First time DA polisher experience (XC3401)

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B18c_tuner

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I purchased the Flex XC3401 HD and I'm impressed at what I can do now with this machine. I have zero experience prior to my first time using it last night. I've been working by hand and I will not go back if I can help it. Here are the results:



Although I'm happy with the results they are not 100% perfect. There are a few 'Rids' that I can not seem to take out with my current setup. I tried the Tangerine then Cyan Hydro Tech pads with Meguairs Ultimate Compound & Ultimate Polish. Judging by the pic which pads/ products would you guys and gals recommend?
 
It looks good but as far as using other pads and, or setup I'm not sure. I am using the same setup but with the Flex PE 14 and would like to try something new. Very interested to hear what others have to say.
 
Nice work! Once you get a polisher there is no going back to hand polishing, except in the rare cases of areas impossible to get a tool into. Also, be careful chasing RIDS. Many of them are just not worth going through all that clearcoat to shave them out. A lot of times 100% or close to 100% correction is just not practical or ideal, especially when you don't know how much clearcoat you have to work with.

There are a lot of great choices for compounds and polishes now. I actually use Ultimate Compound and Polish a lot, I like the results I get out of that combo. There's also from Meguiar's M100, M101, M105, M205. A lot of people like the new Wolfgang lineup, Uber Compound 3.0, Total Swirl Removal 3.0, and Finishing Glaze 3.0. You've got Menzerna compounds and polishes which are highly rated as well. So now that you've got the Flex you have a lot of great options that you can purchase and play around with and see what works for you and what you prefer.
 
Very nice!

Well, I would experiment with technique. You have good tools/products. Maybe slower arm speed, more pressure, less pressure, etc.

Make sure your expectations are congruent with what the paint cam handle. Sometimes in chasing those deep scratches, we can put the clear coat in a compromised state for subsequent polishing in the future.
 
Beautiful work!! The Flex 3401 is a beast of a machine. As for the RIDS I would just live with it. They can be deep and if you want to correct you may do more harm than good.

I have one in the back of my trunk area. It's not worth trying to correct as it is deep.

I am adept at wet-sanding and I still opted not to correct the RID. I believe it was done at the factory as you can see the valley of the clearcoat. You have to look very carefully for it and you will eventually find it. But that is my point....you have to LOOK for it in order to find it. Your car looks 99% awesome so I would not worry about the less than 1%

I know you want to be a perfectionist, however, your ride looks perfect as it is and remember, your ride will look better than 99% of all vehicles out there unless.....of course you bump into another AGO member....then it would be equal!!!!.....LOL

BTW, I use Menzerna FG400 and SF4500. I prefer SF4500 over SF4000. I also use the Flex 3401 with the 6.5" and 5" Hybrid Pads w/Lake Country Backing Plates and the Flex BP.
 
B18c tuner I went and took a photo of my RID. My car is dusty as I am at work. However, you can clearly see the RID I am talking about. It is very deep and it is covered by the factory clear coat. This IMO was done at the factory. Even under a swirl light you can clearly see the clearcoat is smooth as every other area yet you can see what appears to be a scratch.

It isn't a scratch yet it appears to be and it is very deep. Again, not worth (for me at least) to wet sand/correct/polish. Additionally, you also have to look for it to find it. IMO if I tried to correct the RID I would think I would cause more harm than good.

This is what I mean this is something I can and will live with. You can see how close I was in the foreground. I was about 4 to 5 inches away.

The good thing is....you could not see my entire face....otherwise the lens on my camera would be cracked!!...LOL
:buffing:
 
Thank you everyone for the positive feedback. It's unforunate that the RIDS will have to stay since this is not a show car. It's actually Mom's truck and I was fortunate enough to have such a car to practice on. It was purchased new over 10yrs ago and was never properly detailed (I remember putting a coat of Meg's nxt gen 1 when new which was done by hand). As for the products I may try the WG uber 3.0 compound and glaze and maybe the Menzerna SF4500. How do you guys and gals feel about the new Menzerna 3in1? That one caught my eye the other day here on the forums.
 
Loach said:
Nice work! Once you get a polisher there is no going back to hand polishing, except in the rare cases of areas impossible to get a tool into. Also, be careful chasing RIDS. Many of them are just not worth going through all that clearcoat to shave them out. A lot of times 100% or close to 100% correction is just not practical or ideal, especially when you don't know how much clearcoat you have to work with.
Click to expand...
:iagree:
 
Don't be affraid to learn to wet sand. That RID looks pretty deep. I doubt a pad and compound will remove it.
To ruin clear coat by wet sanding, I think, is very uncommon. When I wet sanded for the first time, my initial impression was that it took a lot more strokes to level the surface than I had guessed it would. It goes slow, even if you go fast.
 
Sorry to interrupt, But I got something opposite.i bought brand new car in October and wanted to keep it that way. So I washed it down with foam gun and pressure washer and two pocket washing with CG citrus shampoo. Then used speedy prep towel and Manzerna SF4000 with LC white polishing pads , the ones what looks like waffle :)
Than I used pinnacle black label polisher cleaner with the same LC white pad. Then I applied black label coating.
After a while when sale was again I bought a LC hydrotech and LC flat thin pads and exchanged my PC polisher to flex 3401 and Iron X
I couldn't wait and wanted to try this setup sooner than its needed and also got Uber all in one and Manzerna 3 in one other great stuff.
Long story short I did the paint cleaning again with Iron X and foam gun and speedy prep towel.
This time I was experimented with all different compounds and pads. The results was breathtaking:) And I did the coating again and I would say that I wasn't saving it, I kinda out it a lot of it.
Everything looked great until I stopped for dinner and at street lights I saw small straight little tiny scrapes in some places. I also did few water less washes.
Does anyone know what these could be and how to correct them?
Could it be from the waterless washing or putting more coating that required.
Today I did some test spots with just Manzerna SF 4000 and 3 in one and Manzerna gloss and Sunergy Pinnacle wax , crazy combination but looks like they went away 80%.
Thank you for any suggestions.
My paint is tricolor pearl white. Looks pretty hard
And I really did 6-7 section passes very slowly
This is how it looked when I saw them , but in this lighting is impossible to see them only in the street lights from certain angle


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I keep a bucket of water handy along with 3k 3M sanding disk.
When I run into a bad defect that I can't remove I simply remove it by wet sanding it then compound it out.
I call it "Spot Sanding"
Sometimes I'll do the entire vehicle , once done I inspect to see if any defects stand out, more so on darker colors.
 
HateSwirls said:
I keep a bucket of water handy along with 3k 3M sanding disk.
When I run into a bad defect that I can't remove I simply remove it by wet sanding it then compound it out.
I call it "Spot Sanding"
Sometimes I'll do the entire vehicle , once done I inspect to see if any defects stand out, more so on darker colors.
Click to expand...

Thank you so much for your input! I will give this a try once I muster up the courage to wet sand one day. It sounds like you'd got it down to a science!
 
When I run into a bad defect that I can't remove I simply remove it by wet sanding it then compound it out.
I call it "Spot Sanding"
Sometimes I'll do the entire vehicle , once done I inspect to see if any defects stand out, more so on darker colors.[/QUOTE]

Just curios, do you wet sand often? If you wet sand very often , doesn't it take off clear coat and doing it very often , the clear coat will not be so thin after a while? Just asking, because I was thinking to do the same as you do, only afraid that after a year or so my clear coat will be almost gone.
Thanks for sharing your experience:)
 
Roikins said:
When I run into a bad defect that I can't remove I simply remove it by wet sanding it then compound it out.
I call it "Spot Sanding"
Sometimes I'll do the entire vehicle , once done I inspect to see if any defects stand out, more so on darker colors.
Click to expand...

Just curios, do you wet sand often? If you wet sand very often , doesn't it take off clear coat and doing it very often , the clear coat will not be so thin after a while? Just asking, because I was thinking to do the same as you do, only afraid that after a year or so my clear coat will be almost gone.
Thanks for sharing your experience:)[/QUOTE]

There's a great chance I'll never have to re-sand the same area twice being I work n many cars.
Let's say you have a scratch, can't catch it with your nail.
You could try compounding it several times, each time removing a little clear.
Wet sanding using 3000 grit removes the shallow scratch much easier and faster which IMHO removes less clear compared to trying to compound it out by making many passes.

Unlike using a buffer wet sanding doesn't generate heat as a buffer does.

When wet sanding make only 3-4 passes then inspect, if it's still there make 2-3 passes, that's about as far as I'll go, once sanded it doesn't take much buffing to bring the shine back.
It also saves me a lot of time in my shop.

If your worried about it or unsure as to how to remove a scratch by wet sanding just send me message to give me more info of the defected area.
I'd be more than happy to help if I can. :dblthumb2:
 
HateSwirls said:
Just curios, do you wet sand often? If you wet sand very often , doesn't it take off clear coat and doing it very often , the clear coat will not be so thin after a while? Just asking, because I was thinking to do the same as you do, only afraid that after a year or so my clear coat will be almost gone.

Thanks for sharing your experience:)
Click to expand...



There's a great chance I'll never have to re-sand the same area twice being I work n many cars.

Let's say you have a scratch, can't catch it with your nail.

You could try compounding it several times, each time removing a little clear.

Wet sanding using 3000 grit removes the shallow scratch much easier and faster which IMHO removes less clear compared to trying to compound it out by making many passes.



Unlike using a buffer wet sanding doesn't generate heat as a buffer does.



When wet sanding make only 3-4 passes then inspect, if it's still there make 2-3 passes, that's about as far as I'll go, once sanded it doesn't take much buffing to bring the shine back.

It also saves me a lot of time in my shop.



If your worried about it or unsure as to how to remove a scratch by wet sanding just send me message to give me more info of the defected area.

I'd be more than happy to help if I can. :dblthumb2:[/QUOTE]


Thank you so much !! I tried to make a picture, but with iphone it's hard to capture it, and I can see it only in very difficult angle.
I will try to get more professional photo equipment and will send some pics.
Thanks again for your offer


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