Issues with Rupes mk2 - 15mm and buffer trail

[Heisenberg]

The Rupes and AG reps I've spoken with all know of the melting pads (melts the black velcro to the backing plate), it's just a result of the excessive heat that the Mark II's can build up in the center of the pad. It looks like the pad is caving in and you can only tell when the pad starts throwing pieces of foam all over the car as it disintegrates. If you haven't witnessed it yet then consider yourself lucky. Literally forced me to sell a near new unit.

I believe you - I've seen a couple posts on here showing that. I am just surprised to hear you sold the machine. I have never run mine above a 4 so I think I'm mitigating some of the heat buildup because of the low speeds.

[SonOfOC]

Pads melt or fail because of:
1. Using 1-2 pads for entire car. Should be using a minimum of 4. I use 6 or more sometimes.
2. Over saturated pad. Pad gets heavy and grabby and more likely to discenerate.
3. Speed on polisher is too high. Speed 5-6 on a Rupes held in one spot too long will cause pads to fail.

Melting backing plate:
1. Polishing non stop will heat up the the tool....like trying to compound an entire car without take breaks to wipe off the panel.
2. Extension cords that are to thin or too long. Use the correct gauge. You don't want to be using 50ft of 18awg Christmas light extension cord. The resistance is too high. The tool heats up, heat travels down the spindle and melts the backing plate.