Lubricating the Felt Ring on the Flex 3401

[Mike Phillips]

Lubricating the Felt Ring on the Flex 3401


First there is no official recommendation from Flex on this procedure but most owners of the Flex 3401 like to lubricate the Felt Ring to ensure there are no issues between it and the hard plastic backing material that it comes into contact with during operation.

For preventative maintenance reasons, it`s okay to lubricate the felt ring after purchase and periodically depending upon how much use your Flex 3401 sees.

What to use?I went to NAPA and purchased some Air Tool Lubricant, (see picture), but any light machine oil should work including the traditional 3-in-1 Oil.


Here`s the felt ring on the Flex 3401



Here I`ve placed some oil on my finger ...



and then spread it onto the felt ring...



You can see the oil penetrate into the felt to lubricate it and from here it will migrate through the felt...



You could also place some drops around the felt ring and then spread it and work it in using your finger...



This brand new Flex 3401 is ready to go to work for a new project next week...

[maxshine]

I just used my 3401 recently and while buffing I noticed some small black pieces of plastic on the surface of my car. I stopped to investigate and the backing plate had started to `wear off` at the area where it contacts the felt ring area. Everthing was tight so I`m not sure why this happened. either vibration or heat (it has always run hotter that the PC).

has anyone else experienced this ?

Is this lubrication suppose to prevent this maybe ?

thanks