Polish disappearing at higher speeds?

05RLS2

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I have a question about something I have noticed when using my PC 7424. If I work the polish at lower speeds 1 to 4, I can see the product being spread on the surface. But after a few passes of working at lower speeds and if I go to a little past 5 or all to speed 6, the pad will remove the polish that has already been worked on the surface. Yet if I back to to lower speeds, then a thin layer or polish is visible on the surface again.

Does this soud like something I am doing wrong, or is this perfectly normal at higher speeds with the PC? I have never experience any prblems with dry polishing, so I know it's not from not using enough product. Whenever using dry unused pads without any product, I will usually one quick spritz with something like the Pinnacle pad prime or ONR mid at QD strength to somewhat moisten the pad from dry polishing. Could this be related to what I am seeing? I am using the LC CCS pads if that makes any kind of difference
 
Polishes tend to break down as they perform their work. They also work best when used at speeds 5 - 6. Lower speeds seem to move the product around however fail to break it down sufficiently as with the higher speeds.

As many polishes break down they tend to become more and more transparent. This is a good sign that they've done all the work and to continue more product is needed.

Mike Phillips wrote some great articles explaining this here.....

http://www.autogeekonline.net/forum...anted-know-about-meguiar-s-smat-products.html
 
Well I have noticed this whenever making 2 or so passes at lower speeds, then if I go to the higher speeds it seems as if it is wiping the product completely off. Yet if I put the press hown on the pad witht eh machine off or use lower speeds, the product will be visible again. I have noticed this on DAT and SMAT products. At that early in the stage most products don't break down that quickly from what I have used. I was just wondering if this could be a case of getting the pad too saturated with product or if this is normal occurance when prime misting a pad before use
 
If a sponge is damp and you wipe it across a wet surface it will pickup moisture. However if you keep rubbing that sponge lightly across that surface it usually won't remoisten the surface(maybe on the opposite stroke that it picked up the moisture originally) unless you apply more pressure to the sponge. If you stop the sponge on the surface and press down with a little more pressure then you will most likely deposit moisture back onto the surface, unless the liquid that was in the sponge has started to dry. This is the best example I can think of for what occurs with polishes and foam pads. When dealing with solvent based polishes/compounds then the dry occurs faster on the surface, so the pad will start picking the product up until you press down again to deposit wet product. In cases of water based products the pad will become saturated and not allow product to break down properly if wet product is constantly there to come off the pad. This is why pads like the CCS where made. So pads don't saturate as quickly and when you do need more product you can just press down and more is deposited off the pad. This is all just my opinion and off the top of my head my best understanding of what is going on.:)
 
Great thread.pump.
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I've noticed the exact same thing while polishing with my dewalt DA. Thought it didnt cause any probs and the paint came out flawless in the end!

I usually slow down a bit in case the polish starts to dry up before my section passes are complete in order to deposit moisture/ product back on the paint and then crank it back to speed 5!


Posted from my GT-I9100 using Tapatalk
 
I think if it is working at the lower speed and not at the higher speed then your answer is self evident. I'd use the slower speed (2-4). Not really sure but maybe you are heating it up too much at the higher speeds.
 
I know exactly what you're talking about because I've noticed it before also. I think it's just centrifugal forces at work. The liquid/polish is relatively heavy and wants to sink to the bottom of the pad / surface of the panel, due to gravity. This is evident when sitting still and the pad is moving slowly (as someone eluded to earlier with the wet towel analogy). But as the pad moves faster, the liquid is "flung" away from the contact surface of the pad. This happens even just orbiting, not only rotating, but a rotary probably needs much less speed to get the effect.
Think about it this way- if you lift off the surface with the speed setting at 1, you will get a little bit of sling on the rest of the car, but if you lift off the surface at setting 6, you get sling all over everything around you. This probably makes much more sense in my head than how I'm explaining it, but hopefully I'm getting my point across.
 
This is why pads like the CCS where made. So pads don't saturate as quickly and when you do need more product you can just press down and more is deposited off the pad. This is all just my opinion and off the top of my head my best understanding of what is going on.:)

I accepted your explanation (same applies to drying glass) until you discussed the CCS pads. I still do not understand how they really help.
 
I have a question about something I have noticed when using my PC 7424. If I work the polish at lower speeds 1 to 4, I can see the product being spread on the surface. But after a few passes of working at lower speeds and if I go to a little past 5 or all to speed 6, the pad will remove the polish that has already been worked on the surface. Yet if I back to to lower speeds, then a thin layer or polish is visible on the surface again.


Probably a lot of different variables for what you're seeing, but a couple of random comments...

Regardless of what you're seeing, you're not going to remove any swirls and scratches below the 4.0 speed setting. If you can maintain pad oscillation and rotation at low speeds then you can remove defects but unless you're using really thin pads like the Meguiar's microfiber DA pads it's going to be more difficult to do.

Speeds 1 and 2 don't really do much, it's easier to spread products out using at least the 3-4 setting.

When you start out, dry pads will tend to absorb some of your "working product", even if you prime the pad first as the liquid portions will tend to seep into the pad.


Restoring neglected paint
When you buff a new section of "neglected paint" for the first time you'll tend to go through your product faster as you remove the initial top layer of whatever gunk is on the paint plus a little paint off the surface.

You'll find to re-buff that section a second time that your product will last longer and you'll do more abrading.


Anytime you're doing correction work you have 2 things building up on the face of your pad with any type of machien...

  • Spent product
  • Removed paint

You need to remove this gunk before applying fresh product and of course, always wipe off and remove any residue off the paint after buffing a section whether you're going to re-buff that section again or move on to new territory.


See this article,

Why it's important to clean your pads often...




:)
 
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