Your favorite: 15 or 21?

7

7.3powerstroke

New member
Joined
Sep 25, 2014
Messages
651
Reaction score
0
For those of you that have used both 15mm and 21mm long throw polishers: which machine would you choose if you could only have one? Feel free to say why if you care to. Thanks...
 
Hard to say 15 is nice on some cars that you can't use a 21

Or sometimes certain paint finishes don't like a 21 (sticky wobbly)

But if I had to pick one it would be the 21
 
Thanks for the reply. I have a Rupes and a BOSS. Both 21's. I want to get a new Rupes, and thought about getting a 15 this time. I believe Dylan@ Rupes said that is his favorite machine. Todd might have said the same thing. Just trying to find out if a lot of other people like the 15 over the 21's.
 
I have 2 of the Rupes 21.. If I had to choose between the 15 and the 21 it would come down to how many vehicles I do per year. Being a professional I would pick the 21 due to the effective working area and being able to shave jobs in half. For someone who does a few vehicles per year I would suggest the 15 due to being able to work tighter areas and more concave panels. And if you already have a 3401 the obvious choice would be the 21 because with the 4 inch BP you can do almost anything.
 
FinishingTouchA said:
When talking to the Rupes guys at SEMA this was highly NOT recommended due to the different size precision milled counterweights in each machine.
Click to expand...


The Rupes 21 comes w/6" backing plate. They said using the 5" backing plate from the Rupes 15 was highly not recommended? I thought alot of people do that and speak of great results?

That being said, from your experience, does having a Rupes 21 and changing the backing plate from a 6" to a 5" do just as good a job as a Rupes 15? Or do they perform so much differently?
 
Eldorado2k said:
The Rupes 21 comes w/6" backing plate. They said using the 5" backing plate from the Rupes 15 was highly not recommended? I thought alot of people do that and speak of great results?

That being said, from your experience, does having a Rupes 21 and changing the backing plate from a 6" to a 5" do just as good a job as a Rupes 15? Or do they perform so much differently?
Click to expand...

I'd say the reason has more to do with the increased vibration and extra wear on the machine. Honestly I see no reason to put a smaller backing plate on the 21, it still has a huge throw that makes working in tighter areas more challenging. And the outside 21mm of the pad only touches the edge of the working area a fraction of the time.
 
Ok, so you're saying that even with smaller pads the Rupes 21's throw has the pad moving back and forth at such a large circle that it doesn't exactly result in a pairing that's ideal for smaller areas. Plus it sacrifices some of the machines smooth operation. Makes sense.
 
whichever one you choose, the G15 or G21 (interchangeable backing plates) got you covered... :props:

Griots Garage BOSS Long Throw Orbital Polisher System
griots-garage-boss-system.jpg

[ame]youtube.com/watch?v=FtpgZV9vL1A[/video] [ame]youtube.com/watch?v=i8eIKCHq72A[/video]
 
VISITOR said:
whichever one you choose, the G15 or G21 (interchangeable backing plates) got you covered... :props:
Click to expand...


After checking out those vids, the only difference I can see is the Griots Garage dude says the backing plates are interchangeable whereas the Rupes representative doesn't recommend it.. Unless I'm mistaken, both counterweights look identical, so if that's the case, why is Griots making that claim without at least mentioning that there might be a slight difference in the user experience? Is he a tad bit shady salesman? Or am I uninformed? I dunno...

As far as the pads, Griots offers 5.5" and 6.5" pads for their long throw polishers, whereas Rupes offers full 6" and 7" pads. And not only that, the Rupes pads look to be of far better quality than the Griots pads... Yet the Griots pads cost more?? Smh.

Rupes LHR MARKll is the latest cutting edge technology. Griots Boss looks like a complete attempt to copy the previous Rupes LHR 21ES...
No thanks. I'll choose the originators over the imitators.

When the time comes for me to upgrade, it'll be a Rupes. Hands down.

View attachment 39583
 
I have only had the lhr15 for a few months now but I love it. I have tried the G21 and for my application the smaller pad size of the lhr15was a better choice but thatsjust for me. The Rupes also seemed smoother with less vibration which is something I have come to really like having stated with a HF DA the difference was night and day!
 
Id say a rupes 21 with 5in BP will act more agressive = faster correction per section.
But dont Know how that effects completion time of job since you effectively reduced surface coverage by 1in diameter..
..and Kamikaze Beast backingplate will balance it back to spec or better.

Also..theres nothing newly cutting edge from the Rupes Mark 2 over the mark 1
Its just a slightly revised version.
Instead of a more powerful motor to compensate the stalling they slappped in a more effiecent motor while retainning same wattage which should equate to less heat..

So if the more efficient motor of the Rupes cures the stalling issue the same as the bigger motored Griot...then they indeed had the better plan of attack.
..if not then mark 3 would be perfect to do something in between mark2 and G15/G21

Btw, when i first used my G21 i was def thinking i should of went G15...but the more i used it i simply develope technique to compensate.. also came to realize the areas my G21 wasnt fitting in or areathat was akward...it would be been about the same.with the G15

Good thing they make a Rupes mini
 
Eldorado2k said:
After checking out those vids, the only difference I can see is the Griots Garage dude says the backing plates are interchangeable whereas the Rupes representative doesn't recommend it.. Unless I'm mistaken, both counterweights look identical, so if that's the case, why is Griots making that claim without at least mentioning that there might be a slight difference in the user experience? Is he a tad bit shady salesman? Or am I uninformed? I dunno...

As far as the pads, Griots offers 5.5" and 6.5" pads for their long throw polishers, whereas Rupes offers full 6" and 7" pads. And not only that, the Rupes pads look to be of far better quality than the Griots pads... Yet the Griots pads cost more?? Smh.

Rupes LHR MARKll is the latest cutting edge technology. Griots Boss looks like a complete attempt to copy the previous Rupes LHR 21ES...
No thanks. I'll choose the originators over the imitators.

When the time comes for me to upgrade, it'll be a Rupes. Hands down.

View attachment 39583
Click to expand...

everyone has their own choices and opinions in life (buy what you want with your $'s). IME GG (and AG to name another) customer service is tops (no hassle or BS) and i don't care to support any company if they have lack luster customer service (i'm not putting $'s into their pockets if i can help it) won't get into specifics about rupes and do not care to buy any of their products ever if at all. if you read some of the reviews/comparisons on the GG15/21 you'll see that the most of the reviewers agree that it's not a copy (might as well say that about any other traditional PC-style DA if it's not a porter cable as then). autoconcierge, rasky, and mark08ex to name a few have given their thoughts and actually have used both machines. they both have their merits and take it for what it is and choose in what you like in one or the other. like what YOU like and get what YOU want.. :props:

p.s. contact Jeff Brown if you have any technical questions about any of their polishers, i'm sure he will give you any answers you may need about them...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top