Center cooling hole in foam pads

Icarus

Icarus

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Is it worth punching a hole in the center of pads that don't have them (obviously with a proper punch)? Pros/cons?

Thanks!
 
I was asking more for the cooling benefits (if there really is any) of the hole, then the centering...
 
Thanks Bobby B. The G9 I just got came with a vented back plate, so I should be good if I watch the heat and don't over work them?
I bought 4 of each pad to start, I know not quite enough, but hopefully fine if I'm careful...
I do have 1/2-1" variety sizes of foam punches as well, so thought I'd ask...
 
On the short stroke DA machines such as the Griots, PC, etc its not really necessary.

It becomes more of an issue with the long stroke machines. Yes you can run pads without the center hole on the long stroke machines but it does build up more heat and you should be mindful of that.
 
Icarus said:
Thanks Bobby B. The G9 I just got came with a vented back plate, so I should be good if I watch the heat and don't over work them?
I bought 4 of each pad to start, I know not quite enough, but hopefully fine if I'm careful...
I do have 1/2-1" variety sizes of foam punches as well, so thought I'd ask...
Click to expand...

Awesome! The new G9 is a great polisher and the vented backing plate will help with cooling the pads down during use. 4pcs of each pad is a great start. Just be sure to change them out about every quarter section of the vehicle. When you're done using them clean them really good with a Citrus Pad Cleaner and let them air dry.

BLACKFIRE Advanced Pad Cleaner & Restorer
 
Thanks. Been reading about people getting 'dimples' in their pads etc, but most sound like over-working them. I'm good at over-analyzing stuff at times and worrying too much ;)
 
Honestly it’s a great idea. I change pads so often this is a non-issue. If I only had a few pads and had to work fast, I would strongly consider doing it.
 
I wouldn't do it. Better off buying pads with holes already in them then trying to modify a pad that was not designed for it.
 
Using the B&S Euro pads today i noticed on two pads the center was sinking slightly :( The center hub of my new G9 gets hot! I was trying not to over work them, doing 2'x2' or less areas, 4-5 passes, changing direction each time, I used 4 pad rotation for compounding, speed 2-3 to apply, speed 5 to work it (Meguiars Ultimate Compound)? I was touching the centers to feel for heat once in a while, but only when I took the pad off did I notice how hot the center was actually getting. I did a test and cut one into quarters and indeed the center was getting denser from the heat :/
 
Icarus said:
Using the B&S Euro pads today i noticed on two pads the center was sinking slightly :( The center hub of my new G9 gets hot! I was trying not to over work them, doing 2'x2' or less areas, 4-5 passes, changing direction each time, I used 4 pad rotation for compounding, speed 2-3 to apply, speed 5 to work it (Meguiars Ultimate Compound)? I was touching the centers to feel for heat once in a while, but only when I took the pad off did I notice how hot the center was actually getting. I did a test and cut one into quarters and indeed the center was getting denser from the heat :/
Click to expand...

How was it with the saturation of the pad that you cut up into quarters?

As I understand it the G9 is a powerfull polisher that many has the speed setting 5 as the highest setting they go to. With compounding I would try lowering the speed setting to 3-4 and a normal armspeed of a inch per second. Do 2 sections and take off the pad and inspect it if it's gets hot or just warm in the center.

How are you cleaning the pad between sections? Brush the pad or compressed air or a towel? And how much compound do you apply on the pad? As saturation is the pads worst enemy to get this shrinkage in the center. So not even when the pad gets saturated with compound/polish no cleaning on the fly can usually revive it from the saturation and needs to be cleaned and flushed and dried to be fresh again. The more compound you use on the pad the faster it gets saturated. You can use a towel to soak up some of it but it's not very effective and maybe get you a extra or 2 sections and the same with compressed air. Until you need to be deep cleaning the pad. And when you compounding you get more dead paint aka oxidation and also abraded clearcoat and used compound in the pad than the next polishing step. So you usually needs the most of the compounding pads. To be able to do a whole vehical without cleaning the pads more thoroughly under water with a pad cleaner of some sort. And it can be many variations of how long you can use a pad until it's needs to be thoroughly cleaned.
 
i the dimples ive only had in MF pads, but i did buy a punch and have punched holes in my Megs MF pads and while i have always used one pad per panel and have about 40 or so MF pads ive not really sure how much of a difference it has made but in my head it was a great move...lol
 
One thing that I do to keep the pads cooler, I always remove the pad from the backing plate when I'm wiping off the product on the section I just completed. I've found that helps a lot keeping the backing plate cool and not transferring to the pad. Depending on how hot it is outside, I'll also switch between two different pads for the panel, again letting the other pad cool down.

Jay
 
Using air if you can helps cool the pad as well

Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using Tapatalk
 
SWETM said:
How was it with the saturation of the pad that you cut up into quarters?

As I understand it the G9 is a powerfull polisher that many has the speed setting 5 as the highest setting they go to. With compounding I would try lowering the speed setting to 3-4 and a normal armspeed of a inch per second. Do 2 sections and take off the pad and inspect it if it's gets hot or just warm in the center.

How are you cleaning the pad between sections? Brush the pad or compressed air or a towel? And how much compound do you apply on the pad? As saturation is the pads worst enemy to get this shrinkage in the center. So not even when the pad gets saturated with compound/polish no cleaning on the fly can usually revive it from the saturation and needs to be cleaned and flushed and dried to be fresh again. The more compound you use on the pad the faster it gets saturated. You can use a towel to soak up some of it but it's not very effective and maybe get you a extra or 2 sections and the same with compressed air. Until you need to be deep cleaning the pad. And when you compounding you get more dead paint aka oxidation and also abraded clearcoat and used compound in the pad than the next polishing step. So you usually needs the most of the compounding pads. To be able to do a whole vehical without cleaning the pads more thoroughly under water with a pad cleaner of some sort. And it can be many variations of how long you can use a pad until it's needs to be thoroughly cleaned.
Click to expand...

It didn't seem bad, mostly surface with a bit less then 1/4", though it was building up in the center couple inches of the pad. I primed the new pads with a layer I ran over with my finger like I saw Mike P do in some of his videos and tried to use only 3 dime sized drops each time, though I will admit I did use an extra drop here and there.I was using a pad brush I got as well every few panels but it seemed stiff, so don't know how useful it was. I tried a towel a few times too after I noticed the one pad doing this, but didn't seem to get anything out this way. I'll have to try air next time I do this I guess. I was using a 4 pads rotating them every other panel over the afternoon, which sounds like it wasn't enough. How do you get the saturation out (I guess deep cleaning is the only way then, right?)

I couldn't believe how hot the center of the backing plate got at times. I would have thought with a vented one like on this G9 it would have been better. I'm sure it was a combo of being inexperienced and pad saturation starting, probably have to switch every panel or more, eh?

It was a nice cool day out, and the sun was in/out so pretty good conditions to be doing this.
Still thinking of trying out the punch I have though.

Thanks guys, I'm slowly learning :)
 
Icarus said:
It didn't seem bad, mostly surface with a bit less then 1/4", though it was building up in the center couple inches of the pad. I primed the new pads with a layer I ran over with my finger like I saw Mike P do in some of his videos and tried to use only 3 dime sized drops each time, though I will admit I did use an extra drop here and there.I was using a pad brush I got as well every few panels but it seemed stiff, so don't know how useful it was. I tried a towel a few times too after I noticed the one pad doing this, but didn't seem to get anything out this way. I'll have to try air next time I do this I guess. I was using a 4 pads rotating them every other panel over the afternoon, which sounds like it wasn't enough. How do you get the saturation out (I guess deep cleaning is the only way then, right?)

I couldn't believe how hot the center of the backing plate got at times. I would have thought with a vented one like on this G9 it would have been better. I'm sure it was a combo of being inexperienced and pad saturation starting, probably have to switch every panel or more, eh?

It was a nice cool day out, and the sun was in/out so pretty good conditions to be doing this.
Still thinking of trying out the punch I have though.

Thanks guys, I'm slowly learning :)
Click to expand...

And that's the weak spot on the pad the center. As it's covered from all ways to get air easly in there and even with a vented backing plate the speed of the rotation is lesser in the center. When you have gotten the pad saturated enough it's deep cleaning that's needed. Even if you rotate the pad the heat build up goes fast when you put on a cool downed saturated pad again. I prefer to use compressed air but can use a brush to get off what I can first. And yeah some pad brushes feels to aggressive for me to sadly. Then some pads is more sensitive than others. When I compounding a neglected paint and get much build up residue on the pads face I brush first with the polisher off the loose residue and then start the polisher and blow it from the center and out to the edge of the pad. Have an old wash bucket or simualar with a little water in it. And both brush and blow the pad when you have in the bucket so you have a good control of the polish residue. With compounding depending on the size of the panels you are polishing you may use a pad for 1 to max 2 panels before it's time to deep clean it. The same when you 1 step a paint as the paint usually has a little dirt left that the decon steps didn't take off. And that's also a tips to the more thoroughly you decon the paint the longer you can use a pad.

Then the G9 is kind of new and the more powerfull a polisher is. The more heat they can build up. And the heat spread easier through the metall and on a polisher it gets really hot from the screw that holds the backing plate at place on the polisher. Even if you usually don't see it on the backing plates for the small throw free spinning DA polishers the screw head is under the velcro on the backing plate. So maybe it's needed to be useing pads with a center hole for ventilation on the G9. You can test with makeing your own hole on the pads. But even the pads with oem holes in the pads can collapse as easy when it gets saturated with polish. It's more for letting the heat out from the screw that holds the backing plate at place.

When you apply the polish on the pad try to do it 2/3 out of the center of the pad. The DA movement will push the excess polish inwards to the center of the pad. And foam pads is not needed to primed usually. As it does is very fast when you start the polisher and spread it out on low speed setting. Dotting out the polish on the section before you start the polisher so you get it more evenly spread out. And even if you have a higher cost to beginning with when buying enough pads in each aggressiveness. In the longrun you safe money as what you noticed a pad or 2 can be destroyed from one polished vehical if you don't have enough of them. They last for many corrections if you have enough of them. That's why many of us keep preaching about getting enough pads even for beginners. Most of us has been there where you think that you can do 1 or 2 sections more. And to see that the pad gets collapsed in the center. It's also not so easy to notice or feel or see when it's about to happen. So it's much of how it looks when you clean the pad between each section. If you feel like the foam have been more spongey or how to describe it as in softer. The pads do soften but it stays with that softness so when you feel it gets more soften like that you are already have it saturated. You also loose the cutting when this happens so you do an extra pass and it's getting more risky to get the foam to collapse. And how much of the foam that you see gets clogged with the residue that don't come off when you brush and blow the pad out. Is also a tell and it's loose cutting but also the finishing ability. So it's also that with not enough pads you can get uneven results from the polishing with both the cut and finishing. And it's gets easier to be frustrated and you ad a pass or 2 instead of reaching for a fresh pad.

If you have been polishing on with a flow even great polishers can get a high heat build up in them. So take a break and let the polisher cool down can be a benefit too. And do some stretching while you are pausing. Also drink something to stay hydrated. It's hard work to polishing a whole vehical.

It's in the details. To get great results from polishing.

/ Tony
 
Great info for me to absorb, thanks Tony!
It does look like I was starting to rush it in spots that lead to saturation and not having quite enough pads. I did notice the loss of cut on some of the areas, figured it was there paint, lol. The pads did start to feel a little mushy, so I should have gotten the hint a bit more. ;)
 
I went over a few spots again with compound using the tricks more carefully SWETM and others have given, and its working much better now! I was def using to much compound and over working the pads some. Thanks Tony and everyone!
 
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