Ok, We Wanna Know About Optimum GPS

Chris@Optimum said:
Let's just say I know a guy. The MF is the same. Meg's foam is closed cell while ours is open cell. You can put your mouth up to each and blow and you will see that ours lets the air pass and Meg's doesn't. While the idea more heat=greater correction, that's a bad idea with MF pads. With two points of lamination, excessive heat will disentigrate the pads. Its not that lower speeds are the "sweet spot", but that at higher speeds they get too hot. There's very little difference the mf for theirs, ours, cutting, polishing...but the foam and lamination process make the difference. That's why ours can be used on forced rotation machines and at higher speeds. Oh, and ours are assembled in the USA and cheaper.
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Chris, although I have my new Megs DA coming, as you know I'm an old-school rotary guy at heart. Do these perform well with a rotary too? What pad would the cutting pad compare to in the B & S line or is it as aggressive as a wool one? I text'ed Bryan yesterday to get on him about our mutual order. I am looking forward to trying them. I already have the finishing pads but haven't used them yet as I had no DA for a while.
 
Chris@Optimum said:
I reread his post and I think you're right! At first I thought he was wanting a comparison.

Optimum Cutting Pads will have a yellow interface foam and be slightly thicker than the polishing pads. Optimum Polishing Pads will have a beige interface foam.
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Yeah, I was asking how to tell the cutting and polishing pads apart--with the Meg's it's really hard to read the debossing and the thickness difference is not that much, but it's pretty easy to see the color. I guess I haven't seen enough pictures of the OPT pads but I hope after a bunch of use/washings the yellow foam doesn't fade to beige-ish and make it hard to tell them apart.
 
Seeing how this thread is already hijacked I have a question concerning the MF pads also. Unless I missed it somewhere I can't find what the recommended speed and pressure for a DA is.
 
Chris@Optimum said:
I don't think you saw this. It is three different sized power ball type tools made from a very soft felt material instead of foam.
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That sounds like it's worth a look...but I'm thinking about a cone, perhaps with a rounded, blunt nose, that's covered in MF pad material, with velcro on the back to go on a PC or a GG 3".

Maybe I just haven't tried the right tools, I have a Mother's Powerball and Mini, and the foam cones from IAP (the former Edge guys). I just never seem to get the results I want, which is to polish wheel spokes and those pesky corners where the spokes meet the barrel that always get brake dust residue in them. Maybe I need to try that Meguiar's Dynacone thing...but the MF pads work so well it really seems like that would be the ticket.

Maybe it needs to be on a stick for a drill, but I like my cone-for-the-DA idea.
 
Hey everyone it's Steve here. It's been quite a while since I posted but I wanted to update my fellow members about Optimum's GPS spray. (Chris I was sorry to learn that you left the day before I arrived)

I was lucky enough to snag a bottle at SEMA (Thank you David) and not long after getting home I put it to work. I applied the product on the roof of my 06' Corolla which has a charcoal grey metallic paint scheme.

I am not really experienced with a rotary so whenever I do use a rotary I tend to default to Optimum products because of their inherent safety and long working time. I used a green Buff & Shine polishing pad to do away with the few washing/drying swirls I had, and then finished it off with a white Buff & Shine finishing pad. (Both worked at roughly 1200rpm.)

This stuff is AWESOME!! If you were/are a fan of poli-seal, then you will love the GPS. My anecdotal experience showed that GPS seems to "cut" faster that Poli Seal yet still behaves like PS in that it "melts" into the paint with little, to no, residue to wipe off. I haven't a clue on longevity as I just used it last week. The ONLY complaint I have, and it may be more operator error than product issue, is that I had quite a bit of splatter.This might be partially due to the consistency of the product as it is thin so it sprays.

So those are my two cents in regards to Optimums new product. I think it is another great product from a great company.

Take care
 
richy said:
Chris, although I have my new Megs DA coming, as you know I'm an old-school rotary guy at heart. Do these perform well with a rotary too? What pad would the cutting pad compare to in the B & S line or is it as aggressive as a wool one? I text'ed Bryan yesterday to get on him about our mutual order. I am looking forward to trying them. I already have the finishing pads but haven't used them yet as I had no DA for a while.
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Richy while I do not want to speak for Chris I did speak to him at SEMA and he told me that these pads absolutely work well with a rotary polisher.

Hopefully Autogeek will receive their GPS soon, so we can give it a try.
 
richy said:
Chris, although I have my new Megs DA coming, as you know I'm an old-school rotary guy at heart. Do these perform well with a rotary too? What pad would the cutting pad compare to in the B & S line or is it as aggressive as a wool one? I text'ed Bryan yesterday to get on him about our mutual order. I am looking forward to trying them. I already have the finishing pads but haven't used them yet as I had no DA for a while.
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Sorry I missed this post, richy! YES, you can use them with DA, forced rotation DA and ROTARY. The mf pad can't really be compared to a particular foam pad because their cut is almost completely product dependant where as various foams will have cut in addition to the product. Somehow, the MF keeps more product on the face and is more usable unlike foam which absorbs a lot of product as you use it. It's not even that it has cut of its own...but what you pair it with, if that makes sense.
 
I am sure that we will soon watch a video where wetsanding marks are leveled out using OPT MF Pad on a rotary.
 
Keep the thoughts on the new GPS coming guys. nice to see all of the questions being asked and answered here. I really like the old poliseal so it will be nice to hear how it compares.
 
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rzatch said:
Seeing how this thread is already hijacked I have a question concerning the MF pads also. Unless I missed it somewhere I can't find what the recommended speed and pressure for a DA is.
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Bump Chris?
 
rzatch said:
Bump Chris?
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We have speed recommendations for the products, but not the pads. I have used them on my Flex 3401 at speed 6 and plenty of pressure; and I have used them on my Flex PE 150 at 1800 with medium pressure; and of course at speeds below that as well. They seem a little grabby at lower speeds but smooth out very nice by bumping it up a bit on the rotary. Even at higher speeds and pressure, I haven't seen any signs of wear or damage yet.
 
rzatch said:
Thanks Chris but the question was for a DA.
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The 3401 is a DA.

Meg's pads have closed cell foam and get really hot and they recommend lower speeds to keep the pads from coming apart.

Our pads are open cell, run much cooler and can pretty much be used at whatever speed you like on whatever machine you like. Too much pressure fully collapsing the cell is the only thing to avoid.
 
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