First PC detail today need help.... I'm a noob

[Nuke33]

Well today I got to you the PC for the first time on my 2000 Civic (Silver). It was fun to do but I have a bunch of questions, I know another noob but if you find the time I would love the help. You all are a great source of knowledge and you are all very friendly. Well anyways on to the questions, sorry if there are a lot.

First off,

My pc seems to walk a lot, it seems ro go where it want when I have pressure on it. I mean it doesn’t move far but it just moves back and forth about an inch is this normal?

I used OP polish with a LC orange pad, this was the only polish I had but sadly it didn’t cut through my swirls, I didn’t really do anything for my car, so I only polished the hood and then just applied a coat of wax. Would that combination of pad and polish be equivalent to M80 Because I have to get something with more cut. What would you all suggest I was thinking M80 and M83 because I can get them locally. But I don’t see anyone on here using them is there something wrong with them? Should I get something different from autogeek?

Another thing I had a hard time with is seeing the swirls on my silver car, it was hard to get the light so I can see them what should I do to make it easier to see them. I know they are there and there pretty bad. I tried getting a picture but my camera sucks.. lol

I also had a problem seeing to polish break down granted I only had one work light and hard to get it set right it was the ground type. Do any of you have any suggestions to help me work on silver, I have 2 silver cars and one white I wish I had a dark color to learn how to use the PC with…. I am planning on getting a work light with 2 500W halogen bulbs with a stand from sears but they have not come in yet…. The guy said they would be there wed but they weren’t, oh well.


Thanks for all the help guys and gals, you all turned me on to detailing, now I’m ADDICTED haha….


-Ryan :applause:

[Surfer]

Not sure how your holding it or if your using the handle. But if you have the handle attached, take it off, it's worthless. Hold the top front of the machine by the palm of your hand which allows you to control it and apply even pressure.

I have Optimum Compound and Optimum Polish and have had great luck with both (and I have the old formulas), they both have long work times and don't really flash and ry up like other polishes, you'll notice it start to get thin and transparent after 5 or so minutes. If you have some tough swirls your gonna have to apply some nice pressure to the PC to allow the polish and pad to cut at the finish. Remember to move it slowly, like an inch per second at speed 5 (or speed 6 like I do but I have the Edge pads).

[sparkie]

You need to take control of your PC, show it who is the man! LOL, yea they will want to walk a little. With time you will learn how to control it. Make sure you use both hand and guide it where you want it to go. Later on you will be able to use one hand. Never have use OP but I do have and love OC, nor have I ever used Megs #80. Megs #83 I have used and it's got some cutting power, in the past used it a lot. But a lot of dust, that's why I like OC, has about the same cutting power with almost no dust.

This is what I tell people about using a PC.
Now the process, (This is how I polish)
You need to sprayed your pad and put polish on it. With your PC off, spread
your polish in a 2X2 feet area. Cut on your PC on setting 1. Start at the
top of your 2 foot squared and go across then back, all the way to the
bottom. Make sure you are using overlapping strokes. This should take about
30-45 seconds. Now go up on setting around 5 or 6 (add a little pressure to
the pad maybe 3 or 4 lbs) and go up and down slowly and then back and forth.
Repeat until complete coverage for 5 minutes.

You will need to work the polish in until you see it go through this:
1) Wet
2) Almost Wet
3) Flashing (not really wet or dry)
4) Hazed
5) Dry (almost powdery)

I hope this helps you out.
Here is a link that will help you. From this site is how I learned how to
polish with my PC. He is a member on this fourm.
http://paintcare-n-detailing.com (http://paintcare-n-detailing.com/)

[Nuke33]

Surfer, I wasnt useing the handle i was useing it the way you said, it was hard to see if the polish was breaking down ill probably try again when i can get my light.... silver seems hard to work on, how should i set the light to see the swirs and polish break down like angle and distance?

[Nuke33]

I was wondering what products to buy next to try? I was wonderind did the polish not take out the swirls because i didnt let it work in long enough? It was hard for me to even get at the angle and light to see the swirls but they are there.... The look bad in spots but it looks still like light swirling

[krouchchocolate]

I was wondering what products to buy next to try? I was wonderind did the polish not take out the swirls because i didnt let it work in long enough? It was hard for me to even get at the angle and light to see the swirls but they are there.... The look bad in spots but it looks still like light swirling

try using the optimum compound?

[Whitethunder46]

I got XMT over Optimum since I've heard XMT is a good beginner polish. I might try optimum next. I'm interested in the cutting ability of the hyper compound.

As far as lighting, yea, that's tricky I've come to conclude. I found it best if the light is at least 6 feet from the surface. A bright halogen light will work well.

Sprakie: thanks for saying 3/4 lbs of pressure. I think I've been using too much pressure and not so much letting the pad and XMT do the work.

[Surfer]

Ahh silver, yeh, silver hides defect very well even with a halogen lighting it can be hard to tell unless looked at certain angles. We have a silver Lincoln but teh clearcoat is hard as a rock, Opitmum Compound and yellow Edge cutting pad were the only combo that would budge anything, I need a rotary LOL. I'm not sure how your going about the process, but remember to move slowly and apply a decent amount of pressure to bog down the machine then let off a little and try to maintain that pressure, that will allow the cutting pad to do its work much better and really break down the abrassives in the polish. I use speed 6 but have the Edge pads, with LC and other pads best to stay around speed 5 as the backing plates don't like high speeds for long.

If that doesn't work, try Optimum Compound if you don't have it. I love it, and it finishes down like a polish. It's my go to before OP b/c it is pretty abrassivve but so easy to work with. And I have the old formulas, the new ones are much more agressive with the same nice finishing traits and no dusting etc.

[ryandamartini]

I got XMT over Optimum since I've heard XMT is a good beginner polish. I might try optimum next. I'm interested in the cutting ability of the hyper compound.

As far as lighting, yea, that's tricky I've come to conclude. I found it best if the light is at least 6 feet from the surface. A bright halogen light will work well.

Sprakie: thanks for saying 3/4 lbs of pressure. I think I've been using too much pressure and not so much letting the pad and XMT do the work.

Pc will not break down Hyper as it should. Stick with OC.

For lighting go for a 1000W Halogen, Duals are my fav.

-Ryan

[Whitethunder46]

Pc will not break down Hyper as it should. Stick with OC.

For lighting go for a 1000W Halogen, Duals are my fav.

-Ryan

OC about the same as XMT 3 on yellow pad? Is there anything stronger than XMT3?

[Surfer]

OC about the same as XMT 3 on yellow pad? Is there anything stronger than XMT3?OC especially the new formula is stronger then XMT3, OC and SSR3 from PB's are pry as agressive as you could efficiently use with the PC, some people have had luck with OHC but its designed more for rotary use.

[Nuke33]

So there is nothing between OP and OC it seems like a drastic step up for a beginner

[Surfer]

So there is nothing between OP and OC it seems like a drastic step up for a beginnerNot neccesarily, first time I used the PC my first product was OC to use (even though I had OP). Used it on an Edge yellow pad and it worked great, and the formulas I have are the old version, the new stuff is more agressive in each product but still has the same nice finishing qualities, long work time, and no dust.

Don't be afraid of OC, it is very user friendly, it's my go to usually b/c it cuts great but leaves a nice finish even with an cutting pad, sometimes don't even need to go over with OP to clean up depending on the car/clearcoat. Belive it or not it's actually a little easier to use the OP, it has a thinner quality to it whereas OP can be a little thick and soemtimes hard to squeeze out of bottle (at least the old stuff was).

[Nuke33]

Yea, I have the old version of the polish its hard for me to judge the amount of swirls on my car, it has a good shine to it now... Its a repaint, i did the hood and i didnt see much different in shine compared to the rest of the car...Wish my car was black

[Nuke33]

When i use OC should i start with a polishing pad or go right to a light cut pad?