First Machine Polish. Please Help

[mkpedboy]

So I recently picked up a PC 7424XP along with megs 105/205 and LC orange, white, black, blue pads. Along with other goodies. I polished my tan colored gmc yukon today. It is a work vehicle that only sees the tunnel car washes. Had swirls, light scratches, holograms all over. I washed, clayed, washed again and dried. After everything was taped up I began to use megs 105 via lc orange. spread the polish at 3 and worked it in at 5. Made about 5 passes total. medium pressure for the first 2, Just the weight of the machine for the last 3 passes. Paint felt smoother but still had the fine scratches. Tried a few ore passes but no luck. Moved on to the 205 via lc white and used the same technique. Paint very slick, but still at the end of the day light scratches and holograms still there. Please help!!! Im trying to teach myself to use this thing and it doesn`t seem to be working.



Thank you!

[Darkstar752]

You have to work it until the polish breaks down. I usually polish a 2x2 section for about 3-4 minutes. Also, the cut of 105 and 205 is pressure dependent.

[mkpedboy]

Thats about what I was doing. pretty much 5 minutes per 2x2 section. medium pressure at first, light pressure to finish. worked polish until I could barely see it on the panel then buffed off.

[imported_rlarsen462]

I was under the impression 105 didn`t really "break down". Note that I have not had a chance to use it yet myself.

[mkpedboy]

That may be correct. Also I noticed that the 105 seemed to get "dryer" that the 205. It seemed as tho it was drying like a wax allowed to haze too long, if that makes any sense. Any more suggestions on what I may be doing wrong? I feel like such a dumb *** that the swirls are still there.

[SoCalB6]

The new Meg`s polishes/compounds don`t break down. Are you priming your pad before polishing, as in the KBM? If you are seeing very fine scratches, it could very well be from the 105 stage and your paint maybe too soft to finish up with white/205, so actually you maybe seeing what white/205 is leaving behind. Try looking up the KBM (Kevin Brown Method) and using a black or blue pad with 205 to finish.

[imported_rlarsen462]

I wish Kevin would finish that paper I spent half the day reading about...the thread was so old I couldn`t believe it when I got to the end and he was still working on it. It`s going to be epic!

[mkpedboy]

I primed my pads, yes. I will try to take pictures of what I am talking about in the morning. But basically the moral of the story is the truck still has most of the defects it started with. succesfully removed some long scratched, but besides the paint feeling silky smooth it looks about the same as b4 polishing. just more shine.

[Darkstar752]

Use heavier pressure and try speed 6.

[SoCalB6]

^ +1. Use slow arm speed, let the polish do its thing and overlap your passes by 100%.

[mkpedboy]

Question on the KBM. so after i have primed the pad, then put my bead of polish on the surface of the pad, I can use water to spritz the pad while polishing to keep the polish going longer?

[Accumulator]

mkpedboy- I`ve never used the XP version of the PC, but I *have* corrected my YukonXLD using the M105/M205 twins.



Even with the XP model I wouldn`t be surprised if you need to use 4" pads for timely correction. The only way my (older model) PCs will do it is with the little pads and yeah, I tried the KBM method with the larger pads before giving up and switching to my Flex (and/or 4" pads on the PC).



Yeah, I`ve discussed my experiences with Kevin Brown. For serious correction on hard clear (like on Yukons) the SurBuff pads sound like a good idea; he *really* likes them for aggressive work like this. The fact that the marring didn`t come out simply shows that a more aggressive approach is called for.



Correct, the M105/M205 twins don`t break down, they dry out in the sense that the carrier agents/oils evaporate. Revitalizing them with waster/#34 can work but can also be risky in the sense of causing not-so-micro-marring, espeically if you make a mistake and get product clumping on your pads. I wouldn`t recommend it unless you know what you`re doing (in which case you won`t be asking ;) "don`t try this at home, kids" applies here but it does work well for me).



Don`t spread M105. Put the pad on the panel and start working.



Work small areas, maybe 1" x 1" at least until you have things sorted out. Stay with that one area as long as it takes and see *what* it takes to correct it. No point doing the whole thing until you know what to do.



Expect to go over moderate marring quite a few times; the GMC clear is *hard* and M105 isn`t all *that* aggressive on it. E.g., I did some areas eight/more times when doing spot correction with 4" orange pads (and PFW wasn`t much faster). You won`t correct it in one/four goes with M105 and a random orbital unless the marring is *VERY* shallow.



Pick one panel and work *that* until it`s OK. Maybe do one panel after each of the next few washes. Heh heh...the roof can take a while! I did the whole truck all at once but it was one *VERY* long job over a few days.



Depending on how bad the micromarring from the M105 is, you might need to use M205/orange for the first follow-up.



The clear on my GMC was hard enough that M205 finished quite nicely with polishing pads, but I did do a final buff with finishing pads (but that was on the Flex). Even orange pads/M205 will leave the finish marring-free to the naked eye, the softer pads just bring up the gloss (probably more than you`d expect).



The polishing oils from M205 can result in pseudo-holograms that resist IPA wipedowns. Don`t give up, they do wash off eventually.

[mkpedboy]

Thank you Accumulator! Lots of good info. I will look into trying some 4" pads. What would you recommend as far as something to use when I need something more aggressive than 105?

[marsbar2006]

I`m having the same problem with my XP and I`m even using LCC 4" yellow pads. But just my luck I have two vehicles with hard clear Audi A4 and 06 Mustang. I think we have to get more aggressive pads.

[Accumulator]

Thank you Accumulator! Lots of good info. I will look into trying some 4" pads. What would you recommend as far as something to use when I need something more aggressive than 105?



Honestly, *IMO* when you need something more aggressive than M105 and (the appropriate) 4" pads, then you need a different machine.



While others are apparently working miracles with their PCs, my experience is that the PC simply isn`t in the same league as, say, the Flex 3401.



With a Flex (or, of course, a rotary), you probably will *NOT* need anything harsher than M105. But if you do, there are plenty of rocks-in-a-bottle compounds that you can use. These will *NOT* work via PC as it simply won`t break them down (experimenting can lead to pretty severe paint damage so you might want to take my word for it ;) ).



The next option is wetsanding. Doing a *VERY CAREFUL* wetsand with 2-4K paper (of a *VERY* high quality) can remove severe defects, and the PC/M105/4" pad approach can remove the resulting sanding scratches. If another polisher is out of the question, that`s the way I`d go. Well, I`d give some strong consideration to just living with the defects first. Note that a lot of people just don`t have the mindset/temperament to wetsand; they simply go too far for one reason or another.




I`m having the same problem with my XP and I`m even using LCC 4" yellow pads. But just my luck I have two vehicles with hard clear Audi A4 and 06 Mustang. I think we have to get more aggressive pads.



If the Surbuff and/or Cyclotoolmakers/edge 4" wool don`t do it, then you don`t need a more aggressive pad, you need a more aggressive polisher.