5” Backing Plates Options for Dual Action Polishers

[Mike Phillips]

5” Backing Plates Options for Dual Action Polishers



5” Backing Plates



Backing plates have come a long way!
In my first how-to book, The Art of Detailing, and in the second edition, The Complete Guide to a Show Car Shine I document with pictures what early backing plates looked like and the evolution they went through as using dual action polishers like the Porter Cable 7424 hit the tipping point and went mainstream.

Now there are more brands to choose from and the quality has increased dramatically to withstand hours of extreme punishment in production detailing environments and I know some of you guys reading this completely understand what I mean when I say extreme punishment!


Not all the same
I know it’s easy for the average person to think that all backing plates are the same except for maybe the color or brand stamped on the back but that’s not true. There can be major differences in the material used, the shape and design, whether or not the backing plate is flexible or rigid and whether or not the backing plate has a tapered edge or not. One popular backing plate by Griot’s includes vented cooling holes to allow heat escape.





Differences in hook & loop material
Besides the design of the backing plate there are also differences in the style and type of hook-n-loop material used for the purpose of attaching a buffing pad to the backing plate. There are at least three different styles of hook-n-loop options currently used for backing plate construction that I’m aware of.

1. J-hooks
2. Barb or Mushroom hooks
3. Micro-hooks

For each design of hook there is a matching design of loop material.
Why is this important? Because for the best attachment performance you want to use a matched system, that is you want to use a backing plate that uses a hook design that will form the proper attachment to the loop material of the pads you’re using. If you use mismatched hook-n-loop systems your pad could literally fall off the backing plate because the hooks won’t make the correct attachment to the loop material.


How can a person know what type of hook and loop material backing plates and pads use?
Like car wax companies, backing plate manufacturers and pad manufacturers are not in the business of sharing what they consider to be proprietary information. This means without being an expert in the hook-n-loop industry it can be a tick on the difficult side to know for sure what you’re getting when you make a purchase.


Here’s a tip...
The best way to ensure the hook material on the backing plate will match the loop material on the back of a buffing pad is to simply purchase your backing plate from the same company that manufactures the pads you use. This involves the word trust. You need to trust that the company has done their homework and understands the importance of using matching hook-n-loop material for their brand of pads and thus you don’t have to be an expert on hook-n-loop technology. Let the pad manufacturer own this responsibility.



Backing plate options

Here at Autogeek we carry 4 different brands of 5” backing plates and that fit tools like,

Porter Cable 7424XP

Griot’s Garage 6” DA

Meguiar’s MT300


Each of the companies selling these tools offers either their own line of buffing pads or they recommend a specific brand of pads for their tools and sometimes both. To get the right backing plate for your tool, start by deciding which pads you’re going to be using and then match the backing plate to the brand of buffing pads and you should be able to avoid any attachment issues while getting the maximum performance out of your backing plate and pad choices.



On Autogeek.com

Lake Country 5” Hook & Loop Flexible Backing Plate

Griot’s Garage 5” Vented Orbital Backing Plate

Meguiar’s Soft Buff DBP5 DA Polisher 5” Backing Plate

Buff & Shine Dual Action 5” Backing Plate

Chemical Guys Torq 10FX 5” Backing Plate


If you have any questions or need help you can reach out to me personally at mike.phillips@autogeek.net or 1-800-869-3011 x206

You can order online at Autogeek.com or get help placing your order over the phone with our friendly customer care staff at 1-800-869-3011






Be sure to check out our friendly car detailing discussion forum at AutogeekOnline.net - That’s where I post car detailing articles and answer car detailing questions.

-Mike Phillips

[Mike Phillips]

Also just to note...

If you're looking to purchase a new backing plate for your current orbital polisher

OR

If you're getting into machine polishing,


Be sure to check out my article on super thin foam pads for dual action polishers. All the pads shown in the below article are 5.5" inches in diameter and you'll want to use a 5" backing plate with 5.5" pads.

5.5" SUPER THIN FOAM PAD OPTIONS for your Dual Action Polisher


Super thin 5.5" foam buffing pads

[MarkD51]

I had recently scored from AG, a Griots Garage 5" Ventilated Plate. Haven't used it yet on my PC7424XP, but it looks to be of very nice quality. Thus I haven't yet tested the already provided "Black Hash Mark" to then monitor rotation, but suppose one can always simply add a little white paint stripe as well if one chooses.

In the second 1/2 of your article, I looked at the nice thin Pads now available, and the prices do come across as a bit of a shocker. One would've maybe initially thought "Being Thin" would have maybe also carried a "Thinner Price"! Not so I reckon, Ouch! LOL

[dchristo]

does that ventilated backing plate really dissipate heat ? Ive had backing plates to get hot and come apart

[Eldorado2k]

I had recently scored from AG, a Griots Garage 5" Ventilated Plate. I haven't yet tested the already provided "Black Hash Mark" to then monitor rotation

I didn't even know these Boss Backing Plates had a mark on them until I read this.

This whole time I've been wondering why they decided to make the outer ring black. And of course I still haven't gotten around to buying a silver Sharpie, because I don't exactly make shopping trips to purchase 1 marker very often... That little black mark is impossible to notice.

[Eldorado2k]

In the second 1/2 of your article, I looked at the nice thin Pads now available, and the prices do come across as a bit of a shocker. One would've maybe initially thought "Being Thin" would have maybe also carried a "Thinner Price"! Not so I reckon, Ouch! LOL

You ain't kidding about that! I would like at least four 7" LC HD Orbital Foam Pads so I can use them on my G21 and go king size style but @$15.99 per pad / $64 for 4 it doesn't pass my El Cheapo qualifications on most days. That 1's going to sting when I finally do decide to pull the trigger.

[MarkD51]

does that ventilated backing plate really dissipate heat ? Ive had backing plates to get hot and come apart

I would imagine it should offer some benefit. It's probably a YMMV sort of deal, and that if one wanted to really put it to the test, and running a singular Pad all afternoon at top speed with mucho down pressure, that a person could burn up not only the Pad, and probably any DA Backing Plate in a single day.

Switching to fresh pads often, and using many per vehicle has to help I figure, plus such takes a bit of time, and probably helps everything cool down a bit, and helps dissipate heat.

Mike's (Phillips) great advice from the past is being recalled in my elephant-like memory "In a perfect world, One Panel, One Pad", and so forth.

[MarkD51]

I didn't even know these Boss Backing Plates had a mark on them until I read this.

This whole time I've been wondering why they decided to make the outer ring black. And of course I still haven't gotten around to buying a silver Sharpie, because I don't exactly make shopping trips to purchase 1 marker very often... That little black mark is impossible to notice.

LOL, I didn't know either, until I sat and read all the info on the Bag it came in one afternoon while eating a Sammy for lunch, and was gawking at all my new goodies that had arrived recently from AG.

I think I have some white Testors Model Paint around here somewhere! Out it will come.

[Mike Phillips]

Thus I haven't yet tested the already provided "Black Hash Mark" to then monitor rotation,

I was wondering how long it would take the world to figure out what a nice feature it would be to already have a mark built into or onto the backing plate for all of us detailers in-the-know...

Video: Mark your backing plate to make it easy to see pad rotation






I don't know about other guys but I think I started sharing this tip when I figured it out on my own while teaching classes at Meguiar's. In the beginning... Meguiar's was the ONLY company that had a dual action polisher, had foam pads, had quality chemicals and offered detailing classes.

but suppose one can always simply add a little white paint stripe as well if one chooses.

Like this article from 2011

Mark your backing plate to make it easy to see if it's rotating or not...


Place a mark on your backing plate like this,





If you want to remove swirls and scratches the pad needs to rotate on the 5-6 speed setting when firm pressure is applied to the head of the polisher.

To make it easier for your eyes to detect if the pad is truly rotating or simply vibrating or jiggling, place a black mark using a Sharpie Permanent Marker onto the back of the backing plate.

If you have a black backing plate like the Meguiar's W68DA Backing Plate or the Edge DA Backing Plate, use a light fingernail polish or get a small bottle of white paint sold for painting car models.












In this picture we marked both the back of a cutting pad and the backing plate.

In the second 1/2 of your article, I looked at the nice thin Pads now available, and the prices do come across as a bit of a shocker.

One would've maybe initially thought "Being Thin" would have maybe also carried a "Thinner Price"! Not so I reckon, Ouch! LOL

I'm glad I'm just the how-to guy...

[swanicyouth]

It's interesting that matching up the wrong "Velcro" can cause such an issue.

Now it seems multiple companies are manufacturing pads geared towards "large throw" machines. But, most of these companies don't actually make large throw machines or BPs that work with them.

So, how would you know if the "Velcro" on these pads will work with your "large throw" machine?

I guess if you aren't buying the pads from the company that manufacturers your machine (and BP) it's a crap shoot?


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