Orange & White Pad Debris Question

[Redlongboard]

Used my new PC 7424 for the first time to smooth out some swirls on an '02 camry. First washed car and then clayed the surfaces to be polished. I was polishing in the garage, spritzed the pad with XMT pad conditioner and applied a ring of polish on the circumference of pad. I started out with the white pad with XMT #1. After a few applications in the same area, following instructions as I read online, I found that the pad would throw out small bits of debris when the polish began to haze. Not sure if the debris is the drying polish or the pad itself. Same thing happened when I tried the Orange pad with XMT #3 but a little worse. I also tried to brush off built up polish on the pads, and spraying on a bit more pad conditioner with pretty much the same result. I could get almost 3 passes zig zagging in opposite directions before the polished dried and the hazing began. Is this normal for small bits of material (pad or polish) to fling off? Am I doing something wrong? Your help is much appreciated.

Any recommendations on a more aggressive polish other than the XMT #1 & #3 to remove water spots and slight swirls?

Thanks

[Neothin]

that would be dried up polish comming off. That's a signal that it's about time to add more polish to the pad.

xmt 3 should be able to handle almost anything you throw at it on a camry, especially wtih an orange pad. toyota paint is on the soft side of the spectrum and normalyl doesn't take much to correct. i would give it another go before you go try another product.

[Redlongboard]

Hi Neothin,
Thanks for the quick reply!

I will try adding a "little" more polish from the start or slightly shrink my polishing area a bit to help avoid drying out the polish the next time.

Thanks again!

[BILL]

YES! Shrinking the area would help greatly.... 18 inch x 18 inch ........

[BlackCoupe]

Originally Posted by Redlongboard

Used my new PC 7424 for the first time to smooth out some swirls on an '02 camry. First washed car and then clayed the surfaces to be polished. I was polishing in the garage, spritzed the pad with XMT pad conditioner and applied a ring of polish on the circumference of pad. I started out with the white pad with XMT #1. After a few applications in the same area, following instructions as I read online, I found that the pad would throw out small bits of debris when the polish began to haze. Not sure if the debris is the drying polish or the pad itself. Same thing happened when I tried the Orange pad with XMT #3 but a little worse. I also tried to brush off built up polish on the pads, and spraying on a bit more pad conditioner with pretty much the same result. I could get almost 3 passes zig zagging in opposite directions before the polished dried and the hazing began. Is this normal for small bits of material (pad or polish) to fling off? Am I doing something wrong? Your help is much appreciated.

Any recommendations on a more aggressive polish other than the XMT #1 & #3 to remove water spots and slight swirls?

Thanks

Did you see ANY imptovement? When you say that you used the 7424 for the first time, a lot of collateral questions arise regarding techinque. IMO defect removal results with the PC are very technique dependent. If you were not able to get even waterspots out with an orange cutting pad and XMT 3, I suspect there may be one or more technique issues. (That said, there can be some brutal waterspots, lets assume that that is not the case).Armspeed, pressure on the head, and probably a bunch of other things make a huge difference. You do not work the DA like you see people working the rotary. Mark your backing plate with a magic marker and you will see that while it may appear to be rotating at a mile a minute, if the pressure is right, it will be rotating maybe once or twice a second, so no reason to move quickly (to avoid burning the paint, as would be the case with a rotary). Another thing that happens to first time users is that they let the pad get saturated. As noted, keep to 18X18 for defect removal. You can swing bigger and faster (and at a slower speed) when you are applying wax. JMHO.

[abrcrombe]

Good tips blackcoupe! A noob with a PC needs all the tips he can get. Thanks!

[Redlongboard]

BlackCoupe,
Thanks for more great helpful hints toward my quest for paint perfection!

I worked the PC at a fairly slow pace as I worked the polish into a haze.

What is your definition of "saturated"? Sopping wet? Caked in the middle?

[BlackCoupe]

Originally Posted by Redlongboard

BlackCoupe,
Thanks for more great helpful hints toward my quest for paint perfection!

I worked the PC at a fairly slow pace as I worked the polish into a haze.

What is your definition of "saturated"? Sopping wet? Caked in the middle?

My def: Saturated--soaking through to the top of the pad. Pad is heavy with product.

Do you have the PC on 5 or higher? The orange cutting pad with #3 should be making a big improvement. Then the white pad with XMT #1--sort of like a finer grit sandpaper. Then to the wax or some people use a really non-abrazive polish next and then to wax. If you are in the West Palm area, I wouldn't mind spending some time with you to show the little I know. EDIT: Oops! I see you are in Hawaii--maybe I'll come to you!

[Redlongboard]

Now I know that I didn't have my pad saturated according to your def.

I started on 4, then moved on to 5 which seemed to lessen the vibration.

Thanks