at war with my 7424xp. Spinning issues

[dlc95]

Thanks Mike, yes my compression washer is still there, I am wondering if it has seen enough though. It's probably been used on 50-70 cars.

I seem to get 2-3 complete cars before my pads distort a little and keeping rotation becomes a chore, rather than a natural thing. Which is understandable to have pads survive just a few vehicles.

I also have good success with Chem guys hex logic pads, however in my experience they have almost no durability and have to be very gentle washing them. I've had the velcro backing go bad quickly & the edges of the pad turn into a marring machine.

The more aggressive cut the pad has or the thinner the pad, the better it rotates on my PC. Any light removing pads or finishing pads are all but useless on my PC now. I can't tell you how many times I have just done amazing work to a dark car, only to begin finishing down & my finishing pad will rotate for 10 seconds before turning into a top-drawer rattling vibrator my wife would pay big $$ for.

Is there a compression washer I can find at the hardware store? I would prefer to order direct replacements, but for this coming weekends line of cars, I am in trouble without a local replacement unless the cars are silver/white.

And it just recently started behaving this way?

[heckhole]

No, it's progressively gotten worse in the last 15 cars (new pads unless they are thin, struggle to spin too), but I have a pile of pads and can usually find what I need that will work well enough, some times I am finishing down using speed 2/3 and having to work insanely slow to keep it rotating.

I will check the counter weight in the morning, perhaps it's worked a bit loose. I'll also check the washer to see if it's been crushed at all.

I had to do a dark metallic blue Civic tonight, took 5 hours just to do the compounding the entire car and begin finishing down one side of the car. I am officially out of my favorite brand pads, so I had to deal with my thicker pads that won't spin easily and/or correctly. It's an auction car so swirl removal was priority over removing what scratches were hidden by the massive swirling. By far one of the worst cars I've worked on.

I didn't want to use my DeWalt because the clear was showing signs of degrading in a few areas. It sucks when a dealer gives me a car like this and my hands are tied. I'd prefer to spend more time spot buffing and eliminate as much of the scratches without compromising the clear, but it is what it is at time. If this were a walk-in, I'd never let it leave my shop like that unless they asked for the basic swirl removal and wax.

[AutowerxDetailing]

Have you tried changing the brushes in the motor? After they wear down the springs can't keep them in contact with the motor and the machine will lose a lot of power. I just changed the brushes on my PC and it feels like a brand new machine, quieter too.

[heckhole]

I haven't. Like I've said, with thinner pads or mf pads, it operates as it should. It's driving me crazy, I've definitely lost a few hours because of it.

[DaveT435]

I've heard of the power setting mechanism going bad also. Similar problems to what you are having except you will usually lose the spinning capabilities on lower speeds all together first then the problem progresses

[dlc95]

Great points by Nicholas, and Dave.

It's for reasons such as those, that I like to keep a backup machine.

[heckhole]

I ditched the stock thin 5" backer plate for a new LC 5" backerplate, removed the counter balance gear & reset it, my new CG hex logic 5.5 pads came in. All is well.