Metabo overheating at slow speeds

velobard · 04-10-07, 01:28

I'm leaving my original post below, but here's an update on my Metabo. I just finished using it for over 2 hours on my car, going over it with both IP and FP2. Yeah, they were fairly quick passes, but the car was mostly in decent shape. I was also handicapped in trying to find marring because of the evening sunlight through the clouds.

I changed my technique a little and was able to avoid any overheating. First, I kept mostly to speeds 3-4, except for a little on plastic areas at 2. I was constantly stopping and starting while I buffed off panels and a couple of times it felt pretty warm, but when that happened I ran it with no load at all for a bit to let the cooling fan do its work. Next, I was very careful to avoid applying much of anything in the way of pressure. With my PC I was in the habit of bearing down a fair bit, as much as I could get away with without completely bogging it down. I think I carried too much of that habit over the the rotary and it was causing part of my overload problem, especially when I did it on my first outing or two on speed 1.

Summary, I believe that my technique was probably the cause of the problem. I'm trying to figure this all out on my own and haven't had a chance to watch anyone else use a rotary or compared to another Metabo. I have to take into account that I can't treat it the same as my PC.

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I bought a slightly used Metabo and being a newb with a rotary, started off cautiously on speed 1. I made a first pass on half of the hood on a friend's car and noticed it was getting quite hot. I stopped for a few moments and when I tried to start again, it was going into overload protection mode and was reluctant to spin. I tried it once more at home, experienced the same thing in less than 5 minutes again and took it to the local authorized service center. They checked it out and said it looked like new inside, they couldn't find anything wrong. They also suggested I use a heavier extension cord. After picking up a 12/3 cord I had the same thing happen, then tried polishing the top of our dryer without an extension cord. It still overheated <5 minutes. On speed 2 it made it just about a full 5 minutes before it did the same thing.

After taking it back to the shop again, the repair guy checked it out, talked to Metabo and told me this is supposedly normal, that the cooling fan doesn't work effeciently until you're in the upper half of the speed range. I even tried calling Metabo directly, had a customer service rep put me on hold while he spoke to 2 different product managers for this buffer and they still insisted this is normal.

I haven't had occasion to go out and try it again yet on higher speeds, but I am wondering if anyone else has experienced this.

crew219 · 04-10-07, 01:31

Quote:

Originally Posted by velobard

I bought a slightly used Metabo and being a newb with a rotary, started off cautiously on speed 1. I made a first pass on half of the hood on a friend's car and noticed it was getting quite hot. I stopped for a few moments and when I tried to start again, it was going into overload protection mode and was reluctant to spin. I tried it once more at home, experienced the same thing in less than 5 minutes again and took it to the local authorized service center. They checked it out and said it looked like new inside, they couldn't find anything wrong. They also suggested I use a heavier extension cord. After picking up a 12/3 cord I had the same thing happen, then tried polishing the top of our dryer without an extension cord. It still overheated <5 minutes. On speed 2 it made it just about a full 5 minutes before it did the same thing.

After taking it back to the shop again, the repair guy checked it out, talked to Metabo and told me this is supposedly normal, that the cooling fan doesn't work effeciently until you're in the upper half of the speed range. I even tried calling Metabo directly, had a customer service rep put me on hold while he spoke to 2 different product managers for this buffer and they still insisted this is normal.

I haven't had occasion to go out and try it again yet on higher speeds, but I am wondering if anyone else has experienced this.

How "hot" is hot?

I haven't noticed my metabo getting significantly hotter than my PC or the Makita I used to use, and I do a lot of polishing in the 700-1200rpm range.

Dave

velobard · 04-10-07, 01:41

It would have been rather uncomfortable to keep my hand wrapped around the main part of the body over the motor. Even if I could have, it was going into protection mode and barely spun, acting like it was boggin down. The red LED near the power cord came on, I believe to indicate protection mode. It was a quite a bit hotter than my PC.

JDookie · 04-10-07, 01:46

It's funny that you say this because I just read about this happening in another thread.

Read the very last post on this page:
http://autopia.org/forum/detailing-p...y-cyclo-2.html

crew219 · 04-10-07, 02:28

Quote:

Originally Posted by velobard

It would have been rather uncomfortable to keep my hand wrapped around the main part of the body over the motor. Even if I could have, it was going into protection mode and barely spun, acting like it was boggin down. The red LED near the power cord came on, I believe to indicate protection mode. It was a quite a bit hotter than my PC.

Yeah that doesn't sound right at all. I wonder if you could just send it directly back to them?

Dave

Accumulator · 04-10-07, 03:43

Quote:

Originally Posted by JDookie

It's funny that you say this because I just read about this happening in another thread...

You're probably referring to my post about it...I didn't want to mention velobard by name without his OK so I kept it vague.

JDookie · 04-10-07, 04:39

Ohhh, you were referring to velobard in the other thread. Sorry, I didn't realize that. I thought you were talking about yet another person with the same issue.

Anyway, I do see how if the fan isn't moving enough air to cool the machine, how it would get really hot, but what I don't understand is how they will allow you to run the machine so slow as to make it go into protection mode. It almost seems that if this is "normal" that they shouldn't allow the machine to run so slow, or give a warning about it at least.

brwill2005 · 04-10-07, 04:54

The Metabo is a tight package for sure. I am sure, because of the tight packaging, heat can beome an issue. I usually polish in the 1100 RPM range and have never had it overheat. It will get warm though. Could it be that it is not receiving enough current from the house electrical system? The cord on the machine is super easy to replace if that makes you feel any better.

velobard · 04-10-07, 05:46

What's a bit disturbing to me is that Metabo insists this is perfectly normal. The service center says they can't do anything else with it, it looks like it's in perfect condition. The only option I'd have is to send it to Metabo and I can't expect them to do anything when not only the phone tech people, but the project managers claim this is the way it's supposed to work.

As for slow speeds and what they're supposedly good for, I was told I should only use the slowest speeds on delicate surfaces, such as thin plastic.

As for the current issue, I don't have problems with anything else in the house but I could check it out I suppose. It is an old house, but the wiring is updated. The first time I had problems it acted exactly the same way at my friend's house. Admittedly, it's also an older house and I was on his extension cord, but it seems a bit odd that the symptoms would be exactly the same. When I polished the top of the dryer I used the plug for the washing machine. That draws a fair amount of current and it has had no problems.

It would be interesting if I could find someone else in my area to make a comparison.

brwill2005 · 04-10-07, 05:54

Maybe you have found the reason the person sold it. Is it still under warranty? What model do you have? I am looking at the insruction booklet for the PE12-175. Sounds as if the overheat protection is some type of complicated electronics. Maybe there is a malfunction with that system that is not visible. It also says if the on-load speed is reduced or the electronic signal indicator lights up, to run the machine at idle until it turns off.

velobard · 04-10-07, 07:29

I won't say who I bought it from, but I have reasonable faith that he didn't know about this issue. Of course I could be all wet, but it wasn't a completely random purchase. I've swapped emails with him and he is concerned about the problem. He assures me he had no problems and says he generally ran it at 3 to 4. BTW, I have the same model as you, the PE12-175. It is out of warranty.

If it was just a fault with the protection circuit I believe that would cause it to shut down even if it wasn't hot enough yet, I don't see how it could make it overheat. I'll freely admit electronics aren't my strong suit, so perhaps there's more to it than I understand. The repair shop said they'd replace the module if I wanted and it may come to that, but it's about a $50 item and my budget is a little snug right now.

I do appreciate the hint about running the machine if it overheats. I didn't get the manual with the machine. Unfortunately, Metabo doesn't follow the standard these days and provide a PDF on their website. I'm not clear on what they mean by "run it at idle" though.

brwill2005 · 04-10-07, 07:41

If I am correct, running at idle means running it with no load. In other words, just let it spin in the air.