Getting a 3401... Now afew ???

[chaotik]

The sale is pushing me over the edge to finally get a 3401.

I have been looking and it looks like the hybrid pads are a favorite for it. Opinions??

Also... I know I will need a smaller backing plate for the 5" pads... But I have read here that the LC kit gets hot and can break... Will the flex brand smaller backing plate work .... As there have been no negative comments on it and was made by the manufacturer.

It will be mostly for my own use , but I do do the occasional detail and clean up afew snowmobile / toy hauler trailers during the year. Those are mostly AIO details, which I have been using Blackfire Total polish and seal.

Other than that I have my GG d/a with the Meg's Microfiber polishing kit.

In researching , a lot have said the flex is a great time saver in AIO type detailing... Will the Blackfire work good with it? Just looking for products that work well with it...

[cardaddy]

So your main DA now is the GG6. I know it'll work with them, but generally nobody uses the larger 6½" pads with it. You wouldn't happen to have any laying around would ya? Just wondering, because if you do... the Flex will put them to good use.

I've got TONS of pads, and for some reason decided to buy another dozen of the much heralded, and SMALLER than most Hybrid pads. Then the first car I did with the Flex was a new C7, 3LT 51 and didn't touch, not one, of the new pads. Instead I broke out my 6½" CCS pads that I just don't use. I have easily 3~4 dozen of them but have long since made the 5½" pads (of all types) the only ones I use on my GG6, as well as my Rupes Duetto.

What I found was that the 3401 spins the big pads with such ease that I really didn't see the need to go to a smaller pad with that machine. Even the big thick CCS pads worked great, and although they were large for curved/complicate/raised/recessed edges/panels the thickness, and the ability of the 3401 to spin them made for quick work of all but the tightest areas.

Not that new, different, small, hybrid-power, constant pressure, hi-gloss, hydro-tech, one-pad, unobtainium sourced pads would not work with it, because they DO! :rolleyes: Just that it'll do a good job with so many different pads that a free spindle DA just doesn't have that ability to.

The smaller hybrid-power pads of course are not as prone to 'walking' if for no other reason... not near as many square inches of contact area. But do you actually NEED them? That's totally up to you. With the exception of hybrid-power they ARE cheaper than larger pads though. It's the hybrid-power units themselves where 6 of them are only $18.95 more than 6 of a little larger size (5½") 'flat' pads. :laughing:

As for it working with Blackfire... it'll work with pretty much any compound or polish. I've used it with a ton of Meguiar's SMAT products as well as half a dozen Menzerna products (and a few odd others) all with excellent results.

Can't go wrong with the Flex either way. :xyxthumbs:

[chet31]

I haven't found a pad that doesn't work with the Flex. I use the stock backing plate and larger pads, since the Flex will drive them. My old PC 7424 could not always drive a 5.5" pad, but it is fantastic with 3 or 4" pads, so that's what I now use it for.