Lake Country pad failure

JCDetails said:
I love my pad washer but even running them up to top speed doesn’t *completely* dry them.

I’ve heard a rotary does better to spin them dry, but haven’t tried it myself. Hell, I just spent $150 on a pad washer, I’m not spending another 50 for a cheapo hf rotary just to dry pads.


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I always thought the pad washer would be a good investment but I assumed most people were using the pad washer to clean their pads then putting it on a rack to dry and switching to a clean dry pad. I know I've heard of some guys using wet/damp pads but for the most part I thought guys were just using the pad washer to clean their pads so they don't have to clean them by hand.
 
If I need to use pads that I've washed I throw them in the drier
 
fightnews said:
I don't know man you must be using the pads wet because they can't be dried that fast after being in the pad washer. A pad is supposed to be completely dry to use it. I know it stinks but I think you guys just need to use more pads. Forget about all the cutting corners it never works
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mwoywod said:
Completely agree
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You guys better stay away from the Optimum forum or their YouTube channel, or you'll see Yvan cleaning pads in their pad washer filled with ONR and going right back on the vehicle.
 
Setec Astronomy said:
You guys better stay away from the Optimum forum or their YouTube channel, or you'll see Yvan cleaning pads in their pad washer filled with ONR and going right back on the vehicle.
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I was just about to say that, but opt uses waffle pads (less surface contact, better heat control) , less pressure (less heat), and lower speeds (less heat).


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Setec Astronomy said:
You guys better stay away from the Optimum forum or their YouTube channel, or you'll see Yvan cleaning pads in their pad washer filled with ONR and going right back on the vehicle.
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It's just my opinion I'm not saying everyone should do it my way. I would think using a wet pad would decrease the preformance of the polish. It would be more slippery and I don't think you would get the same friction they intend
 
fightnews said:
It's just my opinion I'm not saying everyone should do it my way. I would think using a wet pad would decrease the preformance of the polish. It would be more slippery and I don't think you would get the same friction they intend
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Yes, or it could potentially extend the working time of the products. Now, we're not talking *soaking* wet, but slightly dampened would be fine.

Plenty of people recommend spraying pad conditioner or QD on fresh pads, and as you continue working. I wouldn't do it, but it's out there.
 
With optimum, they recommend having a pad damp with onr when you polish with their polishes and compounds. It controls dust and the onr prevents any clear coat particles coming off from marring your paint.

That being said, I always have my pad damp with something like n914. It keeps it from running too hot, and I find myself damp polishing nowadays. I'll spray the panel with a bit of n914 in rinseless dilution and then I'll polish that section. I haven't had any pad failures since I started doing that.
 
I'm a big fan of products like HD Polish+, Scholl Concepts S20 Black, Jescar Correcting Compound, The Last Cut Compounding Glaze, & even the Boss Creams because they are heavily lubricated and work best on a completely dry pad in my experience. Oh man, You should hear the vulgarities that come out of my mouth whenever I grab a pad off the rack I "thought" was dry.lol Even a slightly damp pad really jambs me up.

I don't think either method is right or wrong and I definitely see the value of using a waffle pad like Yvann from Optimum prefers....especially on contours, grills, louvers where a waffle face pad can really come in handy. I just find that in general, water is an inferior lubricant to the lubricating oils found in the polishes and compounds I use.

That said, If I was using compounds like HD Cut+, 3D 501, or M105 I could definitely see the added benefit of using an additional wetting agent.
 
fightnews said:
It's just my opinion I'm not saying everyone should do it my way. I would think using a wet pad would decrease the preformance of the polish. It would be more slippery and I don't think you would get the same friction they intend
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Water adds cut, keeps pad and paint cooler, keeps pads cleaner, reduces dusting and and and...
 
Kevin Brown recommends getting the pad damp for using compounds.

I also use water to extend product durability, when the compound starts to dry off, 1 squirt of water on the pad and you are good for 1 or 2 more section passes. Very usefull with M105 that dries very fast and dusts like crazy.
 
mwoywod said:
I'm a big fan of products like HD Polish+, Scholl Concepts S20 Black, Jescar Correcting Compound, The Last Cut Compounding Glaze, & even the Boss Creams because they are heavily lubricated and work best on a completely dry pad in my experience. Oh man, You should hear the vulgarities that come out of my mouth whenever I grab a pad off the rack I "thought" was dry.lol Even a slightly damp pad really jambs me up.

I don't think either method is right or wrong and I definitely see the value of using a waffle pad like Yvann from Optimum prefers....especially on contours, grills, louvers where a waffle face pad can really come in handy. I just find that in general, water is an inferior lubricant to the lubricating oils found in the polishes and compounds I use.

That said, If I was using compounds like HD Cut+, 3D 501, or M105 I could definitely see the added benefit of using an additional wetting agent.
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I hate wet pads too.

I used to use M34 on megs pads while using the rotary buffer. But with the random orbits, not so much.
 
It depends on what kind of polishes and compounds you're using. I tend to use water-based ones so a pad damp with N914 helps me polish without any dusting. In the same way, wetting the surface with a spray of a rinseless wash makes clean up easier and the pad keep cooler. Lately I tend to use the Sonax leveling liquids and I find that a pad damp with N914 cuts out any dusting at all, even though the liquids barely dust. It saves me time having to tape everthing off and makes wiping off the panel after a lot easier. The polishes you list above tend to be the oily ones so you might find a benefit, you might not. Sometimes you have no choice but to wet the pad down before you polish when you get super finicky paints like the old Nissan self-healing clear coat. You pretty much need a damp pad, a dot or two of M205 and a wet panel that you have to keep wet to finish down, other wise there was no way for you to properly polish it. With water/claylube strength rinseless spray mixtures, it depends on the paint you're working on, the polish/compounds you like, and the pads you like.
 
WillSports3 said:
It depends on what kind of polishes and compounds you're using. I tend to use water-based ones so a pad damp with N914 helps me polish without any dusting. In the same way, wetting the surface with a spray of a rinseless wash makes clean up easier and the pad keep cooler. Lately I tend to use the Sonax leveling liquids and I find that a pad damp with N914 cuts out any dusting at all, even though the liquids barely dust. It saves me time having to tape everthing off and makes wiping off the panel after a lot easier. The polishes you list above tend to be the oily ones so you might find a benefit, you might not. Sometimes you have no choice but to wet the pad down before you polish when you get super finicky paints like the old Nissan self-healing clear coat. You pretty much need a damp pad, a dot or two of M205 and a wet panel that you have to keep wet to finish down, other wise there was no way for you to properly polish it. With water/claylube strength rinseless spray mixtures, it depends on the paint you're working on, the polish/compounds you like, and the pads you like.
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well I use polishing pad conditioner but I think what you're talking about is different. A spray or two of a lubricating liquid is not the same as a damp pad that just came out of a pad washer. I think the way they are talking about if you tried to use a pad conditioning brush on it water would spray everywhere?
 
JCDetails said:
I think some of you guys are really overestimating how wet a pad actually is if it’s done correctly in the pad washer.


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I admit that I'm naive to using a pad washer to clean pads in between polishing sets. With foam pads I have always had the most consistent results when using a clean dry lightly primed/unprimed pad on a dual action polisher. I use compressed air to blow out as much residue and spent product in between sets as possible, but once a pad becomes overly saturated I find that switching to a clean dry pad allows me to maintain the maximum cutting and finishing potential. If a pad is saturated, especially with the centripetal force generated by a long throw polisher, wouldn't using a damp pad increase the pads weight and soften the foam? To me that seems like it would be hard on the machine and the pad. But like I said, I am completely naive to this.
 
I get where you are coming from and agree.

The key thing is, it has to be done correctly in the pad washer. Spun at high speed at the end, and it should come out I’d say 95% dry.

Not at all a replacement for multiple pads, mind you. I’d still have more on deck. But I could easily clean one in the pad washer and let it air dry, and it’d be ready by the time I went through the other one or two.


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It really depends on the product. Like with the Optimum line of polishes, a pad damp with ONR helps your results and makes it better. Mind you when I say damp pad, I soak the pad in N914 and then after squeezing out most of it, I spin it on my polisher and dry it out even more. And then after that, a single spritz of N914 on the pad works out great for me. But again, I don't tend to use oil based polishes, I usually use water based ones. Right now I use Sonax polishes as the main ones. I have Menz FG400 somewhere just in case I have to buff out something really bad, as well as M205 but I rarely use them.
 
Update: I received my free replacement pad from Lake Country last night. As an added bonus, they put an extra pad in the box for me. They definitely have a customer for life now. I never contacted them, they simply saw my post here and reached out to me.

Now that I know the limits of pads, I'll use them more appropriately going forward.
 
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