First Time PC Today

ToddW · 10-13-05, 12:04

I used my PC w/AIO on speed 3 on my gfs hood and let me tell you it made a HUGE difference than applying by hand! I saw imediate results and was amazed how MUCH better it looked than by hand. Not to mention my hand didn't hurt after using it!!
I did 2 coats of AIo it was not bad but 2coats helped for sure!! (Cleaning.. Icoulda used an abrasive I think)

Anyway I applied SG next... is it just me or is SG a ***** to work with?
To remove ALL of it I had to use a QD with the wipe-off process.. (Yes proably put on to much but even in REALLY THIN areas it was still very hard to remove...) Is it just me??

I think i`ll be sticking with 4* UPP and probably sell my Klasse SG....

Anyway I`m wayyyy impressed and will be getting a lot more pads for the PC now! The PC renewed my love for car care that my huge truck was eating away at hehe.

sQuashed · 10-13-05, 01:16

Its just more damn fun too

Rollman · 10-14-05, 01:17

The thing with SG is you need to apply super thin coats of it . Better done by hand with a foam or MF pad. Depending on the weather ( Temp and Humidty ) don't let it setup long . When its hot and humid out I like to wipe on , wipe off.

Ryan314 · 10-14-05, 01:38

My first experience with the PC was successful too.

Mike-in-Orange · 10-14-05, 01:51

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ryan314

My first experience with the PC was successful too.

Mine, not so much. Nor my second attempt.

Then I went to the Meguiar's detail clinic and learned what I was doing wrong. Now that I've been using everything correctly I flat out love this thing! I'm attacking the Miata tomorrow and really looking forward to it!

Ryan314 · 10-14-05, 01:54

What happened the first time you used the PC?

ToddW · 10-14-05, 02:57

I`m curious what your mistakes were too... something to avoid

Yeah the SG is very picky but even my super thin layers didn't come off very easily... I`ll be sticking with UPP by hand.

photoz · 10-15-05, 04:15

I'll chime in with my first use experience today as well...

PC was my birthday present this year, today I got to put her to use.

worked on the car from 1pm-7ish, (getting over cold, slow going today)
wash (NXT)
wheels were bad, but I had waxed them before, just wipe cleaning
clay entire car
PC whole car with SSR2.5, Sonus Orange pad, 5-6speed

Was a fun experience, although long for my first time. I did the entire hood going at one speed, then got to a quarter panel and remembered to increase the speed at the end. 6 speed with SSR2.5 was the final step I needed to get the polish to go translucent right before it started to flake. I redid the hood, but it was near dark when I finished.

still have a couple more steps to do tomorrow:
want to do another pass with SSR1 to cut some of the haze I saw was left with the 2.5
Seal with EX
then LSP with Blue Nattys.

Hopefully I have time for pics to show off my back-breaking first timers' labor!

Mike-in-Orange · 10-16-05, 02:32

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ryan314

What happened the first time you used the PC?

Not a whole lot, actually, and now I freely admit to extreme user error. I did several things wrong:

Not enough pressure on the PC (very little actually)
Hand speed too high (not flying mind you, but pretty quick)
Machine speed too low (4)
Working too large an area (maybe 50% larger than it should have been)

Dumb, huh? 100% user error on my part, but at least I didn't damage anything.

I was using the recently replaced Sonus SFX line and had a huge problem with dusting, but again, that was probably me working the stuff too long, mostly because (in hindsight) I wasn't getting results due to my improper technique.

I must say though, that Meg's #80 can be worked for a very long time and I really like the results I got with it. There were quite a few swirls in the month old paint on my Camaro, and now they're gone. I did my Miata yesterday, which is the car I had all the problems and lack of success with previously, and probably 95% of the swirls are now gone.

In the admittedly poor picture below, which is the driver's door of the Miata, I taped off a section and worked the right side. You can clearly see the swirls are gone (the vertical line is from the product built up against the tape, the line coming down from the right side lamp reflection is a reflection too - not a paint defect). Keep in mind the left side was worked previously with an obviously poor technique! This car is garage kept and has only been driven 3000 miles in the year I've owned it.

ToddW · 10-16-05, 07:20

Very nice, and thanks for replying...

I`m curios since I`ve never seen anyone doing it how do you know if your hand speed is to fast?

Do you go left to right then right to left, then whipe-off and go top to bottom and bottom to top then whipe off? Thats how I did it and get good results just curious if I`m doing it wrong.

Mike-in-Orange · 10-16-05, 08:00

Quote:

Originally Posted by ToddW

Very nice, and thanks for replying...

I`m curios since I`ve never seen anyone doing it how do you know if your hand speed is to fast?

Do you go left to right then right to left, then whipe-off and go top to bottom and bottom to top then whipe off? Thats how I did it and get good results just curious if I`m doing it wrong.

First off, I'd say if you're getting good results then it's sort of hard to call your technique "wrong"! Having said that, I've not heard of anyone wiping off product between the r-l/l-r and t-b/b-t movements. Usually, and this is the way I was taught, you want to move the way you've described but there really isn't a need to wipe off until you've basically used up the product as the manufacturer intended. For #80 that is taking it down to basically a clear film. #80 can be worked for a good long time, and it should be because of its diminishing abrasives. In fact, after working in the two directions you state, I add a 45 degree angle movement over the area.

As for hand speed, I was moving at maybe 2-5" per second depending on how severe the damage was on a given area. Because the PC doesn't impart the heat that a rotary does you really need to let the product have time to do its work.

Still, you must be doing something right if you're happy with your results! I wasn't on my first couple of attempts.

ToddW · 10-17-05, 11:16

Thanks

Looking forward to doing the entire car now.