I broke out my new flex 3403 rotary for its first full correction last week. I used the polisher before on test panels and my own car with no problems and smooth operation. Suddenly in the middle of polishing the 3403 began to develop this clicking sound when I applied the pad to the paint, not when free spinning however. I couldnt figure what was wrong, I was only polishing at about 1800rpmm and using 5.75 inch pads which were perfectly centered. It was not overheating and never once went into thermal shutdown. It just was cliking everytime the head rotated, it didnt sound electrical, more of like a baseball card in a bike spoke type clicking. I gave it a break and used the makita for a while and went back to the flex and still had the clicking sound problem. I continued to use it and it worked fine but I fear something is wrong with the machine. Any help or ideas would be greatly apreciated.:worship2:
Sounds like bad news to me. I have never heard a complaint like this. I would put it away and get on the phone...:shrug:
I'm guessing here, but i think there's a indent button on the side, when pushed in, it makes that sound. I'll try and look later at mine to confirm.
That does sound odd, well this is just my :2cents: When I first got my Metabo I noticed the exact same thing as you have described here. I don't know it could be just me but when first started using the Metabo it sounded smooth...after a wile it seemed to develop a gear sound...it's hard for me to describe but the best way to describe it is a "gear sound". I phoned the company I purchased it from and the gentleman I spoke too was quite knowledgeable and told me to turn on the Metabo, go through all the speeds and bring it close to the phone. I did and at the end the gentleman told me that I was the 5th person to phone with the same symptom's. He told me that he had heard it before, but very few occasions. He suggested I inspect my Metabo thoroughly and if I saw bad wear and tear on the exterior of the spindle (the threaded peace that spins, at the base of it though) and if over time it did develop wear and tare then to phone him back and ship it to him and a new one would be sent to me. Well long story short, my Metabo to this date still sounds the same and it's still going strong. Any who the point of the long winded story is that a phone call wouldn't hurt and document when the machine started acting up on you or started making funny sounds, also document who you speak with and a brief description of how the conversation went over the phone. Well at least that's what I was told by the gentleman who helped me out with my metabo. Just sharing..um..not sure if it will help but hope it does something :shrug:
Thanks for your input Carlos. Its funny how you and I both had our machines running smoothly when we first started using them but shortly after that "sound" developed. I called Flex 2 hours ago but there were closed for the day. Tomorrow will have to do. Thanks guys:thumb:
Like you I found the noise odd and a bit annoying at the beginning but now I got used to it..heck even when I switch to the Makita I notice the difference in sound. Keep us posted on how you make out, hopefully things will work out for the best.
I haven't had any issues like that on my 3403, but haven't used it all that much. But the time I had used it, i was going 3-4 hours at a time over a couple of days with no clicking issues. DannyK might have an idea about the lock button being partially depressed. I think that is what he is referring to.
Thats correct in regards to the lock button, seems like it isn't fully releasing for some reason. Not sure if there's a burr somewhere ?
