Hard Paints : Rupes Zephir Gloss + Rupes Diamond Gloss or Rupes UHS

[rah28]

Hello Friends

I recently picked up a LHR 15 ES standard kit which had the quarz gloss and keramik gloss polish and pads as a part of the kit.

I need to work on a severely abused Black Mercedes Benz in the coming weeks.The car has a very hard paint with a ton of deep swirls all over the paint

I am planning to buy some pads and polishes.I have a few doubts.

1.Which one has a better cut on hard paints : Rupes UHS polish on UHS pads or Zephir gloss on Rupes blue foam pads?

2.Is the final gloss achieved by Rupes UHS comparable to Rupes Diamond Gloss on a white Rupes ultra fine foam pad?

3.Is the cutting action by Menzerna FG 400 with a Lake country HD orbital Blue cutting comparable to Rupes UHS or Rupes Zephir Gloss on hard paints??

4.Are UHS polish and pads dangerous on soft paints?? Any chances of paint burns?


Please do help me guys

TIA

 

[Zubair]

1: Test spot is best, but Zephir to me is better than the UHS polish on any pad. Try Zephir on the UHS pad or the blue pad if UHS polish on the UHS pad doesnt cut it.

2: No, UHS gloss is typical medium polish gloss, I find the Quarz Green compound gel to edge UHS in gloss. The best final gloss from the Rupes system is Keramik on the yellow pad, amazing cut for a finishing polish and more amazing finishing gloss.

3: Very nice combo the LC HD Orbital Blue pad and FG400, I use this as my go to as the HD pads keep rotation on curves easier than the Rupes pads and also clean easier. It will not outcut FG400 or Zephir on the Rupes Blue or UHS pad though as the Rupes pads offer greater cut.

4:No not easily but FG400 or Zephir on the UHS pad will, I know and have succeeded in doing so.

Zephir Blue/Quarz Green/Keramik Yellow are top shelf polishes. I don't much care for the UHS polish on the 3 high end almost new German cars I've tried it on. Neither is the Diamond White polish and pad something to rave about as the yellows superior in every regard.

Polishes-Blue/Green/Yellow are superb.
Pads- Blue/UHS/Green/Yellow are superb.

Try the Rupes Blue microfiber pad with Zephir if the other combos don't work on the Merc.

 

[Todd@RUPES]

Hello Friends

I recently picked up a LHR 15 ES standard kit which had the quarz gloss and keramik gloss polish and pads as a part of the kit.

I need to work on a severely abused Black Mercedes Benz in the coming weeks.The car has a very hard paint with a ton of deep swirls all over the paint

I am planning to buy some pads and polishes.I have a few doubts.

1.Which one has a better cut on hard paints : Rupes UHS polish on UHS pads or Zephir gloss on Rupes blue foam pads?

Really depends on the specific paint. One of the problems with very hard clear coats is they can exhaust the abrasive before the abrasive has had a chance to cut effectively.

UHS is designed to break down slow, even under the extra friction caused by a high solid clear coat. In clear coat with an extremely high solid content, UHS will often cut more and cut longer.

2.Is the final gloss achieved by Rupes UHS comparable to Rupes Diamond Gloss on a white Rupes ultra fine foam pad?

No, UHS will achieve a finish that often similar to Keramik (yellow) compound and a yellow pad. Diamond (white) compound and the white pad will often finish a little better.

4.Are UHS polish and pads dangerous on soft paints?? Any chances of paint burns?

No, UHS will work fine (excellent seems to be most reviews) on just about any paint but it can struggle on very soft paint that is defined as "sticky".

What makes a paint "sticky" is that it is more porous. Thus it can absorb the lubricants/emulsion from the compound more readily. UHS uses a very unique emulsion which can be absorbed by some "stick" clear coats and create polishing issues (compound drying up very easily, difficult to remove, never flashing off, leaving a haze).

While it was designed for high solid paints, UHS tends to work very well on everything but absorbent clear coats.

[quoteP]Please do help me guys

TIA[/quote]

Hope I did. :dblthumb2:

 

[Todd@RUPES]

Also, note that Zubair's answers are certhainly different than mine, but just as correct. Sometimes environments (humidity, temperature), typical paint systems, and even slight technique differences can add up to drastically different opinions on products. :xyxthumbs:

Note: To the get the best performance from UHS we recommend the following.

Prime: Prime all fresh foam pads, this is more critical for blue and UHS foams.
Place 6 pea-sized drops around the the pad at even degrees. Run the machine on speed 3, using firm pressure, for 30-45 seconds. Then advance to polishing speed and use light but firm pressure and continue.

Reloading: To reload a primed pad, use 2 pea-sized drops.

 

[rah28]

Also, note that Zubair's answers are certhainly different than mine, but just as correct. Sometimes environments (humidity, temperature), typical paint systems, and even slight technique differences can add up to drastically different opinions on products. :xyxthumbs:

Note: To the get the best performance from UHS we recommend the following.

Prime: Prime all fresh foam pads, this is more critical for blue and UHS foams.
Place 6 pea-sized drops around the the pad at even degrees. Run the machine on speed 3, using firm pressure, for 30-45 seconds. Then advance to polishing speed and use light but firm pressure and continue.

Reloading: To reload a primed pad, use 2 pea-sized drops.

Todd, If I use Rupes Zephir on blue microfiber pads, will it leave some minor hazing on dark colored paints? Even if it leaves, can Rupes Keramik gloss remove it when used on a yellow foam pad?

 

[Todd@RUPES]

Todd, If I use Rupes Zephir on blue microfiber pads, will it leave some minor hazing on dark colored paints? Even if it leaves, can Rupes Keramik gloss remove it when used on a yellow foam pad?

It is very hard to answer in absolutes (my son would tell me only Sith Lords answer in such a way )

One thing to remember, particularly with microfiber pads, is that they are only as functionally abrasive as the material attached to them. Microfiber, by itself, has little mechanical action compared to paint. This is why we use it on paint to remove residues without scratches.

However, microfiber, unlike cloth or wool, holds on to material. So when we coat the microfiber in abrasive compounds, it turns each fiber into a cutting tool. The huge amount of surface area that microfiber posses is what allows it to remove defects quickly.

When you polish paint, you are removing paint from the surface. The microfiber holds on to the his abraded paint residue (much the same as it holds onto abrasives). It is important to consider that the paint residue is often larger and more irregular than the abrasive. If this residue isn't removed from the microfiber frequently it is often the cause of marring or DA haze.

So to circle back to your question.... I often will demonstrate using microfiber pads to create a perfect (or near perfect) finish in one step. This is accomplished by keeping the pad very clean. RUPES Zephir Compound can finish to a very high level and microfiber is functionally non-scratching (to most paints) so if we can avoid paint build up in the pad, we can avoid the single largest cause of haze.

However, on some softer paints (which tend to have larger paint residues which accumulate faster) it can be difficult to remove the residue fast enough to keep the surface from hazing. This haze can usually (I have never seen a case where it cannot) be removed by quickly following with Keramik (yellow) polishing compound and a yellow foam RUPES pad.

However, if you keep the pad clean, you can sometimes avoid a secondary follow up step.