Flex Dual Action Polisher Review
Discussion
After picking up a Flex Dual Action polisher (3401 model) I thought would give a quick review of the model having spent a couple of hours using it on Friday.
The polisher itself is a very well built unit, certainly heavier than any other DA polisher I have used in the past, however this is not always such a good thing, yes its built well but the way DA's work with the vibration combined with the weight does require frequent breaks. Its not a such a major issue as its hard to polish the full car without stopping and always work a panel at a time.
Power wise for a DA its in a different class to anything ive tried before and does easily rival some rotary machines, yes more powerful rotaries are available but will also damage the paint work more easily, unless you are experienced with them which im not!
I tried very hard to get some before and after shots but only had my i-phone on me for pics, using natural light, artificial light, camera flash and even a torch it wouldnt show up so I gave up on the pic front im afraid.
The paint on my car dont get me wrong with it being a 2013 is not in bad condition, however when I collected it new I had to actually question if it was the right car as it genuinely looked like flat black paint when its actually a dark blue. It took me two attempts at hand polishing for many hours each time to actually get the colour to appear, no idea what the dealer did with it! Also were I live in my underground the cleaning staff keep washing it for me even though I keep telling them not to which has resulted in several bad areas of swirls and some quite bad dulling of the paint.
Results - I used Chemical Guys V36 optical cutting polish which is a fine cut with polishing only pads (no cut on the pad) and this removed all of the swirls instantly with almost no effort, I also had a scratch on the bonnet which I didnt think it would touch but a once over and it went. I then finished off another coat with the V38 finishing polish and finally a quick coat of Jetseal 109 as I had ran out of time but the results using the machine were very good.
I do have some more minor scratches which are to be revealed in alternative lights especially artificial, I will give these a go soon using a slight cutting pad and the same V36 polish, it may not remove them and if not will go into a polish with more cut, but they are hardly visible and dont want to start taking layers off the paint for little to no reason.
Verdict - Great machine, not cheap but if you like looking after your paint a well worth investment, feels like it will last for ten years or more (hope im not crying after 13 months when the warranty is out lol)
I will experiment more with different polishes and pads as time goes on and update, will also do what I can to get some pictures as I know these threads are not much use without!
The polisher itself is a very well built unit, certainly heavier than any other DA polisher I have used in the past, however this is not always such a good thing, yes its built well but the way DA's work with the vibration combined with the weight does require frequent breaks. Its not a such a major issue as its hard to polish the full car without stopping and always work a panel at a time.
Power wise for a DA its in a different class to anything ive tried before and does easily rival some rotary machines, yes more powerful rotaries are available but will also damage the paint work more easily, unless you are experienced with them which im not!
I tried very hard to get some before and after shots but only had my i-phone on me for pics, using natural light, artificial light, camera flash and even a torch it wouldnt show up so I gave up on the pic front im afraid.
The paint on my car dont get me wrong with it being a 2013 is not in bad condition, however when I collected it new I had to actually question if it was the right car as it genuinely looked like flat black paint when its actually a dark blue. It took me two attempts at hand polishing for many hours each time to actually get the colour to appear, no idea what the dealer did with it! Also were I live in my underground the cleaning staff keep washing it for me even though I keep telling them not to which has resulted in several bad areas of swirls and some quite bad dulling of the paint.
Results - I used Chemical Guys V36 optical cutting polish which is a fine cut with polishing only pads (no cut on the pad) and this removed all of the swirls instantly with almost no effort, I also had a scratch on the bonnet which I didnt think it would touch but a once over and it went. I then finished off another coat with the V38 finishing polish and finally a quick coat of Jetseal 109 as I had ran out of time but the results using the machine were very good.
I do have some more minor scratches which are to be revealed in alternative lights especially artificial, I will give these a go soon using a slight cutting pad and the same V36 polish, it may not remove them and if not will go into a polish with more cut, but they are hardly visible and dont want to start taking layers off the paint for little to no reason.
Verdict - Great machine, not cheap but if you like looking after your paint a well worth investment, feels like it will last for ten years or more (hope im not crying after 13 months when the warranty is out lol)
I will experiment more with different polishes and pads as time goes on and update, will also do what I can to get some pictures as I know these threads are not much use without!
hdrflow said:
Did you consider the Rupes with the same pads and compound combination? I only used a Flex briefly but I'd reckon I'd want to upgrade to a BigFoot (sometime).
I was very much limited by whats available to purchase in the market I live in, did not come across the Rupes in my search.To be fair id see no reason at all to upgrade, the Flex does more than enough for my requirements and is more powerful than id every need, if anything I could downgrade quite happily.
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