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Dual Action machine polishing for beginners?


JoshC

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  • 9 months later...

Digging up my old thread rather than starting a new one...

 

Finally got round to trying out the kit I bought to machine polish the car which was ages ago, just not had a chance really until now. So had a go a couple of weekends back when the weather was nice. Unfortunately couldn't get use of a garage to do it inside so did it on a drive way. Followed this process to prep, only tried it on the bonnet to begin with;

Wash, dry, fallout remover, clay, dry.

 

Then used a DAS6 Pro with Hexlogic Orange pad and Meguairs Ultra Cut Compound 105, didn't notice a great improvement but tried the next step anyway, Hexlogic white pad with Megs Ultra Finish Polish 205 but still not great improvement, did a 50/50 and not really any reduction in the swirling etc.

 

I did several passes on each section, about a quarter of the bonnet at a time, with 5 good drops of the product spread in on speed 1 and worked in on speed 5/6.There was a fair amount of residue after each attempt so made sure to wipe the panel down.

 

Few things I think I may have done wrong but looking for some advice before trying again. Maybe I didn't apply enough pressue? I made sure to keep the pad spinning using the marks I put on the edge of the backing plate but didn't put too much weight on the machine.

There was a couple of layers of wax on the bonnet (I actually used a small amount of dish soap and hot water after washing as I didn't have anything else to hand that I thought might remove it?). Could the wax have prevented it from working?

It was also a pretty hot day so I suspect the compound and polish may have been evaporating before it could do it's work?

 

Anyone have any clue what it's most likely to be? And if it is due to the wax on the surface any tips for stripping itbefore trying again?

 

Cheers :)

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Any machine polishing will remove wax in very short order, so no fear there.

 

Working outside on a hot day can be very taxing, especially if the panel is in direct sunlight as it's very easy to overheat everything and end up with holograms and machining marks everywhere. You do want some residue left as otherwise you're in risk of marring the paint, but too much means the polish isn't being broken down and essentially you're achieving nothing. I suspect this is where you were at, for fear of not damaging anything. Not to worry, we've all been there and certainly that's better than going gung-ho and destroying the finish!

 

What you need is some IPA (or better, Envy Filler Killer) to remove all polish from a panel before trying again. It'll give you a clear and unblemished view of what you've done to the paint so far. No hiding with fillers, no cheating.

 

Working on the bonnet is the best place to start, and you're right in making sure the head keeps spinning and letting the machine do the work for you. That said, a bit of pressure doesn't hurt, as long as the head is rotating. A lot of this is confidence though. I've not personally used the polishes and pads you've got, so can't really advise much more on those. Speed sounds about right on the DA though. How hot was the panel after polishing, compared with the surrounding area? Again, hard to judge in direct sunlight.

 

I would say try again, be a bit braver, and see where you get. You can always pick a scrap panel up from a breaker for a tenner and play around with that until you've got some idea of what you can achieve. :)

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^^^^ exactly that. Nothing else to add to that really either.

 

 

On the advice of Fairy Liquid; don't bother, that won't strip anything off at all. What it will do is affect the water behaviour but that's due the copious amounts of surfectants and not because it's even touched the LSP. Tar remover and fallout remover will both weaken waxes and many sealants, clay will likely strip it too but polishing will absolutely finish off even a fresh wax in a very short amount of time, especially by machine.

 

It won't be the wax that's the issue, it'll be either that you're not working the polish enough or that the panel was too and the polish was drying out before you've worked it properly.

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Cheers all for the advice! I suspected that working in the heat was the most likely cause of the problem. Going to try again soon, hopefully will be able to get use of a grage st some point or if not just hope for a dry but mild day to try again on the drive. Will let you know how it goes :thumbs:

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