How Big Of A Difference

[loudog2]

I used the 5.5 inch ccs pads this weekend to polish my sister's suv and I definitely prefer them over the 6.5 inch ccs pads. The old PC (which is what I have) has an easier time spinning the 5.5 inch pads. The one thing I do miss about the 6.5 inch pads is the thickness of the 6.5 inch pad lets the PC tilt a little yet it maintains the face of the pad relatively flat against the paint. The 5.5 inch pad's lower profile makes it less forgiving if you tilt the PC. What I also like about the 5.5 inch pads is that the lower profile also means less product soak-up, thus more product conserved.

I was talking about AG's directions to use the 5 inch plate with the 6.5 inch pads. But, you are correct about the smaller pads being more productive than the larger.

[Rsurfer]

If your going to use a 5 inch BP. You should just get the 5.5 inch pads and same $4 a piece over the 6.5 inch. The 5.5 inch pads will work better with the PC(at least the old PC). I just don't understand why you would want a 1.5 inch overhang. The down pressure pushes the pad into the paint. So, 1.5 inches wouldn't be doing anything. They sell a 3.5 inch BP for the 4 inch pads. There is no 2.5 inch BP for the PC. What are you supposed to use for the 5.5 inch pads? A 3.5 inch BP?

Good points loudog. If you use a 5" bp with 6.5" pads not only will it bog down the pc, but also will start cutting into the pad because of the large overhang.

[02nissanISR]

i posted on this awhile ago. when i got my pc it came as stated 6.5 in pads 5 in bp if memory serves it was set up for beginners hence the space between pad and plate (buckskincolt is right on that) but what i questioned was the counter weight with this combo i thought the 6 in counterweight would make the machine run smoother considering the larger pad. well someone from ag chimed in and said that this combo basically matches the factory white pad/bp that comes with the pc. i guess the problem with that is the pad that comes with the pc is fairly dense and doesn't really fan out if you will like the ccs pads. The 5.5 in pads working better than the 6.5 inchers, especially during any correction, that sentiment has been expressed all over this forum i personally have not tried it yet.

[Mike Phillips]

...waiting for Mike, Dwayne or Meghan to chime in on this one...

I'm curious as well and am contemplating a PC package purchase in the near future.

The best thing I can do is take the mentioned, available backing plates and place them all on the mentioned/available buffing pads and give you a good visual of the safety margin of space the different backing plate to buffing pads diameters offer. The most important thing is to have some room between the outer edge of the foam buffing pad and the edge of the backing plate so you don't accidentally run the backing plate into the paint somehow or a component on the car.

Meguiar's got around this by recessing their backing plate inside the foam with a lip of foam surrounding the edge of the plate. Great idea and I've used the 7" diameter buffing pads successfully to do correction work since they were introduced but as forum consensus goes, most people think the 7" diameter Softbuff pads are too large for practical use on a tool with a clutch. I was the biggest cheerleader at Meguiar's behind the scenes to bring out smaller pads and a few Meguiar's employees are very aware of the online demand, so maybe we'll see something at SEMA? Big maybe as I'm not aware of anything in the works and like all company's Meguiar's holds this kind of information very tight to their chest. That said a lot of "online" enthusiasts want smaller pads.

That all said, pick a backing plate that provides a good margin of safety between the outer edge of the foam buffing pad and the edge of the backing plate.

I'll try to take some photos but it's going to be hard as I'm working on offline projects that are typing and time intensive.

The old PC (which is what I have) has an easier time spinning the 5.5 inch pads.
The 5.5 inch pad's lower profile makes it less forgiving if you tilt the PC. What I also like about the 5.5 inch pads is that the lower profile also means less product soak-up, thus more product conserved.

All good points. The second one is less of an issue with the new generation PC style polishers but you still need to do your best to hold the pad flat as it is pretty easy to slow down and even stop the rotating by just tiling the buffer or buffing on top of an edge. It's that darn old safety feature provided by the clutch. It's a curse and a blessing.

i guess the problem with that is the pad that comes with the pc is fairly dense and doesn't really fan out if you will like the ccs pads. The 5.5 in pads working better than the 6.5 inchers, especially during any correction, that sentiment has been expressed all over this forum i personally have not tried it yet.

A lot of things affect pad performance, including thickness, the stock pad that comes with the PC is pretty thick and that thick foam dissipates the power from the polisher.

The thinner the pad, the smaller the pad, the easier the machine can rotate it.

Remember the original use for the first gen PC polishers were as SANDERS and a single piece of sand paper is thin with no cushiony substance to it.

Heck I've used the PC to sand down a desk and refinish it and it had no problems spinning 220 Grit paper and shaving wood off as easy as pie.


Refinishing an old desk?





2-Coats of MINWAX Red Mahogany 225

[Da Fats]

I found out the hard way on my detail using the PC package I purchased on AG tha tthe 6.5 inch pads were no god for the PC xp. I ended up buffing out an entire 4 door tundra with the low profile 3.5inch orange pads due to the inability of the PC to correct anything with the 6.5inch. I quickly tossed the 6.5 and ordered 18 new 5.5inch and 12 new 4 inch LC CCS pads and am much happier (and faster).

I use the poorboys SSR line of products and can say I am very happy what I have been able to do even in my state of inexperience. For a multistage I used SSR2.5(org) SSR1(white)Black hole glaze(grey) EXP(blue) on my own tacoma hood after the tundra practice and a jag I did...




think it went okay?