Megs microfiber cutting disc disappointent

takkychan381

takkychan381

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I recently made my first $500 purchase from AG which included a pair of both 5 1/2 inch and 3 inch cutting discs to go along with my griots garage DA. I am very disappointed in the performance to say the least.

I started my process with the mf discs in conjunction with m105 to combat the swirls and minor scratches on my black 2009 chevrolet silverado. I checked my work after about 6 section passes with moderate pressure and found that there had been nearly zero correction of the scratches and a lot of the swirls still remained. I continued on to do another 6 section passes(Eeeek i know) on the same spot with the same results. This time most of the swirls had been removed but all of the scratches remained and so did 'some' swirls. I continued on to do the rest of my hood and both the driver and passenger front quarter panels. By the time i had finished those three panels, all four pads had exploded during use. Now i am stuff with a half compounded truck in my garage, with $500 in supplies and having to wait another week or so to order and recieve replacement pads (deffinitely foam)


I will post pictures as soon as i can, as i am mobile and it is difficult to do.


Also, in no way do i blame Autogeek. This is a great business. I am just extremely dissapointed in the megs mf discs.
 
Sounds like too much pressure and speed. They are meant to be used with minimal pressure and low speeds at 4 on your GG6.
 
That may explain it..
I was at speed 5, but i didn't put so much to the point of changing the sound of the motor. Just minimal to moderate.
 
What did you do to clean the pads? They do need cleaning after each section.
 
Unfortunately, there is a fair amount of technique in polishing paint. Reading threads and watching videos doesn't always impart enough info for success.

How much product did you use? Did you clean the pads between sections? Did you allow the pad to spin?
 
Speed 5 will work but you risk overheating the backing plate and pads unless you are using an air compressor to clean the pads after each pass. It sounds like you arm speed was too fast, slow it down and give the pads time to do their work. Light to medium pressure is all you need. MF pads are actually excellent defect killers with 105 or D300, but you have to go slow.
 
I used about 3 small squirts of product per section. As far as pad cleaner brush, i failed to order a designated one when i placed my initial order. So i used a stiff hair brush on the pads on speed 2 to regain the softness.
My technique is the same as others in the hundreds of videos i have watched. Slow arm speed, 50% overlap, 6 section passes.
 
There are 4 things that I have found that profoundly affect the performance of correction ability with microfiber pads, regardless of brand.

1. The pad must be properly primed. If the pad is not thoroughly primed the individual microfibers will not all be working to level the paint and remove defects.

2. The pad must be cleaned frequently. Compressed air works great for this.

2. Faster speeds will not necessarily equal faster or better results. I use a PCXP and I have found that speed 4.5-5 works great.

3. Firm pressure is key. I try and apply enough pressure to just barely let the pad keep spinning while it oscillates.
 
How about i upload a vid later of my technique for you guys to critique?
 
RZJZA80 said:
Speed 5 will work but you risk overheating the backing plate and pads
Click to expand...

On the Griot's polisher 5 still might be too high a speed setting. and like RZJZA80 stated above, you risk overheating the backing plate and thus the pads and this can lead to de-lamination of the adhesive between the Velcro and the backing material.

In this training video here, Jason Rose recommends using the 4 speed setting on the Meguiar's G110v2 dual action polisher. This is actually a very complete and detailed video showing exactly how to use this system on factory paint. He states the target OPM is 4800 OPM.


Fast forward to the 13:56 time mark.

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WhJYFLgIjhE&hd=1]Meguiars Microfiber DA Correction System - YouTube[/video]




RZJZA80 said:
It sounds like you arm speed was too fast, slow it down and give the pads time to do their work. Light to medium pressure is all you need. MF pads are actually excellent defect killers with 105 or D300, but you have to go slow.
Click to expand...


Exactly.

Or the way I say it in my classes...

You need the combination of the oscillating action, the fiber, the abrasives, downward pressure to affect the paint before moving the polisher forward.


And by the word affect I mean abrade the paint, or in other words, for the abrasives to take little bites out of the paint in an effort to level the surface.

If you move the tool too fast you pad ends up simply skimming over the surface.


I'm working on the pictures of the 2008 Cadillac I used for my recent Detailing Boot Camp Class in which we used the Meguiar's Microfiber DA Correction System. The results were exactly what they should be and that's a like new finish.

The owner of the car told me his Cadillac looked better after my class was done with it than the day he bought it new from the dealership.


Technique is everything...


:xyxthumbs:
 
compounding paint correctly take time and patience. Its a slow process, especially for the weekend detailer.

If your compounding and by the time you are finished with one panel you look at the rest of the car and think to yourself " this is a ton of work !! and is going to take forever !" then your probably working at the correct speed. lol :)

You cant just go in jackhammer style and expect fast results.

Like mentioned above there is a bit of an art to detailing and the tools are not idiot proof. Everything needs to be taken into account. for example, machine temp, panel temp, backing plate and pad temp. how loaded your pads are, how much product you are using. too much ? too little ? how big your section is, how fast you are moving, the amount of pressure. this stuff cant be overlooked. and its easy to overwork your tools and make them degrade very fast as you have found out...
 
mg6045 said:
compounding paint correctly take time and patience. Its a slow process, especially for the weekend detailer.

If your compounding and by the time you are finished with one panel you look at the rest of the car and think to yourself " this is a ton of work !! and is going to take forever !" then your probably working at the correct speed. lol :)
Click to expand...

That's great....and SO true
 
mg6045 said:
compounding paint correctly take time and patience. Its a slow process, especially for the weekend detailer.

If your compounding and by the time you are finished with one panel you look at the rest of the car and think to yourself " this is a ton of work !! and is going to take forever !" then your probably working at the correct speed. lol :)
Click to expand...


Just by coincidence, check out this conversation in this thread in post #25

http://www.autogeekonline.net/forum...-diso-need-help-deciding-what-use-here-3.html


Hellspawn said:
It took about 4.5 hours to D300 the car,
Click to expand...

That's about right. For anyone reading this thread, if you're new to machine polishing, to take your time and do a good job for the first step, that is the most important step, for an average size car it's going to take you about 4 hours.

And that's just the compounding step. That doesn't include washing, drying, claying, taping off, etc.


The first step, the major correction step as I call it in my how-to book is the most important step and the step that will require the most time to do the job right.


:dblthumb2:
 
You are not the first. Everyone things Griots is the machine to get for its power, but I wouldn't touch it. The machine obviously created too much heat for what it was designed to do. Many have fried/burnt/melted pads with this machine. The extra power is not necessary if the right technique is used.


I think the PC (old and new) is a better all around machine with all the power that is required. The other thing is, you mentioned the defects were minor. Microfiber pads were designed for fast cutting. They are generally more aggressive than foam. I would only be using MF pads for heavy defects that foam couldn't remove or the pad was overheating. Most regular swirls or scratches will come out with the correct foam pad and product.
 
You might have over loaded the pad or 'flooded' it with product. After the pad is primed I use two small drops on either side of the pad and work the section. That combination is a swirl killer so there is some sort of flaw in your technique (not to bash, but to provide helpful feedback).

If you can, you should post a video of what you're doing and maybe try down sizing the working area.

Good luck! :xyxthumbs:
 
DRT BRD said:
You might have over loaded the pad or 'flooded' it with product.
Click to expand...


Use too much product and you hyper-lubricate the surface.

Use too little product and you won't have enough abrasives to do the work or lubrication to allow for good pad rotation/oscillation.


This is also covered in this article...

DA Polisher Trouble Shooting Guide


:xyxthumbs:
 
I want to add that like stated before proper priming and cleaning is key.. I have found that cleaning those discs with a brush just does not cut it. To clean them compressed air is that way to go. You are able to fluff the fibers back up and blow out all the spent product.

Another thing is after cleaning the pad its best to use small pea size drops I think it was said that after cleaning the pad and adding more product that less product is actually more with this system.

Keeping the DA at the 4800 opm's is big key. Too much heat and you will have pad failure. Too much pressure with the pad will cause the pads to become warped and then start to take a oval shape and begin to curl inward.
 
I also had issues with Megs Microfiber system the first time I used it. But once i got the hang of it it was awesome. Clean the pads often and slow arm movement. Just give it another try Im glad I did

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