Rotaries can and will eat paint

M

Mike@DedicatedPerfection

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Gang, please be careful and take your time when working with a rotary buffer. Burning paint with this style machine can be a real headache. It can happen to anyone. Now I get to prep the bumper and shoot it with new paint. I was merely trying to buff out some scuffs/scratches and then put some touch up paint over the smaller exposed white areas and next thing I know the machine ate through the paint.

I was using Euro Spec products. I had Bosch Rotary along with 3M rubbing compound along with a 3M foam Compounding pad at 1500 rpm.




 
How much pressure?

Was it the white 3M waffle pad?
 
Yikes Mike, was that OEM paint or a potential inferior respray considering it's a bumper cover?
 
Thanks for the reminder, Mike. Kudos to you for posting an "oops" like this for the world to see. Just shows that things can and do happen to even the most experienced professionals out there, no matter how prepared you are.
 
paul_g said:
Well, looks like you got the scratches out! :)
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Yeah it did!!!!!

dlc95 said:
How much pressure?

Was it the white 3M waffle pad?
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Probably around 10lbs.

It was a Euro spec 3M orange flat faced compounding pad.

WaxMaster1 said:
Yikes Mike, was that OEM paint or a potential inferior respray considering it's a bumper cover?
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It was a shoddy repaint.

paul_g said:
Back in the day, the USAF would have taken that out of my paycheck. Do they still do that?
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No not really.

Since I work in a body shop I get to prep and repaint the bumper.
 
Heisenberg said:
Thanks for the reminder, Mike. Kudos to you for posting an "oops" like this for the world to see. Just shows that things can and do happen to even the most experienced professionals out there, no matter how prepared you are.
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No problem. Wanted to share with everyone what can happen and show as a reminder what can happen. I know we all get comfortable in doing what we do and this can serve as an alarming reminder of what can happen.
 
Ouch! That sucks Mike....look on the bright side you get practice your painting skills and then your buffing all over again. Good luck with it buddy...would like to see pics when you fix it.
 
I'm sorry to see that happen. It is definitely a good reminder to everyone about using a rotary with care.
 
Shoddy respray indeed.

Thanks for sharing Mike. And as you eluded to, it can happen in an instant with no warning.
 
ZANG!!!

{And Keith thought I was
wrinkled-up pretty bad;
Not even close!}
watermark.php


Heisenberg said:
Thanks for the reminder, Mike.
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^^^ :iagree: ^^^

A person also needs to be careful
using a DA around these areas.


Bob
 
dad07 said:
Ouch! That sucks Mike....look on the bright side you get practice your painting skills and then your buffing all over again. Good luck with it buddy...would like to see pics when you fix it.
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Will get some pictures of the finished job. I dont think it will be repainted this week.

Rod73 said:
I'm sorry to see that happen. It is definitely a good reminder to everyone about using a rotary with care.
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Yes sir.

Audios S6 said:
Shoddy respray indeed.

Thanks for sharing Mike. And as you eluded to, it can happen in an instant with no warning.
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Very true.

FUNX650 said:
ZANG!!!

{And Keith thought I was
wrinkled-up pretty bad;
Not even close!}
watermark.php



^^^ :iagree: ^^^

A person also needs to be careful
using a DA around these areas.


Bob
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Lol

Yes sir!
 
I don't think that was yours or the rotaries fault. That paint looks like it was barely sticking to the bumper cover. Paint doesn't flake when it gets burned through. I'm guessing a Rupes or Flex with moderate speed and pressure would have damaged that paint
 
I'm not sure that I understand your warning.

What I see in the pictures is damaged/defective paint that is peeled/flaked from the substrate. While of course a rotary can result in that if they paint condition is not up to snuff, i.e., inadequate adhesion, I certainly would not call what I can see as "rotary damage".

I see no evidence of "burning" the paint. Rather, what I see is a marginal to poor quality of the paint prep to begin with, and/or, an attempt to make a repair by polishing something that required much more than polishing.

EDIT: I see someone else was thinking along my lines with LEDetailing's post above, which was posted as I was writing mine.
 
We all know that you are an experienced detailer and if it can happen to you it can happen to anyone. It happened to me once and I'll never use a rotary on bumpers again. Because of the flexing agent and the plastic bumper that paint wrinkle can happen in a flash.
 
mike, thanks for sharing your experience in which someone else can learn/benefit from...
 
Mike@DedicatedPerfection said:
Gang, please be careful and take your time when working with a rotary buffer. Burning paint with this style machine can be a real headache. It can happen to anyone. Now I get to prep the bumper and shoot it with new paint. I was merely trying to buff out some scuffs/scratches and then put some touch up paint over the smaller exposed white areas and next thing I know the machine ate through the paint.

I was using Euro Spec products. I had Bosch Rotary along with 3M rubbing compound along with a 3M foam Compounding pad at 1500 rpm.
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Props for sharing! I had a similar experience with paint wrinkle back in 2009 which I shared on the forums as well. :props:
 
Ouch, it happens man. It's tricky dealing with plastic panels and rotary. I'm sure the repaint had a lot to do with it considering the way the paint is flaking off.
 
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