Why me? F...ing Makita!

[Danspeed1]

I am not a professional detailer by trade, however I have been told I turn out professional work. I am tight on cash so I decided after people keep asking me to detail their cars, that I would do 3 "vehicle restorations" this week. Tall order for even a pro. 1/2 way though the first job the cord on my Makita Rotary breaks. You know, i am really kind of pissed! I know alot of you guys on here have had your Makita`s for 20+ years without a single issue but this is my 3`rd year with it, and it has maybe 25 cars on it, and its looser than my ex-girlfriend the f...ing cord is now broken.



Anybody know where I can get this thing fixed quick??? Otherwise I am really screwed!



Please help,



P.S. I am located in Orange County, New York



DG

[salty]

Just rewire a new one. Open up the Makita and you`ll see it is that easy. Find a heavy duty old cord or buy a short new one.

[MrCLRider]

I`m with salty, open that ***** up and show it who`s boss.

[alwaysbored786]

hopefully you can get this fixed asap. I can understand your frustration; it must be nuts for your main machine to go bad on a full on job. It`s always good to have a backup machine when taking on pro jobs. Ill be doing a full detail this week for a customer and im also not a pro (just a 19 year old), therefore i dont have a backup machine either :(



Im gonna wait for the write up now :D. Best of luck and I hope everything works out!

[David Fermani]

Just buy an extension cord @ Home Depot and wire it in. No big deal really. The factory Makita cords blow and don`t last.

[swan]

I have dealt with Makita power tools for the last 10 years and it was never a matter of if the cord would break, it was when it would break.

Never roll the cord tight so there is tension on the cord coming out of the tool.

They sell the replacement cords and ends at any hardware store. Very easy fix.

[Danspeed1]

Guys thanks for the replies... I am on my way to Lowes this morning... i will see if I can pickup a new cord.



DG

[Danspeed1]

Ok guys,



Thanks for the help. To be honest, I was not aware that hardware stores carried replacement cords... but they do. So I bought a really nice heavy duty cord; one that was actually about 5 feet longer than the original. And with a little bit of tweaking I installed it, and got back to work.



Installing a Cord on a Makita Rotary....



Here is the little write up that one of you asked for.

Purchase a heavy duty 3 wire cord from any local hardware store. On the handle of the Makita Rotary there is 4 screws. Remove the screws and separate the handle slowly. If you pull the polisher apart the spring and buttons that control the speed of the polisher will fall out. Once the polisher is apart you will notice a tab that holds down the cord. Remove the 2 screws holding the tab and remove the cord from the holder. The rest is pretty much self explanatory. The three wires are color coded white, black, and green. You will need one loop connector for one of the wires... while the other two screw into the polisher switch. Remove the old cord being sure to take off the rubber boot coming out of the end of the polisher that is "supposed to" protect the cord. This goes onto the new cord. Put the wires in there respective location. Put the cord tab back on... handle goes back on... your done.



As for the car... got it done 11pm tonight EST. Megs 105 - 205 delivered a knock out punch. This was my first time using these two products together... and the results were outstanding. On GM hard clear 105 on LC Orange knocked down all the scratches and swirls... and 205 on a LC Grey pad gave me a mirror swirl free finish. If I had to pick which one was better I would say 205 because it left the finish swirl free, did not dust like 105 (this stuff dusts like crazy), and managed to remove some light swirls that I missed with the 105. A great combo....



Thanks for the help... on to car 2 of 3...



DG

[Paul Sparks]

Glad to see you are up and running again. Went thru the same process here lately and used an all weather outdoor cord from Lowes. Its a heavy duty big blue cord that will take the colder midwest weather and stay flexible. Sure beats sending it out for repair.

[XL Advantage]

"To be honest, I was not aware that hardware stores carried replacement cords... but they do." Danspeed1





After I went to my first hardware store I fell in love. I could have spent hours walking through hardware stores, autosupply stores just looking at all the possible stuff I could buy and learn to use. I`m crazy about tools, cars, car customizing, Installing stereos, Car repairs, motorcycles. Hang out in those places. You`d be amazed at all the stuff that`s out there that feeds into this industry.



Look through a Grainger Catalog or Kimball Midwest catalog. These are hard core Industrial suppliers. Their catalogs make the telephone books look small.



I totally geek on that stuff.



I love this site for the same reason. There is so much to learn and see here.



Thanks for this site.



Tim :woohoo:

[Barry Theal]

I wouldn`t go out and put a 15 foot cord on a makita. The longer the cord the less amps you will get out of it. It will run slower.

[XL Advantage]

Unless you can go thicker with the cord.

[Danspeed1]

I usually don`t run it too quick anyway..



I am happy with it. Sometimes I jack up the cars and remove the wheels to clean behind the rims and the wheel wells, undercarriage and so on. When I do this some of the cars are high and i need to get on a ladder and the extra length has really helped. I like to wrap the cord around my head like a noose to keep it off the paint (yea I know,... choking hazard) anyway, the extra length keeps it away from the car and give me more play.....



This post makes no sense and everyone now thinks i am crazy so ... bottom line I like the longer cord and I am happi"er" with the performance of my makita. The only thing I am not sure about is why it is starting to feel a little looser than it did when I bought it.





XL ADVANTAGE I am like you in the autoparts store... I cannot leave without purchasing something.



DG