I have noticed a chirping sound coming from my Flex 3401 polisher that I haven’t heard before. The sound is heard when I first start using it and after a while the sound goes away. Any idea what this could be. The polisher is about 1-1/2 years old and I have only buffed out about 5 vehicles.
Is it possible the backing plate is rubbing? There is a felt ring that contacts the plastic backing plate that needs to be oiled periodically. Is the head getting hot when you use it?
The head normally gets warm, if it gets HOT it's possible there is some lube problem in the gearbox. When these machines first came out there was a bunch of them that weren't properly lubed, but that was a lot longer than 1.5 years ago.
You can see the right-angle gearset when you take the backing plate off? Or am I not remembering it right...can you see the gears and are they greased?
And it still chirps when it's bare like that? The gears are underneath, I'm not sure if you have to take those 4 screws out to get to them. I've never had mine apart, I just remember there being some issue with the greasing of the gearset and seeing pictures, perhaps you should wait, I'm sure someone who has had theirs apart will chime in.
If you have the manual I believe that has an exploded view which may help you...I'd look in mine but I'm in the middle of washing my car
I took off the Lower Eccentric Housing (322164) and the gear housing is well lubricated and still has plenty of grease from the factory. I tried running it without the housing and it was very quiet and smooth. The sound must be coming from the parts in the LE Housing. It seems to go away when I run it in full speed for more than a minute. When I let it sit for a while is when I hear the chirping/squeaking sound at a low setting, such as #1.
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