Which PC to buy?

[BookemDano]

With the 6" counter weight, you will be fine with 6" pads and larger. With the 5" counter weight, you would be more limited to 6" pads maximum.

What pads are you using? Again, make sure that your backing plate is sized correctly for your pads.

Regards,

Dan.

[bimmer330]

Originally posted by BookemDano
With the 6" counter weight, you will be fine with 6" pads and larger. With the 5" counter weight, you would be more limited to 6" pads maximum.

What pads are you using? Again, make sure that your backing plate is sized correctly for your pads.

Regards,

Dan.

Dan,
I wanted to buy Meguiars 6.5 inch pads. Are there better ones out there? I am new to the PC. I currently use a Black and Decker. You would replace the bonnets with either terry, foam or wool. This is a welcome change to pads being easily removed and velcro on a new one.
Thanks,
Joe

[BookemDano]

The only pads that will touch my cars are Edge, Sonus and Lake Country pads.

Edge makes some good pads, but their primary market is rotary buffers, not PC's. (They do make PC pads, but they are radically different from their other pads. I don't like the shape of their PC pads.)

That leaves you with Sonus and Lake Country pads. I understand that Sonus pads are good, but I use Lake Country pads that I purchased from www.properautocare.com.

One thing to be aware of is that Lake Country makes different LC pads for different retailers. The LC "Constant Pressure" pads that I purchased are only available from www.properautocare.com. Better than other LC pads? I don't know. Different? Yes.

First I started with the 6" LC pad kit with flexible backing plate. They were nice, but I liked the flexibility that the 7.5" pads offered. I came up to speed with the 6" pads quickly, so I ordered the 7.5" pad kit from Proper Auto Care. Here's the 7.5" pad kit with the 6" flexible backing plate:

http://www.properautocare.com/ad712inhipad.html

The 7.5" pads work well, center easily and have a plastic backing that is completely different from the 6" pads (which have no plastic backing). The velcro sticks so well to the backing plate that, after washing, they can be dried by sticking the pad in a large bucket and turning your PC on. (They're almost dry in 30 seconds or so.)

In addition to the kit, you may want to order order a yellow pad for compounding.

If you feel comfortable with a buffer, you may want to go the with 7.5" pads. If not, try the 6" pads. Here's the 6" pad kit with backing plate:

http://www.properautocare.com/hipadkitwive.html

Two additional points:

First, get a backing plate matched to your pads.

a backing plate came with the PC. That's useful for sanding. Also, I understand that, in combination with the pad that came with the PC, it is useful for buffing out the last step product (LSP) with an MF bonnet. However, do NOT use it with good quality polishing pads.

Regardless of where you get your pads and the brand that you buy, make SURE that you get a good quality backing plate with it that is matched to pads that you buy. Different pads require different backing plates. Even some LC pads need different backing plates.

The 6" flexible backing plate that I bought with the 6" LC pads also fits the my 7.5" LC pads. It works great. After a several hours of use on four cars, the pads and the backing plate are still in perfect condition. No foam tearing. No loose velcro. So...

Strong recommendation - Get a backing plate matched to the pads.

Second, get something to clean the pads. I use "Snappy" from www.properautocare.com, but there are other choices and other vendors which also may be good (check around).

I hope this helps.

Regards,

Dan.

[the other pc]

I've been happy with Meg's pads.

If you are fond of Meg's products here's another option worth considering; get it from Meg's. Yeah, yeah, I know they're way overpriced on the PC. True enough, but it does come set up with a velcro backing plate and counterbalanced for their pads. Depending on your long-range plans they have some options.

They sell the PC packaged with "collections" of their products. If you add the prices you'd pay for everything separately you end up getting a good discount with the package and it sort of helps equalize the overall cost. So you can sort of rationalize it as either getting a good deal on the polisher and paying retail for everything else or paying a lot for the polisher but getting a good deal on the other products.

The logic only holds up if they're products you'd buy and use anyway but if you're already a Meg's fan that isn't necessarily a stretch. Their "Concours Collection" includes the PC along with a bunch of their Pro products, Medallion products, brushes, MF towels, terry towels and such. Not cheap, but you get a lot of stuff.


PC.

[Eliot Ness]

I too have been pleased with the Meg's pads (polishing and finishing). I have used the LC orange pad (light cutting) with good results also, but there is a thread where a user is having problems with the one he bought recently. My next pad purchase will be Sonus (from here on Autopia), I've yet to hear a negative comment about them. I'll probably also pick up a couple of polish pads from Excel Detail (Patrick) on my next MF order.

[bimmer330]

Thanks.