JustJesus
New member
Greetings. - This isn`t a review. I`m posting my first time experience, and following up with a question (or a couple).
I finally had a chance to "play" with my Flex 3401. I snuck out to get some work done in the 30 or so minutes I had while the wife went to the store!
I had cleaned the hood of my Yaris the day before, and clay`d it with Poorboy`s World Clay Lube and Clay. Damn, that stuff smells so good! The finish was left so slick. I did it fast, so I expected some clay marring. No big deal, as I intended to polish anyway. I gave it a final wipe down before going at it with the polishing.
Flex 3401. a 6.5" Curved Edge Variable Contact pad on the stock BP of the Flex. 3D`s AAT Finishing Polish. PB`s DMTs for wiping off residue.
Outside, around 7pm, sun was going down, and it was still hot out.
Okay, so here`s what happened: I`ve read enough about the 3401 that I expected some funky things off the bat. Well, no. I didn`t get crazy vibrations, nor did I get the walking that others experience. I *found* a way to make it walk, but that`s just weird. I kept it flat and it was plenty civilized. I did a *roughly* 2x2 section at a time. The pad (white) was primed with AAT Polish, then I added 3 pea sized drops. And I went to work.
I did 4 section passes, followed by 1.5 passes with lighter pressure. When done, I felt the hood. It was kind of hot. Felt the pad, it too was kind of hot. It was a hot day after all, and I had arrived to the house about 30-45 min earlier, so I thought maybe the hood was hot from the drive.
Nope. The other parts of the hood were pretty cool. Okay. Noted. Move quicker, less pressure, keep it cool. Got it. Did the next section. Felt the hood, a little warm, but not like before. I finished off the rest of the hood this way.
Okay, so here`s what I noticed. I looked at the pad (yes, I did clean the pad in between sections) and the center was, I forget the term, but it was overheated. It showed that slightly rougher texture around the center of the pad.
The machine was slightly warm, but not warm where I`m concerned, and nowhere near hot.
QUESTION(s): I`ve read that the 3401 runs hot. Does this apply to the machine itself, or does it cause the pad/polish/panel to get hot? That initial section was the first time I`ve had a panel get that hot. So I`m not sure what the cause was. Maybe a combination?
Well, so far, I like the 3401. It felt natural in my hands, and I didn`t have the spread between my hands/arms like I did with the MT300. Like I`ve mentioned before, I`m a short dude at 5`6" and therefore have shorter arms! haha. yes. So the size of the machine will make a difference.
The AAT Finishing Polish stinks. oops.I meant that literally. It`s not a pleasant scent. I didn`t experience dusting with it. It didn`t seem to wipe off as easy as HD Polish. Does it work? Yeah, so far I say it does. Does it finish better than HD Polish? mmm, that`s tough, as I didn`t do a side by side. But as of now, I would prefer to use HD Polish. That can change the more I use AAT`s formula.
A couple of pics...
I finally had a chance to "play" with my Flex 3401. I snuck out to get some work done in the 30 or so minutes I had while the wife went to the store!
I had cleaned the hood of my Yaris the day before, and clay`d it with Poorboy`s World Clay Lube and Clay. Damn, that stuff smells so good! The finish was left so slick. I did it fast, so I expected some clay marring. No big deal, as I intended to polish anyway. I gave it a final wipe down before going at it with the polishing.
Flex 3401. a 6.5" Curved Edge Variable Contact pad on the stock BP of the Flex. 3D`s AAT Finishing Polish. PB`s DMTs for wiping off residue.
Outside, around 7pm, sun was going down, and it was still hot out.
Okay, so here`s what happened: I`ve read enough about the 3401 that I expected some funky things off the bat. Well, no. I didn`t get crazy vibrations, nor did I get the walking that others experience. I *found* a way to make it walk, but that`s just weird. I kept it flat and it was plenty civilized. I did a *roughly* 2x2 section at a time. The pad (white) was primed with AAT Polish, then I added 3 pea sized drops. And I went to work.
I did 4 section passes, followed by 1.5 passes with lighter pressure. When done, I felt the hood. It was kind of hot. Felt the pad, it too was kind of hot. It was a hot day after all, and I had arrived to the house about 30-45 min earlier, so I thought maybe the hood was hot from the drive.
Nope. The other parts of the hood were pretty cool. Okay. Noted. Move quicker, less pressure, keep it cool. Got it. Did the next section. Felt the hood, a little warm, but not like before. I finished off the rest of the hood this way.
Okay, so here`s what I noticed. I looked at the pad (yes, I did clean the pad in between sections) and the center was, I forget the term, but it was overheated. It showed that slightly rougher texture around the center of the pad.
The machine was slightly warm, but not warm where I`m concerned, and nowhere near hot.
QUESTION(s): I`ve read that the 3401 runs hot. Does this apply to the machine itself, or does it cause the pad/polish/panel to get hot? That initial section was the first time I`ve had a panel get that hot. So I`m not sure what the cause was. Maybe a combination?
Well, so far, I like the 3401. It felt natural in my hands, and I didn`t have the spread between my hands/arms like I did with the MT300. Like I`ve mentioned before, I`m a short dude at 5`6" and therefore have shorter arms! haha. yes. So the size of the machine will make a difference.
The AAT Finishing Polish stinks. oops.I meant that literally. It`s not a pleasant scent. I didn`t experience dusting with it. It didn`t seem to wipe off as easy as HD Polish. Does it work? Yeah, so far I say it does. Does it finish better than HD Polish? mmm, that`s tough, as I didn`t do a side by side. But as of now, I would prefer to use HD Polish. That can change the more I use AAT`s formula.
A couple of pics...
And I`ve been meaning to work out, so this could help? 