Harbor Freight DA Polisher - New

[tuscarora dave]

Hey all, I know that I'm a noob AND this is my first post but I have been browsing and reading and educating myself on as much as I could. I decided to purchase a DA and practice my technique on my 97 Black and Silver Suburban, it has 150,000 miles and figured I could practice before tackling my Mustang and Passat. I ended up purchasing the HF DA as well as their foam pads in all three stages. Using Maguire's Ultimate compound I went to work. After a wash and claying of course. I know that I have nothing to compare it to, and very little knowledge/experience but the HF DA seems to be doing well. It pulled scratches and 1500 wet sanding marks out really well. We will see about longevity, I'll post picks when I get back in town next week.

Welcome to the site. If what I hear is true, then this machine will outperform all the other current Chinese DA offerings in terms of motor speed and centripetal force to keep the pad rotating under heavier loads. However it will have the potential to smoke pads and backing plates on speed 6 under said heavier loads and will likely end in breakage in not a long time of hard use. For the occasional user it may be fine.

[Setec Astronomy]

I know a guy who has been using an HD polisher and went to HF and bought this unit and he says everything other than the color is exactly the same. Performance and all. I can only assume that if you run it hard like I run my tools, it will be broken in a matter of about 10 paint corrections.

I thought the rated current was different between the two? I had kind of decided that they were taking the "HF" unit and putting a more powerful motor in it, which would kind of explain the weird "production" pictures and the lack of availability, as well as the noise and vibration.

[tuscarora dave]

I thought the rated current was different between the two? I had kind of decided that they were taking the "HF" unit and putting a more powerful motor in it, which would kind of explain the weird "production" pictures and the lack of availability, as well as the noise and vibration.

I was told by a local detailer who's not a member of any forums that regardless of what's printed about current, that side by side, with the same pad, polish, paint, pressure, you can't see, feel or hear any difference at all in performance. Honestly, with a $20 no questions asked 2 year replacement option, considering the difference in speed and pad rotation is quite better than the other traditional DAs in my tool cabinet I'll be buying 2 of them as soon as my local HF starts carrying them. The risk (a 10 minute drive to HF) is nothing to get the reward of faster production on a regular basis.

[Setec Astronomy]

I was told by a local detailer who's not a member of any forums that regardless of what's printed about current, that side by side, with the same pad, polish, paint, pressure, you can't see, feel or hear any difference at all in performance.

That's pretty funny, I guess the spin never ends in detailing products.

[tuscarora dave]

While I try to stick with discussing products that AG carries when posting here, the fact that this thread still exists suggests that we can freely talk about these machines here in this thread. While this machine is probably not a sound long term investment as far as how long the machine will remain in service until it breaks fails etc. In a busy shop environment, the time savings in less needed technique to keep the pads rotating could pay for the price of the machine and the extended replacement guarantee in short order.

I believe that unlike the PC, GG, and G110v2, (where the occasional bad unit may spring forth) with the HF units, the occasional good unit may spring forth lol. I'll play the odds on this one when/if my local HF starts to stock this unit.

[Johny B]

While I try to stick with discussing products that AG carries when posting here, the fact that this thread still exists suggests that we can freely talk about these machines here in this thread. While this machine is probably not a sound long term investment as far as how long the machine will remain in service until it breaks fails etc. In a busy shop environment, the time savings in less needed technique to keep the pads rotating could pay for the price of the machine and the extended replacement guarantee in short order.

I believe that unlike the PC, GG, and G110v2, (where the occasional bad unit may spring forth) with the HF units, the occasional good unit may spring forth lol. I'll play the odds on this one when/if my local HF starts to stock this unit.

Johny

[ShineMyCar]

I checked this tool out a while back ( kicking tires, not buying ). Unlike Dave's experience, my store had the Polisher but no pads. I tinkered with it, and the castings on power tools look to be much better than the Zaw Saw I purchased 6 or 7 years ago.

Looked like a decent machine. The only weaknesses I could observe without turning on the tool is that the switch and speed adjustment felt to be of low quality.

Maybe the power & speed switch felt cheap b/c it's a floor model and been tinkered with by tons of walkers by. For the price ( -20%) w/ Replacement warranty, it looks like a good deal for a first DA polisher for somebody trying out the tool for his personal vehicles with a limited budget.

[ski2]

I was told by a local detailer who's not a member of any forums that regardless of what's printed about current, that side by side, with the same pad, polish, paint, pressure, you can't see, feel or hear any difference at all in performance. Honestly, with a $20 no questions asked 2 year replacement option, considering the difference in speed and pad rotation is quite better than the other traditional DAs in my tool cabinet I'll be buying 2 of them as soon as my local HF starts carrying them. The risk (a 10 minute drive to HF) is nothing to get the reward of faster production on a regular basis.

So the polisher and a 2 year warranty will cost $68 with the coupon. Why not just wait until the GG6 goes on sale for $80 including shipping (usually see this every 3-4 months) which includes a lifetime warranty for just $12 more???

[tuscarora dave]

So the polisher and a 2 year warranty will cost $68 with the coupon. Why not just wait until the GG6 goes on sale for $80 including shipping (usually see this every 3-4 months) which includes a lifetime warranty for just $12 more???

because HF is a 10 minute drive for me. If something goes wrong with the machine, I'll just jump in the car and drive to the bank to deposit a few checks (which I had to do anyway) and drive the extra 5 minutes to HF and exchange the machine and I'm back in action upon my return to the shop.

If the GG should break I'll have to find a suitable cardboard box, some sort of packing material, drive to the store to get some shipping tape if I have none at the shop, package the thing up, call someone to find out exactly what the return procedure is, leave a message because "with my luck" the someone I need to talk to will be out for lunch, wait for a return call, get said return call then either wait several weeks for the new unit to arrive via UPS or get a shipping approval via email (however that works), get the shipment with the box all crushed up because the UPS driver punted it across the truck 6 times during other deliveries, un-package the crushed up box, inspect the new machine, repackage the defective machine using the new box that I found earlier, tape it up and affix the shipping label if one is provided, drive it to the UPS store to ship. All the while I have a time sensitive job sitting in the shop not being worked on, lose the customer and receive bad word of mouth for taking too long to get the job done.

Of course the above scenario is just me being a bit facetious (and hypothetical) , but really...is it that far out in left field? The HF deal would be much less of a hassle for me to deal with as a one man operation with no secretary or steady help in the shop.

[ski2]

Of course the above scenario is just me being a bit facetious (and hypothetical) , but really...is it that far out in left field? The HF deal would be much less of a hassle for me to deal with as a one man operation with no secretary or steady help in the shop.

Well that makes sense!!! I forget those of us doing this for a hobby might be inconvienced for a couple of weeks if our polisher breaks down, but it we're not in a situation that it costs us money.

Hope the Sandy doesn't hit you too hard--at least we're somewhat inland!!