Rupes pads bouncing/grabbing the surface.

[ChrisDC5R]

Hi guys and girls,

First post on here, however I am not totally new to detailing, have done it on and off for the last 5 years with paint correction creeping in in the last year or so.

I was originally using a DAS 6 Pro but decided to take the plunge with a bigfoot MKII LHR15 as I have started to do more cars lately. Must say I love the ergonomics of the tool! It feels beautiful in the hands! Before I go into what I want to ask I just want to say that this is in no way a complaint about the system of anything like that. I just want to learn why something has happened as I have a couple of reasons in my head as to why it may have happened but would like the opinion of others more experienced.

Few details below of the car and components used.

Berlina Black Honda S2000 with moderate to heavy paint damage

Rupes green pad with Menzerna Heavy cut (didn't have the course Rupes gel at the time And also this was a one day job for a friend so didn't reslly have time to perform a 3 stage correction)

Rupes LHR15 MKII with washer mod (only washer modded the machine because I didn't want to keep buying Dialectic grease and I tested the machine with and without the mod and found the feel and vibration (or lack of) to be very much the same.

Now granted it was a sunny say (in from the UK) WE aren't talking high temperature maybe 20 degrees centigrade. But when doing some of the panels I found the green pad seemed to occasionally have a mind of its own grabbing the paintwork bouncing around and seemed to try to throw the machine around a little bit.

It was not stalling or anything like that, it was just evident that there was some friction between the bottom of the pad. I must say the compound was very very dusty and was accidentally drying out (one of my thoughts about why it happened).

Untried to counter act that by cleaning the pads thoroughly (back to zero residue) literally every panel. I also started to work the product for less passes before checking the work etc.

What I will say lastly is that this friction/grabby nature of the pad didn't have any detrimental effect to the finish and once refined the S2000 looked like new! There's a couple of pics on my Instagram account for anyone interested "chris_dc5itr" no "plug" imtended.

Your thoughts, advice and constructive criticism is massively appreciated and thanks in advance.

Cheers
Chris

[ChrisDC5R]

Ps apologies for any typos/grammar errors. Typing on my phone at rocket speed before I set off for work lol.

[Mike Phillips]

Rupes green pad with Menzerna Heavy cut

Hi Chris,

Was it the Menzerna Heavy Cut 1000?

[RPM_BR]

Imho, menzerna, long stroke polisher and open cell pad don't work well together.
Open cell pads, like the green pads, require a compound with a thinner emulsion, like UHS, for instance, to be absorbed by the foam, and then released slowly during the polishing cycle.
Only the yellow and white Rupes pads are closed cell, but by then you'll be using medium cut compounds with smaller abrasives.
If you analyze the menzerna pad line, there is no open cell pads, even the cutting pad is closed cell foam.
Menzerna Heavy Cut compound needs a closed cell foam structure which will press the compound with the clearcoat, so the clustered abrasives will break, instead of being absorbed by the foam.
My five cents.
Best regards

[ChrisDC5R]

Hi Chris,

Was it the Menzerna Heavy Cut 1000?

Hi Mike

Many thanks for the reply. It was indeed! Not a favourable product of mine but was only heavy polish available at the time.

Many thanks
Chris

[ChrisDC5R]

Imho, menzerna, long stroke polisher and open cell pad don't work well together.
Open cell pads, like the green pads, require a compound with a thinner emulsion, like UHS, for instance, to be absorbed by the foam, and then released slowly during the polishing cycle.
Only the yellow and white Rupes pads are closed cell, but by then you'll be using medium cut compounds with smaller abrasives.
If you analyze the menzerna pad line, there is no open cell pads, even the cutting pad is closed cell foam.
Menzerna Heavy Cut compound needs a closed cell foam structure which will press the compound with the clearcoat, so the clustered abrasives will break, instead of being absorbed by the foam.
My five cents.
Best regards

Hi mate

Many thanks for the reply. That does make sense! Definitely some good for thought so to speak. I believe this may be the error as the HC 1000 probably wasn't lubricated enough for the pad choice or warm conditions!

Thanks mate

[WRAPT C5Z06]

Imho, menzerna, long stroke polisher and open cell pad don't work well together.
Open cell pads, like the green pads, require a compound with a thinner emulsion, like UHS, for instance, to be absorbed by the foam, and then released slowly during the polishing cycle.
Only the yellow and white Rupes pads are closed cell, but by then you'll be using medium cut compounds with smaller abrasives.
If you analyze the menzerna pad line, there is no open cell pads, even the cutting pad is closed cell foam.
Menzerna Heavy Cut compound needs a closed cell foam structure which will press the compound with the clearcoat, so the clustered abrasives will break, instead of being absorbed by the foam.
My five cents.
Best regards

I'm pretty sure the Rupes yellow and white are open cell as well.