35 min is really good I feel!
I'm good with 35 minutes per battery for solid polishing work. I very methodically did 8 to 10 section passes for each section buffed on the car and I counted out each pass. Counting out passes is my new Best Practice and there's good reasons for doing this that I now teach in my classes.
What speed were you polishing on?
Speed 6 all the way. I don't get the guys that do correction work at slow to medium speeds? Even if a tool will correct at speed 4 or speed 5 so what? I want to get the job done fast, not slow. It already takes a LONG time to compound an entire car. It already takes a long time to polish an entire car. Why would I want to get the job done slower.
Here's my quote when it comes to the topic of using slow to medium speed settings for correction work,
There's something to be said for speed -Mike Phillips
What I mean by that is even if you can correct paint on speed setting 4 for ANY tool on the market, it's my experience I can peel paint off the car faster at the max speed. My goal is always to get the car through the entire process as fast as possible, not as slow as possible and for this reason there is something to be said for speed as in doing the correction work on the fastest speed not anything less.
The above of course in in the context of using any orbital polisher. I normally do my rotary work using low to medium speeds, rarely do I do rotary work on high speed. Of course, a rotary is a completely different animal than any orbital polisher.
And the above all said, there's a million ways to skin a cat, (sorry PETA, just a cliché), and by this I mean, everyone can find an approach that works best for them. I understand some guys are not in a hurry and in some cases, physical limitations mean an easier time using a slower speed.
Also does the battery just die or does it fade over time?
You will feel a slow down in power when you get to the last LED light bar in the battery check panel. Bob Eichelberg says this is normal. When I get down to the last light bar I try to buff an area that I can run the polisher till the battery actually dies and then swap out.
For everyone reading this into the FUTURE, (I never type for the present), it's very rare that any car detailer would buff for 35 minutes SOLID. Most of us, me included take a moment to,
- Wipe off compound or polish residue.
- Dry clean a pad.
- Swap to a new pad.
- Drink some water.
- Interact in some way.
So in most cases, by the time you run a single 5 amp battery completely down your other battery will be fully charged and ready to go. If you don't ever want to be without immediate power, simply buy a third battery and take all the stress out of your life.
