Lake Country CCS Pad Life?

[Richsq]

I bought a brand new ccs pad (4 new pads) and Iused it once and the middle disintegrate. I did not apply any power more than about 7 pounds and the pad was turning freely and I check if it was hot but no it was just warm. I used it with wolgang swirls remover 3.0 and I did everything by the book. I change for an other orange pas and that one was o.k.. It is very expensive for 15 minutes use. Can somebody tell me what happen. It suppose to last a lot more thant that. On the package it says autogeek.net they were not buy in china )

[ScottH]

I can typically get at least a dozen hard polishing sessions out of a ccs pad, much longer of course with the ones used to apply wax and sealant. I also get incredible life out of the LC ThinPro's.

ScottH

[Richsq]

I can typically get at least a dozen hard polishing sessions out of a ccs pad, much longer of course with the ones used to apply wax and sealant. I also get incredible life out of the LC ThinPro's.

ScottH

According to you is it possible that I got a defective one? I'm new to polishing and I try to find an answer. Here in Canada the pads are $16.99 each the orange one and I'm wondering what I do wrong. Thank you for your very fast answer.

[ScottH]

According to you is it possible that I got a defective one? I'm new to polishing and I try to find an answer. Here in Canada the pads are $16.99 each the orange one and I'm wondering what I do wrong. Thank you for your very fast answer.

The key to pad life is proper pad use and maintenance, and that means a few things. One of the most important is to control heat that a pad is exposed to. Don't try to polish an entire car with one pad. You are going to stress the pad doing so. Rotate a few pads (e.g. one for the hood/trunk, one for the roof and perhaps 1-2 for the sides). Also, even though you will be rotating pads, use a brush or compressed air to clean the pads during your polishing session. Allowing the pads to "gunk up" with compound/polish minimizes the pad's cutting ability and as a result you will likely polish for a longer period of time trying to achieve the same results. Translation = more heat, less cut. Once a pad reaches its thermal/stress limit, the pad and the backing will come apart. Luckily as you get more experienced you will avoid this situation more times than not, but it still happens from time to time to the most experienced person. Once you've polished enough cars and had a pad or two fail, you will be able to sense or feel when a pad is going to fail (e.g. the pads starts to feel very sloppy). You of course stop polishing and use a new pad before it goes flying across the garage. Lastly, cleaning the pads thoroughly and allowing them to dry after the polishing session is critical. Clean pads are more effective pads, and they last much longer.

I've also found that the more aggressive the product (e.g. heavy compound) versus a lighter product (AIO) will determine pad life. Compounds have heavier abrasives and will tend to wear the foam face quicker than a lesser aggressive product, so keep that in mind.

It's unlikely you have a defective pad. Perhaps you're trying to polish an entire car with a single pad? Are you cleaning the pad during the polishing session?

ScottH

[dlc95]

I bought a brand new ccs pad (4 new pads) and Iused it once and the middle disintegrate. I did not apply any power more than about 7 pounds and the pad was turning freely and I check if it was hot but no it was just warm. I used it with wolgang swirls remover 3.0 and I did everything by the book. I change for an other orange pas and that one was o.k.. It is very expensive for 15 minutes use. Can somebody tell me what happen. It suppose to last a lot more thant that. On the package it says autogeek.net they were not buy in china )

Excessive heat and moisture is usually what caves in a foam buffing pad.

Heat usually comes from:

1. A tool that runs hot, and transfers heat to the spindls.

And/or

2. Friction at the hook and look interface from mismatched hook and loop system. For instance, Buff and Shine backing plates feature long J - hooks. They use this because they say it extends the life of the loop material. The J - hooks will bend, and not rip and tear the loops apart. Lake Country's plates feature micro hooks. Using longer hooks on a pad designed for short hooks could cause excessive heat.

You don't see as much heat on the face of a random orbital pad. Use that pad on a rotary polisher, and then you will feel the heat on the face of the pad.

Add moisture...

Combine that heat with moisture, and you have a collapsed pad.

Excess moisture comes from a variety of sources, and could likely be a combination.

1. Applying product to pad with an "X" pattern. This concentrates liquid in the center of the pad, where the two lines intersect. If someone continues adding polish in this manner, it exacerbates the soaking. Add to it -

2. The action of the pad as it spins on paint, draws moisture to the center of the pad. Over time this will saturate the center faster than it will the edges of the pad. Imagine this combined with the "X" style of product application, then Imagine someone using the "X" pattern every time product is applied to the pad. That's quite a bit of moisture. If your pad is heating , and is soaked then the foam will cook, weaken, and collapse.

3. Pads that aren't completely dry. I've used pads that started spitting out water one I got them up to speed. I've also had a closed cell Lake Country Cyan Hydrotech pad steam! The closed cells held in the water, and it started cooking! I immediately removed it and started with a fresh one. I made a mental note to make sure my closed cell pads are thoroughly dry before I use them. However, open cell pads can do this too.

To avoid soaking, I use a terrycloth towel to clean my pads, in addition to knocking build up off with a pad conditioning brush. I also prime my pads around the circumference by placing four or five dots around the edge, and re-loading with three, sometimes two drops of working polish, depending on the size of the area I'm working.

[Paul A.]

Great info from ScottH and dlc! I agree with their comments and have found that once I obtained a much larger inventory of pads and switch them out more frequently they are lasting longer. I clean them thoroughly after each use and let them fully dry. Having a larger inventory also means I always have another fresh, clean and dried pad ready to go. I might have some still drying from yesterday's session but I have so many there's a dry one ready.

With regard to cleaned pads still looking a little "dirty"...I have 'em, especially some white pads. Don't worry, they work just fine.

[dlc95]

Great info from ScottH and dlc! I agree with their comments and have found that once I obtained a much larger inventory of pads and switch them out more frequently they are lasting longer. I clean them thoroughly after each use and let them fully dry. Having a larger inventory also means I always have another fresh, clean and dried pad ready to go. I might have some still drying from yesterday's session but I have so many there's a dry one ready.

With regard to cleaned pads still looking a little "dirty"...I have 'em, especially some white pads. Don't worry, they work just fine.

Taking off a used pad, replacing it with a fresh one, and having like six more of the same pad in the box is one heck of a great feeling.

I like to keep eight of a kind for cutting, polishing, and AIO.

[Paul A.]

^absolutely! And the one I take off I toss into a bucket of soapy water to soak until I'm done.

[dlc95]

^absolutely! And the one I take off I toss into a bucket of soapy water to soak until I'm done.

I give mine a spray with my ONR qd in the trigger bottle.

[Richsq]

I have six orange pads and I clean them with a brush that I bought just for that. In your answer I think I saw my problem.The pad got kind of heavy from to much product I guest. I'm afraid that I will not put enought and end up putting to much. But thank you for your answer and I will follow your advise very well.
Richard