Help With PC 7424 XP HD!

[UltimateDetail]

Hi ok so I got my detailing supplies got to work on my 98 caddy and about halfway through the pad just stopped spinning as frequent so to be sure i marked it with a sharpie and it wasn't spinning, how ever the pad was full of product so I washed the pad out dry started again and soon enough the thing was still not spinning right and I made sure I had the machine flat on the paint with about 15 pounds of pressure. It didn't remove any defects in the paint. The only time it did was when i first opened it And got to work On the Hood and the hood of the car. I use pinnacle swirl and wolfgang swirl for now. Can you guys help me out?

[Mike Moore]

What speed?

What pad?

[calhoun1]

What size pad? Did you try with less pressure?

[UltimateDetail]

What speed?

What pad?

The speed was five and the six inch cutting pad (orange).

[calhoun1]

Which 6" orange paf? LC flat? CCS?

The 6 inch isn't really recommended for the PC, the 5.5 do much better due to the less surface area. So with the larger pad you are able to use less pressure due to that fact.

Also did you bump it all the way up? I always kick mine to full bore(6) for correction work.

[embolism]

all the recent posts of late related to problems with polishers seem to be pc-related.

Could it be a bad batch, or are they just so much more common than GG6 or the Megs unit that when problems arise, it only appears that it's more frequently the pc that is messing up?

haven't seen any posts of late saying my GG or GV112 is not spinning or melting pads etc...

*knocking on wood so my GG6 doesn't konk out on me next time I use it*

[dougaross]

If you put a new pad on does that fix the problem? If so, your pads need to be cleaned and dried. It sounds like they may be gunked up.

[Mike Moore]

My suggestion:

Purchase a 5" Backing plate (http://www.autogeek.net/lc43125.html) and some Lake Country 5 1/2 Inch Flat Pads (http://www.autogeek.net/lake-country-beveled-pad-kit.html).
I'd suggest the pad "six pack" 2-orange, 2-white, 1-black, 1-blue

It makes a huge difference with a PC!

[UltimateDetail]

If you put a new pad on does that fix the problem? If so, your pads need to be cleaned and dried. It sounds like they may be gunked up.

I actually did try a new pad and the same thing happened and these pads were brand new just opened as with the porter cable.

[UltimateDetail]

My suggestion:

Purchase a 5" Backing plate (http://www.autogeek.net/lc43125.html) and some Lake Country 5 1/2 Inch Flat Pads (http://www.autogeek.net/lake-country-beveled-pad-kit.html).
I'd suggest the pad "six pack" 2-orange, 2-white, 1-black, 1-blue

It makes a huge difference with a PC!

I actually got the 5 inch backing plate, and the pads are the ones that came with the pc and wolfgang medium swirl kit. And the pad might be a 5.5 not a six sorry.

[Mike Moore]

I actually got the 5 inch backing plate, and the pads are the ones that came with the pc and wolfgang medium swirl kit. And the pad might be a 5.5 not a six sorry.

Is it a flat pad or CCS?

[UltimateDetail]

all the recent posts of late related to problems with polishers seem to be pc-related.

Could it be a bad batch, or are they just so much more common than GG6 or the Megs unit that when problems arise, it only appears that it's more frequently the pc that is messing up?

haven't seen any posts of late saying my GG or GV112 is not spinning or melting pads etc...

*knocking on wood so my GG6 doesn't konk out on me next time I use it*

haha yeah i noticed that, i hope i can get this pc 7424 fixed, or figure out the problem.

[UltimateDetail]

Is it a flat pad or CCS?

flat

[UltimateDetail]

Which 6" orange paf? LC flat? CCS?

The 6 inch isn't really recommended for the PC, the 5.5 do much better due to the less surface area. So with the larger pad you are able to use less pressure due to that fact.

Also did you bump it all the way up? I always kick mine to full bore(6) for correction work.

yeah I went to 6 still no correcting only a little

[calhoun1]

Ok, what is the exact name of the product you are using?

What process are you using with the pad? priming? How long are you spending on each section? How big a section are you working?

And this may offer some help as well: DA Troubleshooting Guide (http://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/auto-detailing-101/37769-da-polisher-trouble-shooting-guide.html)


DA Polisher Trouble Shooting Guide





When you're first starting out machine polishing and learning to use a DA Polisher it's common to have questions about your results and your results are directly tied to your technique.



Here's a list of the most common problems,

1. Trying to work too large of an area at one time.



2. Moving the polisher too fast over the surface.



3. Using too low of speed setting for removing swirls.



4. Using too little downward pressure on the head of the polisher.



5. Using too much downward pressure on the head of the polisher so the pad quits rotating.



6. Not holding the polisher in a way to keep the pad flat while working your compound or polish.



7. Using too much product or using too little product.



8. Not cleaning the pad often enough.



Here's a list of the solutions in matching order,



1. Trying to work too large of an area at one time.

Shrink the size of your work area down. You can't tackle to large of an area at one time. The average size work area should be around 20" by 20". Most generic recommendations say to work an area 2' by 2' but for the correction step, that's too large. You have to do some experimenting, (called a Test Spot), to find out how easy or how hard the defects are coming out of your car's paint system and then adjust your work area to the results of your Test Spot. The harder the paint the smaller the area you want to work.





2. Moving the polisher too fast over the surface.

For removing defects out of the paint you want to use what we call a Slow Arm Speed. It's easy and actually natural for most people new to machine polishing to move the polisher quickly over the paint but that's the wrong technique. One reason I think people move the polisher too quickly over the paint is because they hear the sound of the motor spinning fast and this has psychological effect which causes them to match their arm movement to the perceived fast speed of the polisher's motor.



Another reason people move the polisher too quickly over the paint is because they think like this,



"If I move the polisher quickly, I'll get done faster"



But it doesn't work that way. Anytime you're trying to remove swirls, scratches, water spots or oxidation using a DA Polisher you need to move the polisher s-l-o-w-l-y over the paint.







3. Using too low of speed setting for removing swirls.

When first starting out many people are scared of burning or swirling their paint, so they take the safe route of running the polisher at too low of a speed setting but this won't work. The action of the polisher is already g-e-n-t-l-e, you need the speed and specifically the pad oscillating and rotating over the paint as well as the combination of time, (slow arm speed), together with the abrasives, the pad aggressiveness, and the downward pressure to remove small particles of paint which is how your remove below surface defects like swirls or scratches.



Removing below surface defects is a leveling process where you need the abrasives to take little bites out of the paint and to get the abrasives to take these little bites with a tool that uses a Free Floating Spindle Bearing Assembly you need all of the above factors working for you including a high speed setting.







4. Using too little downward pressure on the head of the polisher.

For the same reason as stated in #3, people are scared, or perhaps a better word is apprehensive, to apply too much downward pressure to the polisher and the result of too little pressure is no paint is removed thus no swirls are removed.







5. Using too much downward pressure on the head of the polisher so the pad quits rotating.

If you push too hard you will slow down the rotating movement of the pad and the abrasives won't be effectively worked against the paint. You need to apply firm pressure to engage the abrasives against the paint but no so much that the pad is barely rotating. This is where it's a good idea to use a permanent black marker to make a mark on the back of your backing plate so your eyes can easily see if the pad is rotating or not and this will help you to adjust your downward pressure accordingly.



Correct technique means finding a balance of applying enough downward pressure to remove defects but not too much downward pressure as to stop the rotating movement of the pad.



This balance is affected by a lot of factors like the lubricity of the product you're using, some compounds and polishes provide more lubrication than others and this makes it easier to maintain pad rotation under pressure.



Another factor that can affect pad rotation are raised body lines, edges and curved surfaces as anytime you have uneven pressure on just a portion of the face of the pad it can slow or stop pad rotation. This is where experience comes into play and experience comes from time spent behind the polisher.







6. Not holding the polisher in a way to keep the pad flat while working your compound or polish.

Applying pressure in such a way as to put too much pressure to one edge of the pad will cause it to stop rotating and thus decrease abrading ability.







7. Using too much product or using too little product.

Too much product hyper-lubricates the surface and the result is that abrasives won't effectively bite into the paint but instead will tend to skim over the surface. Overusing product will also accelerate pad saturation as well increase the potential for slinging splatter onto adjacent panels.



Too little product will means too little lubrication and this can interfere with pad rotation.



Again there needs to be a balance between too much product and too little product and finding this balance comes from reading articles like this one, watching videos an most important, going out into the garage and putting in time behind the polisher and as you're buffing with specific product and pad combinations, pay attention to pad rotation.







8. Not cleaning the pad often enough.

Most people simply don't clean their pad often enough to maximize the effectiveness of their DA Polisher. Anytime you're abrading the paint you have two things building up on the face of your buffing pad,

Removed paint
Spent product

As these to things build up on the face of the pad they become gummy and this has a negative affect on pad rotating plus makes wiping the leftover residue on the paint more difficult. To maintain good pad rotation you want to clean your pad often and always wipe-off any leftover product residue off the paint after working a section. Never add fresh product to your pad and work a section that still has leftover product residue on it.





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