hydro-tech pads

[King Nothing]

Anyone using these with a PC? Opinions? It seems like they would be a nice 2 pad solution. Will they work well with a 105/205 combo? How many of each pad would someone need to complete a large vehicle in one session? Im thinking about ordering 3 of each color in 4 and 5 inch sizes (12 pads total)

[LoiG37]

Anyone using these with a PC? Opinions? It seems like they would be a nice 2 pad solution. Will they work well with a 105/205 combo? How many of each pad would someone need to complete a large vehicle in one session? Im thinking about ordering 3 of each color in 4 and 5 inch sizes (12 pads total)

I use them on my PC7424 with a 5" backing plate, and they work awesome!

You should be able to tackle almost any paint with that combo 205/105 and Tangerine/Cyan pads.

buy at least 4 Cyans and 2 Tangerines.

Lake Country Hydro Tech Cyan Light Cutting and Polishing 5.5" Pad

Lake Country Hydro Tech Tangerine Ultra Fine Polishing 5.5" Pad

Meguiar's Ultra-Cut Compound M105

Meguiar's Ultra Finishing Polish M205

[toyotaguy]

soft paint dont use, hard paints = $$$

[King Nothing]

How do you know if you have soft paint. i have an 03 ford, an 06 dodge, and an 07 chevy (equal opportunity LOL)

[keep_it_clean]

soft paint dont use, hard paints = $$$

are these pads that agressive that they are overkill for soft paint?

[gmblack3]

Been using the tangerine pads with M105 on a few cars. The big issue is you want the pad 100% dry when using with M105 via the KBM on a PC. The hydro-tech pads take a long time to fully dry. Here is my normal drying routine for pads after washing:

Spin out with a rotary at the highest speed in a bucket.
Place in front of a fan or air mover for 12 hours.
Leave the pads out for a few days before placing them in a tote.

While this drying process works great for a LC flat orange pad, my experience so far is that its not adequate for the hydro-tech tangerine pads.

After washing a HT tangerine pad and thinking it was dry, I had the velcro seperate from the foam. What Todd Helme posted is the following:

Any water remaining in the pad will turn to steam and soften the glue causing the velcro to seperate. This only happens with the PC as the pressure used to perform the KBM causes the center of the pad to get hot.

As far as the cut of the HT tang pad, I like it alot. Last week I was working on a black Lexus LS460 that had severe scratches. I was doing ok with the surbuf pads via the KBM/PC, but it was taking 3x to get at least 90% of the defects out. I primed a HT tang 6.5" pad w/ M105 and started to polish a small section via the KBM. This combo actually cut faster then the surbuf pad and left less micromarring. After 2.5 panels, the velcro seperated and I went back to the surbuf.

Yesterday and today I have been working on my brothers sapphire black 06 BMW 750. I had a new HT tang pad so I tried it again via the KBM/PC. On this paint the cut/micromarring was equal to the surbuf.

When using the HT tang pad here is my routine:

After polishing 2-3 18x18" sections, I clean the pad with a stiff brush and blow out any remaining dust with compressed air. I was able to polish 2 doors and half of the front fender before the pad would cut no longer. So IME I would need 6-8 tang pads to polish out this black BMW 750, at least with the defects it has.

[gmblack3]

are these pads that agressive that they are overkill for soft paint?

The tang pad worked fine for me on a black lexus LS460 which has a tinted clear via the KBM.

[King Nothing]

Just put in an order from PAC. Hopefully these work well on my vehicles. Anyone interested in my edge stuff? 2 adapters for the PC as well as 8 6 inch pads and 4 4inch pads

[gmblack3]

Just put in an order from PAC. Hopefully these work well on my vehicles. Anyone interested in my edge stuff? 2 adapters for the PC as well as 8 6 inch pads and 4 4inch pads

I have not touched my edge stuff in a year.

[Accumulator]

I sure wish somebody would do a side-by-side between the LC tangerine and the Griot's orange. They just sound SOOOO similar. No, I'm not buying any more pads for a while

gmblack3a- You guys who get stuff done via PC/6.5" simply kill me, dunno how you do it I'm starting to think my PCs really *are* due for a rebuild!

One thing that *does* have me is that the LC tangerine cut better than the SurBuf. After talking 'em over with KB I'd been all revved up about the latter, and never woulda expected that tangerine to compare (the cyan maybe, but not the tangerine).

Have you tried drying out the tangerine pad with the compressor? When I ran low on Griot's orange pads (doing the Yukon XLD) I was able to get them dry with that, though it did take a while. Oh, and zero velcro issues with the Griot's pads, even when they weren't 100% dry.

[jaynick808]

ugh i just had 2 HT pads seperate on me right now while doing a lifted truck.
one 6.5 tangerine is starting to go, but my cyan's velcro is more than half off.
i *heard* that the glue on these HT pads are improved and supposed to never come off. kind of disappointed, but besides the velcro i love these pads!
both cut and finish better than any pads ive used before. only 1000watt halogens and swirlfinder flashlights can find the slightest micromars when i use the tangerine as a single step with megs UC or 205 on the right paints. even on soft paints, if you adjust rpm's and pressure accordingly you can save a ton of time.
im still gonna buy more HT pads, its just now im gonna be careful that they are dry, and to swap them out more often to let them cool down and plus they are a little hard to clean thoroughly while in use.

[Accumulator]

.. only 1000watt halogens and swirlfinder flashlights can find the slightest micromars when i use the tangerine as a single step with..205 on the right paints..

Hmmm...interesting that you got *any* micromarring with the tangerine/M205 combo