Has any body had issues with the polisher not spinning, just vibrating? I tried using the Ryobi 10" orbital polisher because I figured it would be easier to attach with the round handle. Once installed though it would not spin unless I pushed in on the power cord which was really weird. And without the spinning the balls would just spin in place and on one section was getting touched.
5 gallon bucket ball washers - insturctions?
- Thread starter cbi1000
- Start date
Sounds like a defective unit. Replace and try again. Let us know the results!
Sweet, I was going to try to construct something myself with a Waxmaster I have had since 95, but i use the spray on wax now so it is kind of obsolete. You have to hold down a button on mine as I can remember, maybe I need to get that buffer you mention above. Already have the bucket as part of my Hurricane preparation kit!
If the buffer drum is mounted too low in the bucket, the sides of the drum will spend more energy hitting the bucket sides and not have any energy left to rotate. Make sure you've got about 3/8" clearance between the buffer drum and bucket.
As I mentioned in an earlier post, it also helps to rig up a variable speed control. I find I usually get the most "spinning" at less than half speed.
When you are saying the buffer drum. You are just talking about the top of the buffer that becomes the bottom once it is flipped? I had just placed it into the bucket and let it sit on the bottom then secured it from that point. But what you are saying is it is spending its energy banging into the bottom so it can't spin? If that is so I will try to raise the new one I got this time. Still not quite sure if I grasp the workings of the buffer to why it would not spin, but thanks for the help will give it a shot and let you know.
The buffer drum is the disc that the buffing pad is attached to. I think of it as a "drum" because it's actually 3-4" high due to a big foam pad under the buffing pad. So the drum is the top part when you've got the buffer turned upside-down in the bucket. It's the sides of the drum that are hitting the bucket wall and keeping the drum from spinning. You need to get the entire buffer higher up in the bucket (assuming a Home Depot bucket where the diameter is about 3/4" wider at the top than the bottom).
I secured my buffer mid-level in the bucket by using electrical cable tie-wraps. Drill 1/8" holes one inch (top to bottom) at the level you want the buffer handle to sit. I think I did eight pairs of holes (four per handle side). Loop a tie-wrap from outside the bucket through the lower hole of each pair, bring it around the buffer handle and then stick it out the upper hole. Be careful when you tighten the tie-wraps, don't just yank the first one tight or you'll have just pulled the buffer drum tight up against the side of the bucket. Tighten each one just a bit to make sure you've got the buffer centered in the bucket.
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just like everyone else said a bucket an orbital buffer and i use turtle wax. sub 50 bucks for everything. i splurged an additional 10 for an extension cable with a power switch on it. so i can leave the buffer in the on position whilst in the bucket. and use the extension cable for easy on and off work 
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Axis_of_Evil
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I made one of these a few years back and it still works well.
I used a 3 gallon bucket, which seems the be a better size than the 5 gallon bucket. I also removed the orbiting mechanism from the Ryobi buffer after using it for a while, and I think it works better this way.
I started off using spray on Turtle Wax and have since gone to Meguiar's 56 (Marine RV wax), which I think does a much better job (lasts much longer and just needs a rebuff most of the time).
I squirt some wax on a towel and then rub onto the balls and let dry. Then I run the polisher with 5 balls at a time for ~2 minutes. I have a Diamond table which leaves black marks on the balls from the black pocket leather bye. Any hand sanitizer will easily remove these black marks (obviously do this before polishing the balls).
Good Luck!
regards
Axis
I used a 3 gallon bucket, which seems the be a better size than the 5 gallon bucket. I also removed the orbiting mechanism from the Ryobi buffer after using it for a while, and I think it works better this way.
I started off using spray on Turtle Wax and have since gone to Meguiar's 56 (Marine RV wax), which I think does a much better job (lasts much longer and just needs a rebuff most of the time).
I squirt some wax on a towel and then rub onto the balls and let dry. Then I run the polisher with 5 balls at a time for ~2 minutes. I have a Diamond table which leaves black marks on the balls from the black pocket leather bye. Any hand sanitizer will easily remove these black marks (obviously do this before polishing the balls).
Good Luck!
regards
Axis
Just finished mine, only thing extra i did, was cut vent holes in the bottom of the bucket, because my buffer had vent holes on the top, and cut a few pieces of pvc as legs, glued them to the bottom, and put rubber no slip leg ends on them (like for canes, etc), to get it up off the floor for better cooling.
LOVE IT!
LOVE IT!