New PC

Rsurfer

Rsurfer

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Just got my pc with edge pads. Can anyone tell me why the pc does not spin when applying very little pressure? I mist the pad on every new panel, but only the green pad seems to spin and orbit. I marked the side of the pad so I can see that it is not spinning at all. The blue finishing and white polishing pads won't spin at all. What am I doing wrong, or is this the way the pc should work? Also, the mf bonnets on 4, with no pressure, will not spin. Any suggestions would be helpful. Rsurfer
 
PC's orbit off axis ... they dont truly spin in a circle, thats a rotary.
 
yes, I understand that, but should it not spin somewhat! With the blue and white pads it doesn't spin at all. No pressure except for the pc itself.
 
Rsurfer said:
Just got my pc with edge pads. Can anyone tell me why the pc does not spin when applying very little pressure? I mist the pad on every new panel, but only the green pad seems to spin and orbit. I marked the side of the pad so I can see that it is not spinning at all. The blue finishing and white polishing pads won't spin at all. What am I doing wrong, or is this the way the pc should work? Also, the mf bonnets on 4, with no pressure, will not spin. Any suggestions would be helpful. Rsurfer
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Funny I actually noticed the same, I thought it was just my eyes or maybe the illusion that it doesn’t move...mmm...interesting I still get good results though? But I wonder if it just vibrates instead of spin.

I did the same thing with my blue pad, I put a peace of tape to see how fast it was spinning but it hardly moved...looks like it just vibrated more then spin, mind you I was putting pressure on the pad too, if you don't put any pressure then it spins but you basically have to just be holding at the head with one hand...maybe this is the way it's supposed to be but I just cant see that working...well that's just me.
 
The pads don't spin on a PC? I haven't used mine yet, too cold, but this is good to know. I would have been going crazy trying to figure out what I did wrong.
 
Had the same problem.

Here's what I noticed.

First, I used the Edge 6" pads and they spun, but if pressure was applied or the edge of a pad came up against an edge of the car, they would stop.

The next time I had a day off, I wanted to try the Edge 4" pads I had, noticed right away, the slightest pressure = no spinning. It was like I had to actually pull up a little to take the weight of the PC off the pad to get the pad to spin.

I then switched to the Wolfgang velcro backed 6.5" pads I had, and now could spin with considerable pressure applied to the head of the machine.

BUT...when I switched to the velcro backed 6" pads I have, same thing happened...hard to get to spin, but not as much of a problem as with the 4" pads.

My conclusion was weight {pressure} apllied to a smaller surface area = less spinning, also the courser the pad, the more apparent the spinning problem due to resistance.

One cannot fault the manufacturers of the pads for the laws of physics, when using a smaller pad, or one of the courser pads, realize less pressure can be applied.

Would be nice though, if the PC had a clutch of some sort to overcome this.

But then that's why the PC7424 is pretty much foolproof in preventing "accidents" to your finish.
 
coondog64 said:
I'm really confused guys, as far as this no spinning thing. Why dont you watch some fo the great videos on AG and see if you PC and pad are performing similarly.

Pinnacle Natural Brilliance car care products are made of natural ingredients & modern science! souveran, signature series, carnauba, paintwork

It seems clearly here that the pads spin. So there may be something wrong with your PC or your use of the PC.
Click to expand...

Yea, my Edge 2000 pads do not rotate like in the video. I think it's the pressure, I just noticed the video and he was hardly applying any pressure, so I'm going to have to try it again and this time just let the weight of the PC do the work.

Thanks for posting the video again, even though I've been looking at it almost every day I still missed that :D
 
My problem is the opposite of blackmagic. The finer the pad the more resistance and no spin. The courser the pad the pc seems to spin the pads better. Go figure
 
Hi blackmagic,
Just wanted to verify that the wolfgang hook and loop 6.5" pads do orbit. If it does I will order the pads and backing plate today. I've spent many hours trying to get the best results. I'm not a scientist, but common sense tells me that the pc should orbit rather than vibrate. Not happy with the edge 2000 system. Hope that the wolfgang 6.5" pads will orbit. Please verify. Thank You
 
Well looking at the video I don't think his pad is spinning either. Just like killer says, it is just orbiting. Still good to know.
 
Rsurfer said:
Hi blackmagic,
Just wanted to verify that the wolfgang hook and loop 6.5" pads do orbit. If it does I will order the pads and backing plate today. I've spent many hours trying to get the best results. I'm not a scientist, but common sense tells me that the pc should orbit rather than vibrate. Not happy with the edge 2000 system. Hope that the wolfgang 6.5" pads will orbit. Please verify. Thank You
Click to expand...

Rsufer,

I don't think the it's the Edge 2000 pads fault to be honest because I thought I was doing things right but I discovered yesterday and today that I've been doing it all wrong. I found out that you’re supposed to use small amount of pressure, when I was doing the opposite (to much pressure). When I got home from work I ran to the garage and here is what I did, I applied XMT#3 with orange pad and I just held the PC with one hand and let the PC do the rest and it worked okay...I didn't try this with the blue or white pad just yet but I will soon.

I didn't see the pads spin though, just like killer said it orbits not spin and it does not vibrate...well it doesn’t vibrate because I don't have much pressure on it anymore...oh and my hands didn't tingle as much.

Well just thought I'd share because sounded like you and I are on the same boat with the Edge 2000 pads. I'm new at this too and well I got a learning curve to go through...and I'm just hitting that learning curve hehehehe.
 
Hi Nica,
Thanks for you input. Try the blue or white pads. You would have to lift the pc to get it to orbit. Even the green pads do not orbit with no pressure. I understand that a pc is not a rotary buffer, but orbital doesn't mean staying in one postion without rotation. Still would like to hear from blackmagic about the wolfgang pads.
 
Hey Rsurfer,

I see what you mean, last night a sneaked out to the garage for a few minuets (okay a few hours) and I tried the white pad...yup no spin or orbit...the thing is though I still get results? The section that I did looked really good...I'm getting confused. I'm think of ordering the 6 (or is it 6.5) LC pads but not sure if I really need to.

I'm also curious to see what blackmagic has to say about the wolfgang pads or actually any other member here that that owns the Edge 2000 pads or the LC pads. I feel as though I'm doing something wrong but the car looks good and I got majority of the swirls off the vehicle so I'm all confused now.
 
Hi Nica,
Yes, hope blackmagic or anyone else can help us. HELP!!!!
 
Sorry, didn't know you guys were expecting a response from me in particular.

As I stated in my previous post, I believe it has more to do with the actual size of the pad,
than any one system.

The same amount of pressure applied to a larger surface area (larger pad) results in less pressure per square inch (psi)
hence more ability for the PC to rotate the pad.

While there will be results without the pad rotating this is due to the off axis wobbling of the orbital polisher,
but personally I've found better results when you have both motions happening at once and is what I prefer.
If one is happy with the results of just the one motion so be it.

If you take out a tape measure and measure the diameter of the Edge pads you will find they are a quarter inch shy of 6",
now look closely and you'll see that not all of that touches the surface of the car, and if you measure the diameter of the area that actually would, you get 5 1/4"

I have a velcro backed 5.5" orange pad that the surface area of that would actually touch the car is 5" and I had the same exact rotation cessation problem. Conclusion being, it's not the fault of either system (velcro vs. Edge) but the size of the pad.

You will see the worst rotation cessation with the 4" pad, but you have to keep in mind, the PC was not designed for a 4" pad, nor it seems was Edge really pushing them for the PC but the Cyclo polisher which IS made for the 4" pad.

When using the smaller pads, just apply less pressure and they will spin, mark the top of the pad with a piece of tape so you will know if it stops spinning.
 
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Are you sure you guys don't have defective polishers? Mine spins just fine, and requires a lot of pressure to even bog it down.
 
Annoying

Grimm said:
Are you sure you guys don't have defective polishers? Mine spins just fine, and requires a lot of pressure to even bog it down.
Click to expand...

I have checked and double checked my PC to see it spins/orbit and it does with the white pad that it came with and I can apply pressure but when I put on the Edge blue pad as soon as I put it on the area with no pressure it stops spinning....really weird and annoying.

I'm thinking of ordering the 6.5inch CCS pads with a 5inch flexible backing plate....I just hope these spin because if they don't I won't be very pleased:mad: :mad: :mad:
 
OK, I thought you guys were talking about the orbiting. I was just testing out my PC, and I think I understand what you guys mean. The pad will actually spin in a circle when off and you manually spin it, and it will spin when turned on. But when you put pressure on the pad, it stops spinning and just orbits. I would have to think this is normal, because that is the purpose of the PC. It orbits around the center point (exactly the same as your hand moves in circles when you wax by hand) so that it creates less heat. If it still spun in the center, it would be like a rotary and create a lot of heat and be more liable to burn paint.
 
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