Meguiar's microfiber cutting pads

Calendyr

Calendyr

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So I am in love with these pads to do paint correction. They work so much better than anything I have ever tried before. I use them with the D300 cutting compound, which is very nice as well.

Today I did my 4th car with my pads and bottle of D300. The bottle is pretty much empty now, probably have enough for 1 more car but I would not bet on it.

I ran into an issue with the pads though. They are delaminating. The microfiber surface is getting separated from the foam interface on the edge, and I am pretty sure they will die on the next car I do.

So my question is: Is this normal?

One of the thing I find very odd about these pads are their sizes. I use a Rupes 5 inch backplate, and I purchased 5 inch cutting pads. But once on the backplate, there is about 1 inch of extra pad around the backplate. I am wondering if they put the wrong pad size in the package. The label clearly say 5 inch on the bag, but they are so big it's almost impossible for them to be 5 inches. Anyone had that experience?

So, off to order more pads, I don't want to do without them... and some more compound ;)
 
The Megs 5" Microfiber pads are a tad bigger than the 5" backing plate, but not by whole inch...

a8fd63b3ddf7b2d9d7288d1af40e7fa4.jpg


They're just like LC Flat Foam Pads.

The exact measurement of the Meguiars 5" microfiber pad is 5 3/8"ths.
The measurement of the 5" backing plate is 4 7/8"ths.
 
Which tool are you using? 12? 15? 21?

What speed?

What pressure?

Washer mod, or stock?
 
Using a Bigfoot 21 with a 5 inch backplate, washer moded. I use speed 5 to compound. Usually either no pressure or light pressure... I don't know maybe 3 pounds, never tested.

I will mesure the pads if I think of it next time I use them.
 
I remember hearing that you want to be around speed 3 for the cutting step.

I used the xtra cut discs on a MKII 21 modded, and I was on speed 2.5 - 3 for that. We had the exact fit pad on the 5 inch BP. That's a pretty potent combo right there.
 
Make sure you change the pad frequently allowing it time to cool. Those get hot quick and early on there was a delamination issue with those pads.


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Calendyr said:
I ran into an issue with the pads though. They are delaminating. The microfiber surface is getting separated from the foam interface on the edge, and I am pretty sure they will die on the next car I do.

So my question is: Is this normal?
Click to expand...

Yes, they are easy to heat up with a long throw machine. My solution has been to rotate 2 pads, swapping after each section. And I rarely go above setting "4" on my Rupes 15 MkII with them.

Since you are purchasing more D300, I would suggest purchasing some M105 too, if you do not already have some. For harder paint, Mike Stoops recommends 2 dots of D300 and 1 dot of M105. I was able to do a one-step correction on my son's pewter colored Civic with this method. All previous attempts with other pad/polish combinations only made minimal corrections.
 
I love them too, they are my go to cutting pads. I don't even bother with foam when I need to compound.
But they can break down just like any other pad when heated
7847cadf19d407e9377ab0b74ceb848d.jpg


This was last July and my garage alone was almost 100 degrees! I use a Kevin Brown made to fit backing plate on a Rupes 15 mk2. Cuts like nothing else
 
Thanks guys. I will slow down the machine to speed 4 and see if it improves things. 3 seems a little slow for compounding, but if I still have issues at speed 4 I will try it.

Thanks for the tip on mixing M105 into the mix. I never use it anymore, I hate how dusty it is when working outside. But mixing it with D300 would probably solve or at least reduce significantly it's dusting problem. I have almost a gallon of the stuff so mixing a bottle for D300/M105 at 1:1 or 2:1 is not a problem. Could have used it on severelly damaged paint I worked on 2 days ago.
 
I just received my LC microfiber cutting pads, and they feel a lot like the megs, with a stiffer foam backing.

They're also available in the HDO line for long throw polishers. The microfiber pad in that series has a center cooling hold, and a taper to the edge - sort of like the Rupes microfiber pads, but not as pronounced a taper.

Heat is a big detriment to pads, and these LC HDO pads might help you get longer service life from them.
 
If you are using the Mark 2 21 with a 5 inch backplate that is alot of stress on the pad.

Using a 5 inch platen on the 21 creates even more OPMS than the 6 inch plate.

You might be using the megs pads to long. Speed 5 on a mark 2 machine introduces alot of heat.

You also have the consider the megs pads were designed as a system. They were designed for the megs 8mm da polisher.

Compare 8mm to 21mm that is almost triple the size in the distance the plate travels. That means more alot more heat.

I would recommend trying the Lake Country HDO Microfiber cutting pads. These pads were specifically designed for long throw machines. 15mm and 21mm orbits. They also have a hole in the middle to help cooling as the majority of the heat builds up in the middle of the pad.

I dont know if you using the mark 1 or mark 2 machine. Because speed 5 on the mark 2 especially with a 5 inch plate produces a ton of OPMS. If you are using a mark 2 with a 5 inch plate this is definitely the reason speed 5 with a 6 inch back plate can blow up a pad very fast. Let alone a 5 inch plate.

On my boss and rupes machines i usually stay around 4-5

You have less to worry about using speed 5 on the mark 1 machines as they are not as powerful as the mark 2 machines.

You can have success with the megs pads. You will just have to change pads more often to avoid pre-mature pad failure.


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D300/Microfiber discs like 'low and slow', generally never over 4 on LHR15 Mk 2. Blow pads out with compressed air/clean with brush after each section.

Great combo, never had a pad delaminate.

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I have the original Bigfoot 21. Never saw a reason to upgrade to the MkII.

Ya, I brush the pads after each section and I clean them every 1 or 2 panel depending on how they look. The kit comes with two pads, so when I clean one I switch to the other. Give them time to cool down and dry a little... although I have not noticed any heat when changing them. The cleaning in the pad washer probably cool them completelly.
 
2 pads for entire vehicle? May wanna look into more pads.

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Calendyr said:
Using a Bigfoot 21 with a 5 inch backplate, washer moded. I use speed 5 to compound. Usually either no pressure or light pressure... I don't know maybe 3 pounds, never tested.

I will mesure the pads if I think of it next time I use them.
Click to expand...

That combo produces more heat than 15 mk2. I punched a center hole to my pads which helped alot. Also speed 4 is optimal for 21 mk2 and 4.5 fir 15 mk2.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BNisHxKBLyb/
 
I would recommend upgrading to at least 4 pads, 6 would be even better.
Regarding speed try to stay around speed 4 i noticed at speed 5 the pads due start to degrade faster.
Since you purchased the kit you may have received the first generation of pads. When you order just new pads you should get the second generation and should be better.
I ordered the kit initially also a little over a year ago and when I bought replacement pads I saw a difference
 
I ordered 2 more pads, will use them at speed 4 and see if they do the same thing. Lake country pads are 50% more expensive and I don't know if they will work as well. So before I order some, I want to make sure Meguiar's pads can't survive on a long throw DA. If they don't destroy themselves at speed 4, I will keep using them. If they do, I will try the LC ones, because going down to speed 3 means it will take a lot longer to correct a panel compared to speed 5 and I am not willing to take twice as long to save 10$ on a detail. Even slowing to speed 4 bothers me, but I will try and decide if it takes too long or not.

As for number of pads, 2 is perfect. Is see no advantage of using more. When a pad needs to be cleaned, I clean it then switch to the other one. While I work with that one, the previous pad is cooling down and drying. Always worked that way and never had an issue.
 
Calendyr said:
I ordered 2 more pads, will use them at speed 4 and see if they do the same thing. Lake country pads are 50% more expensive and I don't know if they will work as well. So before I order some, I want to make sure Meguiar's pads can't survive on a long throw DA. If they don't destroy themselves at speed 4, I will keep using them. If they do, I will try the LC ones, because going down to speed 3 means it will take a lot longer to correct a panel compared to speed 5 and I am not willing to take twice as long to save 10$ on a detail. Even slowing to speed 4 bothers me, but I will try and decide if it takes too long or not.

As for number of pads, 2 is perfect. Is see no advantage of using more. When a pad needs to be cleaned, I clean it then switch to the other one. While I work with that one, the previous pad is cooling down and drying. Always worked that way and never had an issue.
Click to expand...

The pads will work fine I have been using them with the same machine and washer mod for over a year. I have watched enough YouTube videos and everyone uses thes pads with the RUPES machines.

Another pad to look at when hen you get a chance is a UbER Microfiber pad. I moved to these since Meguiars stopped selling the 3" Microfiber cutting disc. So far so good. I still need to try the new LC Pads, will buy a few next time I place a order
 
Killerheroin said:
The pads will work fine I have been using them with the same machine and washer mod for over a year. I have watched enough YouTube videos and everyone uses thes pads with the RUPES machines.

Another pad to look at when hen you get a chance is a UbER Microfiber pad. I moved to these since Meguiars stopped selling the 3" Microfiber cutting disc. So far so good. I still need to try the new LC Pads, will buy a few next time I place a order
Click to expand...

I ordered some 3" micro fiber cutting pads with this order. Gonna try them on my 3" Griot's garage mini polisher. That machine has a very small throw (4 mm) and I have always considered it underpowered for paint correction. But I have read on this forum that when you put a thin cutting pad on it, the performance increases greatly. So I will have a chance to try it.
 
Calendyr said:
I ordered some 3" micro fiber cutting pads with this order. Gonna try them on my 3" Griot's garage mini polisher. That machine has a very small throw (4 mm) and I have always considered it underpowered for paint correction. But I have read on this forum that when you put a thin cutting pad on it, the performance increases greatly. So I will have a chance to try it.
Click to expand...

give these pads a shot on the GG3 ( for defect removal), they have no foam interface and do a good job of keeping rotation...

Griots Garage 3.5 inch Micro Fiber FAST Cutting Pad
griots-garage-3-5-inch-micro-fiber-fast-cutting-pad-1.gif


these would work as well but do not come in the 3" size so you would have to find someone to cut them down or do it yourself...
http://www.autogeek.net/meguiars-xtra-cut-da-microfiber-disc.html
 
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