Smoked a pad.

I'd be glad to. I am expecting an order with 4 and 5.5 in pads tomorrow. By this weekend, I plan to finish the truck. I will do a full write up after that.

Will take a good look at the Flex.
 
I prefer the 5.5 inch pads. You have more control over it and it can fit in places the 6.5 inch can't. And you can apply more pressure without it backing up.
 
I prefer the 5.5 inch pads. You have more control over it and it can fit in places the 6.5 inch can't. And you can apply more pressure without it backing up.
Just got home. Small box from AG sitting on front porch. Kinda surprised me how much smaller the 5.5s look. Can't wait to try them out. Hopefully by saturday.
 
In spite of the pad issues, the hood turned out pretty good. I still need to work the side door and fender some more. There are still moderate buffing swirls. I worked under a double halogen light. It looked pretty good with that light. Once I got it in the sun, I realized it needed more work.

Here is the hood. Finally got some sun to get a good photo of it.

hoodXMT3.jpg
 
Looks great. Did you ever figure out what the actual reason for the pad failures were? I was following this thread to find out. Thanks.
 
Not for sure. Concensus seems to be too much pressure. I also think the pads were a little wet adding to the heat transfer.

I got some new pads yesterday from AG. I plan to work some more panels this week/weekend and see what happens. Gonna keep my wife's scale nearby to double check my pressure.
 
I find that pushing the pads just enough to where you see the backing plate bulge the edge of the pad is just enough.

Like, press down on the pad and you'll see the backing plate push into the pad and cause the pad to have a folded lip. A slight one is just enough.
 
I had a 6.5 CCS orange fall apart this weekend the hook and loop backing came completely unglued from the rest of the pad thought it was a defective pad of course I was really workin it on a 2000 durango with HORRIBLE! paint and Megs 105
 
I find that pushing the pads just enough to where you see the backing plate bulge the edge of the pad is just enough.

Like, press down on the pad and you'll see the backing plate push into the pad and cause the pad to have a folded lip. A slight one is just enough.
I'll try to look for that next time. I will see how it looks stationary on the scale and try to mimic that moving on the paint. Thanks for the tip.
 
I had a 6.5 CCS orange fall apart this weekend the hook and loop backing came completely unglued from the rest of the pad thought it was a defective pad of course I was really workin it on a 2000 durango with HORRIBLE! paint and Megs 105
This one never came unglued. Just the center of the pad became thin and lost its cushion.
 
Got a chance to spend some time in the man cave today. :buffing: I learned a few things.

1. I love SMAT products. I was not able to find 105 or 205 at any of my local paint and body shops. I settled on Megs Ultra Compound and SwirlX. I am impressed. Much easier to work with than anything I have tried before. Even cleaning it out of the pads is easy. Gonna order the 105/205 from AG with my next order and compare them to what I have.

2. My pad destruction problem is from pad drag. As my pads were getting saturated, they were beginning to drag and the power of the GG ROP was creating a lot of heat. I had been trying to clean on the fly. Apparently not effectively. I just started changing pads more frequently and no more damaged pads (woohoo). Gonna look into a Grit Guard pad washer and order more pads.

3. I like the 5.5 in and 4 in pads a lot better than the 6.5. The 4s are great for smaller areas. In fact, wish there was a 3 in version. I have a Griots pneumatic 3 in polisher. Not as crazy about it. Kinda hard to handle with air hose on it. my impression of their electric 3 in is it seems whimpy.

4. ....and last, but not least, I need to spend more money on products. I need more MF towels, polishes, pad washer, pads and whatever else. Man this is an expensive hobby.

Already dark. Gonna get some sun tomorrow. Will try to take some pics in the sun to see how I did. Looks great in the halogens.
 
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