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glat1000

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I am just starting to get into car detailing. We have a Mercedes convertible and a ford expedition. Both in good shape but with some minor blemishes including some swirl marks. What do I need to get started. I want to buy a polisher, what is the best one for me to get. I am looking at the porter cable. I also like the Cyclo. Which one would is recommended. Obviously the porter cable is more cost effective. I still need to get the correct pads as well as all of the different products.

glat1000
 
I'll say :welcome: since this is your first post. :props:

Mike will most likely be your best answer to the questions posed, however if you look at some of the stickies you'll find that most of these questions have been answered via different articles Mike Phillips has written for just this reason.

Lots of reading to do! :dblthumb2:
 
Thanks, I will start reading as soon as I can figure out where to look for all of these articles
 
Welcome to AG from Central PA.:welcome:

My first polisher was a Cyclo and it is a very high quality machine, however when you own a Cyclo you are limited to only 4 inch pads. The Cyclo in my experience will correct paint much faster than a Porter Cable style dual action polisher but the stock pad holders are exactly 4 inches in diameter as well as the pads. This has caused problems for me in that the pad holders have rubbed against the paint or against plastic mirror housings causing a rub mark that could not be removed. I rectified this problem by replacing the original pad holders with two 3 3/4 inch Lake Country backing plates designed for the PC. There is also the occasional problem where when I am polishing the edge of a fender and one of the polishing heads goes over the edge a little and with no pressure on it it begins to free spin at 3000 RPM spraying polish splatter all over the place. This doesn't cause any damage but is just annoying and causes more work in cleaning the splatter up at the end of the job. That is my experience with the Cyclo, great machine but has it's bad points too.

I own a Flex 3401 VRG forced rotational dual action polisher and can honestly say that it is just as high quality as the Cyclo. It is a real solid machine with power like no other polisher. The power of the Flex 3401 can be relied upon and not feared because as well as the orbital action it also is gear driven to spin like a rotary polisher but only at 480 RPM as opposed the the 3000 max RPM of a rotary polisher. A rotary polisher creates a lot of friction from it's high speed spinning and friction is heat so a rotary can burn paint and it is easy to cause damage in the hands of an inexperienced user. The Flex 3401 however, only spinning at 480 RPM creates a lot less friction and is a relatively safe machine for a beginner.

The Flex 3401 is also a bit limited as to what size pads can be used with it as the backing plate has a gear on the top of it that is part of the drive mechanism and there is only one size backing plate for it because of this so you should only use a 6 inch diameter or larger pad with it.
 
I own a Meguiars G110V2 which is styled almost exactly like a Porter Cable dual action polisher. This machine is a most versatile machine in that you can use a 4,5,6 or 6.5 inch backing plate with it so you can essentially use any sized pad with it but it will take more time to get your results with this machine. In my experience, the smaller the pad the faster the paint correction will be. Some detailers have tweaked their product, pad selection and process to achieve some stunning results with this style of machine and it is the safest of all the available polishers that will yield professional results.
 
I have twice experienced the problem of a wire breaking inside the cord on my G110V2. Being a mechanic as well as a detailer I just took it apart and made the repair myself. If I was not mechanically inclined I would have had to send this polisher back twice for repairs and that would have caused me down time. Other than the cord repairs the machine has had no other problems and performs well for a DA polisher.
 
The Griot's Garage 6 inch ROP is the most powerful of all the dual action or PC style polishers. I have read several threads where the Griot's Garage polisher had vibrated apart and had to be returned for repair or replacement, again that is costly down time for a guy making his living polishing cars but the pros generally have back up machines available to get the job done. If I were a weekend detailer just doing my own cars from time to time I guess this wouldn't be the end of the world but I am sure I would be very angry about it. For the record the Griot's Garage polishers do have a lifetime warranty so it would be repaired or replaced at no cost to you.
 
In the past 3 years I have immersed myself in the detailing world and read these forums every day and I can’t recall ever seeing a post where someone had a problem with a Porter Cable dual action polisher other than just brush replacement or bearing replacement after years of wear and tear. I guess that is why some people call all dual action polishers "PC style machines" because the PC has been around for a long long time and has proven itself as a great machine. Kind of like Porsche, "There is no substitute"

I hope this helps you decide on which machine is right for you. As stated in an earlier post, I suggest that you read over Mike Phillips' articles as they have been most helpful to me.

Again, welcome and enjoy your stay. TD
 
Man what a pain in the rear, I don't know why but this site wouldn't allow me to post that whole article in it's entirety. I tried several times and kept getting the internal server error message. I tried cutting it in half and the first half uploaded just fine but the second half I had to post one paragraph at a time. Sorry for the multiple posts but that was the only way I could get it all on the site. I have had this happen before after taking time to write a thorough reply. Bummer
 
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