.

I don't have one on there either but cases like this makes me wonder. Maybe Porter Cable recently got in some new female threads that are longer/deeper so the backing plate can screw in too tight or something, I have no clue. It is probably a newer model type deal. But whatever works, glad you got it worked out jeepe :cheers:.