Rupes LHR15 Mark II, for cutting?

[braga]

Hello, I don't know which pads for compounding to buy. I will be using LHR 15 Mark II, will finish the paint with Rupes Yellow pad + Rupes Keramik (Yellow).
Sometimes ONE STEP polishing with rupes yellow+yellow if the clearcoat is not so trashed. But most of cars paint will be trashed, so I need something to cut with.
I would buy Rupes Blue foam, and use it with Menzerna FG400, but I heard Rupes Blue foam doesn't last too long, so it will break up after a few cars? Most cars will be Germany, like MB BMW AUDI VW, sometimes Japan cars like TOYOTA LEXUS.
Meguiar's Microfiber DA Cutting Pad with FG400? Rupes Blue Microfiber with FG400? I don't know.

THANK YOU!

[Rsurfer]

Hello, I don't know which pads for compounding to buy. I will be using LHR 15 Mark II, will finish the paint with Rupes Yellow pad + Rupes Keramik (Yellow).
Sometimes ONE STEP polishing with rupes yellow+yellow if the clearcoat is not so trashed. But most of cars paint will be trashed, so I need something to cut with.
I would buy Rupes Blue foam, and use it with Menzerna FG400, but I heard Rupes Blue foam doesn't last too long, so it will break up after a few cars? Most cars will be Germany, like MB BMW AUDI VW, sometimes Japan cars like TOYOTA LEXUS.
Meguiar's Microfiber DA Cutting Pad with FG400? Rupes Blue Microfiber with FG400? I don't know.

THANK YOU!

Try each and see. Not all paint are created equal. What works on one make and model may not work on another. As Mike P would say, do a test spot.

[SWETM]

If looking for heavy cutting look at the Rupes blue wool pad the short haired wool. And also the yellow wool pad could be an option on softer paints. The benefits with wool pad is it holds the temperature down. Lake Country have the purple foam wool pad that many likes. As for compound HC400 is not the heaviest cut from. It cuts good but on real hard paints you could be needing the SHC300. Sonax Cutmax and Sonax Cut & Finish is some great options too. There are so many great polishes know days. And pads there are many great options available too. Maybe you need to be test out some different brand lines that are for longthrows polishers. Griots Garage BOSS pads and LC HDO and Buff and Shine Uro-Tec and B&S Uro-fiber and Uro-wool is some for longthrows.

Not answered your question excactly but as mentioned above different combos works on different paints.

[The Guz]

The Meguiar’s microfiber cutting pad is better than the Rupes microfiber pad. At least from my experience.

If you are looking for another brand check out the pads from Americana global. Their foam cutting pad is nice.

Hard to beat the Rupes yellow foam pad.

[braga]

Try each and see. Not all paint are created equal. What works on one make and model may not work on another. As Mike P would say, do a test spot.

I'm looking to buy pads, I do not have them in my detailing bag, so I can't test it out.


If looking for heavy cutting look at the Rupes blue wool pad the short haired wool. And also the yellow wool pad could be an option on softer paints. The benefits with wool pad is it holds the temperature down. Lake Country have the purple foam wool pad that many likes. As for compound HC400 is not the heaviest cut from. It cuts good but on real hard paints you could be needing the SHC300. Sonax Cutmax and Sonax Cut & Finish is some great options too. There are so many great polishes know days. And pads there are many great options available too. Maybe you need to be test out some different brand lines that are for longthrows polishers. Griots Garage BOSS pads and LC HDO and Buff and Shine Uro-Tec and B&S Uro-fiber and Uro-wool is some for longthrows.

Not answered your question excactly but as mentioned above different combos works on different paints.

We do not have those pads here where I live. Will Menzerna HC400 destroy Rupes Blue Foam pad? I heard they doesn't last long with Rupes Green Foam.
What about Nanolex DA pads?
I'm looking for a great cut (on hard paints) and durability, will work with Menzerna HC400.
BTW: Anyone uses Rupes Claw for cleaning pads during polishing?

[SWETM]

I have not used the Rupes blue foam pad my self. The thing I have to get the longest durability from the blue and green pad is you need to be prime them as Rupes recommends. The Rag Company has videos on Youtube with a Rupes guy that show how you prime their pads. Think that you need to be holding it on the same spot for 25-30 seconds. This is to get the foam softer and like a polish build in the foam surface that touch the paint and so it don't soak up the product through the and saturate the foam. That is the problem with Menzerna and Rupes pad if you use it too much and saturate the foam so the compound reach the velcro adisives. Cause the chemicals in Menzerna compound is desolving the adisive so the velcro adisives laminates the pad. This is only on the blue and green pad I think. But many uses the HC400 and Rupes pads just prime as you should and don't over use the pad so it don't get saturated. So switch pads frequently and put them in a pad cleaner solution directly. And you could get a little longer durability from the pads. If you get problems maybe switch to another brand of pads or another brand of compound.

Have you tried the Rupes blue compound?

[braga]

I have not used the Rupes blue foam pad my self. The thing I have to get the longest durability from the blue and green pad is you need to be prime them as Rupes recommends. The Rag Company has videos on Youtube with a Rupes guy that show how you prime their pads. Think that you need to be holding it on the same spot for 25-30 seconds. This is to get the foam softer and like a polish build in the foam surface that touch the paint and so it don't soak up the product through the and saturate the foam. That is the problem with Menzerna and Rupes pad if you use it too much and saturate the foam so the compound reach the velcro adisives. Cause the chemicals in Menzerna compound is desolving the adisive so the velcro adisives laminates the pad. This is only on the blue and green pad I think. But many uses the HC400 and Rupes pads just prime as you should and don't over use the pad so it don't get saturated. So switch pads frequently and put them in a pad cleaner solution directly. And you could get a little longer durability from the pads. If you get problems maybe switch to another brand of pads or another brand of compound.

Have you tried the Rupes blue compound?

Thank you for replying, I never tried Rupes Blue Compound, there is no 250ml bottles for sale.
OK, so I will use Menzerna HC400 compound, most cars will be Germany, can't decide which pads to buy.
Rupes Blue Foam
Meguiar's Microfiber DA Cutting Pad.

Foam should be more user friendly I guess. Will it cut hard clearcoat like BMW Black Sapphire Metallic (using HC400)?

[Mike Phillips]

Just to chime in....

Kind of sounds like you're new to machine polishing? Or at least new to large stroke orbital polishers?


Here's a tip....

Take a black sharpie marker and place a black mark on the side of your backing plate like this,

http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/data/1423/MarkYourBackingPlate01.jpg



And even do it to all the sides of your buffing pads like this,


http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/data/3812/Mark-your-pads_001.JPG


You NEED and WANT this mark to make it EASY for your eyes to SEE and MONITOR pad rotation. If the pad is NOT rotating you are NOT doing anything and by "doing anything" I mean you are NOT doing correction work.


You say,





But most of cars paint will be trashed, so I need something to cut with.




Follow me on this as it's important.

Removing defects like swirls, scratches, water spots and oxidation means REMOVING PAINT. A hard concept for some people to grasp but that is a fact. You technically don't remove swirls and scratches because they don't exist, they are a void in the paint. What you technically do is remove the paint surrounding swirls and scratches - simply put you abrade the surface and LEVEL IT until the highest points of the surface are level the lowest depths of the defects you're trying to remove.

So to remove defects you must remove paint.

Now let me tie this into pad rotation.

When using ANY polisher and ANY brand of polisher, if the pad is not rotating you are NOT removing paint. You will find guys on the Internet that will argue this point but for all the energy they will use to argue that a pad ONLY VIBRATING or JIGGLING against the paint will remove paint it's not effective enough to buff out a car in any kind of acceptable time to call it EFFECTIVE. Plus you'll never make a dime if you're doing this for money.

You need pad rotation.

So mark your backing plate and mark the side of your pads to make it easy for your eyeballs to look at and monitor pad rotation. If the pad isn't rotating you're not doing anything.

What's the answer?

Practice holding the tool in such a way that you are able to maintain pad rotation - I cover this in my RUPES how-to book.

Use pads that rotate well on the tool you're using - be it a RUPES or a Porter Cable 7424XP - regardless of the tool, use pads that rotate.


Hope that helps...


:)

[Mike Phillips]

Also.....


I'd highly recommend reading this article.... might save you some disappointment and keep you on the right track when it comes to pad selection....


The Air Test - Using NON RUPES pads on RUPES Polishers by Mike Phillips (https://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/ask-mike-phillips-your-detailing-questions/103119-air-test-using-non-rupes-pads-rupes-polishers-mike-phillips.html)



:)

[braga]

Just to chime in....

Kind of sounds like you're new to machine polishing? Or at least new to large stroke orbital polishers?


Here's a tip....

Take a black sharpie marker and place a black mark on the side of your backing plate like this,

http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/data/1423/MarkYourBackingPlate01.jpg



And even do it to all the sides of your buffing pads like this,


http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/data/3812/a_mark-your-pads_001.JPG


You NEED and WANT this mark to make it EASY for your eyes to SEE and MONITOR pad rotation. If the pad is NOT rotating you are NOT doing anything and by "doing anything" I mean you are NOT doing correction work.


You say,





Follow me on this as it's important.

Removing defects like swirls, scratches, water spots and oxidation means REMOVING PAINT. A hard concept for some people to grasp but that is a fact. You technically don't remove swirls and scratches because they don't exist, they are a void in the paint. What you technically do is remove the paint surrounding swirls and scratches - simply put you abrade the surface and LEVEL IT until the highest points of the surface are level the lowest depths of the defects you're trying to remove.

So to remove defects you must remove paint.

Now let me tie this into pad rotation.

When using ANY polisher and ANY brand of polisher, if the pad is not rotating you are NOT removing paint. You will find guys on the Internet that will argue this point but for all the energy they will use to argue that a pad ONLY VIBRATING or JIGGLING against the paint will remove paint it's not effective enough to buff out a car in any kind of acceptable time to call it EFFECTIVE. Plus you'll never make a dime if you're doing this for money.

You need pad rotation.

So mark your backing plate and mark the side of your pads to make it easy for your eyeballs to look at and monitor pad rotation. If the pad isn't rotating you're not doing anything.

What's the answer?

Practice holding the tool in such a way that you are able to maintain pad rotation - I cover this in my RUPES how-to book.

Use pads that rotate well on the tool you're using - be it a RUPES or a Porter Cable 7424XP - regardless of the tool, use pads that rotate.


Hope that helps...


:)

Thank you a lot! Will mark my Rupes backing plate and pads for sure.
Yes, I'm new in polishing, but I really love this hobby.
I already read that topic "non Rupes pads on Rupes polishers".
I guess I'm going with Rupes Blue Foam and HC400, I saw your post with positive feedback about Rupes Blue Foam + FG400 (as far as I know HC400 is FG400 with a new name :D)
Rupes Yellow + Yellow is a great option for one step polishing? After that, I will put some wax using Rupes LHR15 Mark II with Rupes Diamond (White foam pad)

[SWETM]

Thank you for replying, I never tried Rupes Blue Compound, there is no 250ml bottles for sale.
OK, so I will use Menzerna HC400 compound, most cars will be Germany, can't decide which pads to buy.
Rupes Blue Foam
Meguiar's Microfiber DA Cutting Pad.

Foam should be more user friendly I guess. Will it cut hard clearcoat like BMW Black Sapphire Metallic (using HC400)?

Meguiars mf cutting pad would give you more cut I think. But what Mike says you will removing paint. So all depends on the depth of the scratches and swirls to level the paint down to defect free. And Mike also always mentions that oem paint is thin. It depends much of the expectations you have on how much of defects you want to correct. Some trashed paint is not possible to get defect free as you would need to be removing too much paint.

I would recommend to get a paint thickness gauge so you have some control over what you have when you start and how much paint you remove. Then you have that paints behave different when compounding and polishing. So one combo of compound and pad may not get the wanted results on the next car. There comes test spots in to the play so you see what works for the car you are working. And even the same car can behave different as it can have repainted panels and there are different materials that paint can behave different on. As with the plastic bumbers and aluminum panels and carbon panels and so on. And on some of these materials your paint thickness gauge don't work. So sometimes it's best to be on the safe side when removing paint so you don't get through it.

A car can been heavy compounding before and you have much less room for compounding more. This is just so you don't always go for defect free as you could be paying for a repaint instead. Go for a clear and glossy finish and the defect removal that you are comfortable to do. Sometimes you see mostly the cars that detailer correct to defect free or almost defect free. A few times you see them put up the cars that is needed or you don't get payed for doing much more than a polishing and cleaning and clear up the finish.

And also depending on the customer you have. Is it one that will drive it to the swirlomatic car wash the week after you made it defect free. And the customer comes back after 6 months and the paint is full of scratches and swirls again. Then the customers paint won't last long. If the customer is willing to take good care of the car with a great wash technique and drying. Then you can do a more defect removal and when comes back it's only a finishing polish to be doing. This is for the trashed paint cars. So it's much of the expectations you have from the customer.

Is there any other brands that you can get polishes and pads that is also sold on AGO? Just so we don't break the forum rules. Otherwise shot me a private messege and we could see if I can help you out some. The Meguiars mf cutting pad and HC400 you will get great from. But some of the germans paint is rock hard LOL. There are wool pads and heavy cut compounds that would get you more cut. But it's good to have a range of setup that you can mix combos with so you get good results without removing too much paint.

[dlc95]

Thank you a lot! Will mark my Rupes backing plate and pads for sure.
Yes, I'm new in polishing, but I really love this hobby.
I already read that topic "non Rupes pads on Rupes polishers".
I guess I'm going with Rupes Blue Foam and HC400, I saw your post with positive feedback about Rupes Blue Foam + FG400 (as far as I know HC400 is FG400 with a new name :D)
Rupes Yellow + Yellow is a great option for one step polishing? After that, I will put some wax using Rupes LHR15 Mark II with Rupes Diamond (White foam pad)

The Keramik + Yellow foam can eliminate some defects, but I use it more in a finishing capacity. It usually clears up light damage, but leaves a crystal clear gloss.

I like Keramik with yellow microfiber for one step applications. Quarz on Yellow foam, and the UHS system are also excellent one step solutions.

I've used FG400 on Rupes microfiber pads with excellent results. Zephir also works great with them. Performance wise they have some similarities. The Zephir seems to cut quicker, and exhibits a shorter buffing cycle - which to me is a good thing. They both seem to dust the same. The FG400 has a very strong solvent odor, where the Zephir has a bubble gum type scent. I've had 400 make me nauseous even though I like the solvent scent..

I've also used the white foam to apply sealants, and it performed as expected, played down even, thin coats of product.

[braga]

Meguiars mf cutting pad would give you more cut I think. But what Mike says you will removing paint. So all depends on the depth of the scratches and swirls to level the paint down to defect free. And Mike also always mentions that oem paint is thin. It depends much of the expectations you have on how much of defects you want to correct. Some trashed paint is not possible to get defect free as you would need to be removing too much paint.

I would recommend to get a paint thickness gauge so you have some control over what you have when you start and how much paint you remove. Then you have that paints behave different when compounding and polishing. So one combo of compound and pad may not get the wanted results on the next car. There comes test spots in to the play so you see what works for the car you are working. And even the same car can behave different as it can have repainted panels and there are different materials that paint can behave different on. As with the plastic bumbers and aluminum panels and carbon panels and so on. And on some of these materials your paint thickness gauge don't work. So sometimes it's best to be on the safe side when removing paint so you don't get through it.

A car can been heavy compounding before and you have much less room for compounding more. This is just so you don't always go for defect free as you could be paying for a repaint instead. Go for a clear and glossy finish and the defect removal that you are comfortable to do. Sometimes you see mostly the cars that detailer correct to defect free or almost defect free. A few times you see them put up the cars that is needed or you don't get payed for doing much more than a polishing and cleaning and clear up the finish.

And also depending on the customer you have. Is it one that will drive it to the swirlomatic car wash the week after you made it defect free. And the customer comes back after 6 months and the paint is full of scratches and swirls again. Then the customers paint won't last long. If the customer is willing to take good care of the car with a great wash technique and drying. Then you can do a more defect removal and when comes back it's only a finishing polish to be doing. This is for the trashed paint cars. So it's much of the expectations you have from the customer.

Is there any other brands that you can get polishes and pads that is also sold on AGO? Just so we don't break the forum rules. Otherwise shot me a private messege and we could see if I can help you out some. The Meguiars mf cutting pad and HC400 you will get great from. But some of the germans paint is rock hard LOL. There are wool pads and heavy cut compounds that would get you more cut. But it's good to have a range of setup that you can mix combos with so you get good results without removing too much paint.

Thank you a lot, great info for newbie like me. Will text you PM.


The Keramik + Yellow foam can eliminate some defects, but I use it more in a finishing capacity. It usually clears up light damage, but leaves a crystal clear gloss.

I like Keramik with yellow microfiber for one step applications. Quarz on Yellow foam, and the UHS system are also excellent one step solutions.

I've used FG400 on Rupes microfiber pads with excellent results. Zephir also works great with them. Performance wise they have some similarities. The Zephir seems to cut quicker, and exhibits a shorter buffing cycle - which to me is a good thing. They both seem to dust the same. The FG400 has a very strong solvent odor, where the Zephir has a bubble gum type scent. I've had 400 make me nauseous even though I like the solvent scent..

I've also used the white foam to apply sealants, and it performed as expected, played down even, thin coats of product.

Thank you, actually I do have Rupes Green (Quarz) compound, so it works great with Rupes Yellow Foam for one step polishing?
Can you use Yellow pad + Keramik, if you used Quarz on that pad before? (after a good wash)

[dlc95]

Yep, Quarz on the yellow does a good job removing defects and delivering a nice finish.

I use Quarz, Keramik, and Diamond all on the yellow pads - one at a time though. That's why I like to carry anywhere from 8 to 16 pads of a given type with me. And yes, if I do a job with Quarz on the yellow pad, I wash them and can use whatever other polish I like on them.

Keramik on the green pads was actually pretty nice too. But I prefer the user experience of the yellow and white foams over the blue, green, and grey in the Rupes line. I'll use them, and they work extremely well, but for heavier defects I tend to use microfiber in the Rupes line.

I plan on ordering the wool pads soon. They seem a lot easier to deal with, and seem to deliver excellent results.

[braga]

Yep, Quarz on the yellow does a good job removing defects and delivering a nice finish.

I use Quarz, Keramik, and Diamond all on the yellow pads - one at a time though. That's why I like to carry anywhere from 8 to 16 pads of a given type with me. And yes, if I do a job with Quarz on the yellow pad, I wash them and can use whatever other polish I like on them.

Keramik on the green pads was actually pretty nice too. But I prefer the user experience of the yellow and white foams over the blue, green, and grey in the Rupes line. I'll use them, and they work extremely well, but for heavier defects I tend to use microfiber in the Rupes line.

I plan on ordering the wool pads soon. They seem a lot easier to deal with, and seem to deliver excellent results.

I can see Rupes Microfiber pads in blue color and in white. Both are Coarse pads, as far as I know they "upgraded" them?
https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/3198gktl38L._SX466_.jpg
http://rupes.hu/156-big_default/microfiber-polishing-pad-coarse-o-150mm.jpg