Would clear coat burn be obvious?

[jdgamble]

So I have a few scratches that I have given up on. But before I gave up, I got pretty aggressive with Griot's FCC and an orange pad. I felt the paint and it was pretty hot. Not so hot that I couldn't touch it, but then I got worried that I over did it. I've watched the crazy burning clearcoat videos (the intentional ones), and obviously it wasn't like that. The pad is totally fine and the paint looks ok to the naked eye, but could I have done some damage? I don't have a paint meter. Any thoughts? I was using a GG6 with the 6" orange pad that came with it. Speed was about 5.

[coopermosley]

where was the scratch located on the vehicle, a crease or just on open panel? how long did you compound in that spot for and how many times? To check and see if your clear is compromised, I would first do a inspection with a light in a dark room to see if there is any hot spots or anything not normal looking. I would then grab a white applicator/white towel, or appropriate color of towel depending on the vehicle color, and grab some polish and apply to applicator and rub on paint. If you see the color of your paint on the applicator, then your clear is compromised. if not, i wouldn't worry about it. You're using a DA and its pretty hard to burn through the clear with one.

[Kamakaz1961]

If you start seeing the clear coat starting to look milky (white-ish, hazy, not clear anymore) then you are going through the clear coat. Additionally, if your pad picks up the color of your car then you went through the clear coat. Based on your statement I would guess it is fine. The next step would be to polish and it should be OK. I would inspect very carefully after a couple of passes. I can almost guarantee you' you will know when you go through the clear coat. I learned that the hard way. SUCKS too!

But again, based on what you are saying my guess you are OK. HOWEVER, pictures would be even better to be sure. I am basing everything on your statement. If you really want to be safe live with the scratches you have. The polishing stage is to remove the fine scratches caused by the compounding.

But again, pictures would be very helpful!

Let us know the outcome.

[Mantilgh]

I think it would be really hard to burn the paint with a GG6 and a foam pad. The pad
would most likely show damaged also.

You can can cut through the clear if work long enough with a compound, or overwork body lines.

You should notice a outline of where you cut through the clear if you did.

[jdgamble]

Thanks all. I'll take a couple pics when I get home in a couple days. I was just surprised by the heat. When I do the 2x2 I assume it just gets time to cool, but I was honed in on a couple scratches.

[oneheadlite]

Thanks all. I'll take a couple pics when I get home in a couple days. I was just surprised by the heat. When I do the 2x2 I assume it just gets time to cool, but I was honed in on a couple scratches.

Be careful generating that much heat - I've read instances on here where people have lifted paint on plastic bumper covers or aluminum panels from aggressive correction. Much easier to have happen with a rotary, but better safe than sorry!