Need help. Rupes LHR 75e or ....?

[Stokdgs]

Yeah, beginning to think rotary might need to be my next step.

All a Rotary needs is a small spacer so that any size pad can get into those tight places, and you can see the work being done better because the machine is not blocking your view.. Takes a few minutes to get used to the spacer the first time, and then it`s all second nature after..

I never remove the spacer on there and just change backing plates when needed very quickly to use the smaller pads..
You just use the 5" pad on everything that needs it, and then change to smaller plate and pad for those things that need it, and you only had to stop perhaps once to change over..

Secrets on using a Rotary -- Keep it moving, keep even downward pressure, keep it flat on the panel, keep whatever edge you use to go up and down curves flat, work the product until it is used up, keep it moist if it dries too fast, keep the speeds lower so that the pad and media can work longer, and it will always be a nice day..
Dan F

[Accumulator]

IMO by the time most people master a rotary well enough to avoid leaving holograms (I still can`t do it every time/100% and I`ve run rotaries since the `70s) they`ll probably have done ten times as much correction as any non-Pro will do in a lifetime. And if you leave rotary holograms you`re back to the original problem of needing to polish with the RO/DA with the added challenge of seeing the holograms, hope you have the right lighting for that.

I guess I just don`t see why any non-pro would want/need a rotary...I`ll never use mine again in my life. I mean...what, you maybe correct a given vehicle once every few years, it`s just not much polishing unless you do it all the time as a profession. With the vibration/etc. issues in play I`d just be all about finding the most suitable RO/DA.

[SWETM]

Is it as hard to avoid holograms with 1-2-3" backing plates as with larger BP and pads 5" and higher? Or is that it`s gets smaller buffer trails that makes them more difficult to see? And is it still so hard to polish with the new abrasives and pads on a rotary polisher when doing the last polishing step and not get holograms?

I have no experience with rotary polisher so is intrested on how it`s know days.

[Stokdgs]

Is it as hard to avoid holograms with 1-2-3" backing plates as with larger BP and pads 5" and higher? Or is that it`s gets smaller buffer trails that makes them more difficult to see? And is it still so hard to polish with the new abrasives and pads on a rotary polisher when doing the last polishing step and not get holograms?

I have no experience with rotary polisher so is intrested on how it`s know days.

SWETM ---

As best as I can tell, and talking to some people who do production work very badly, it appears that when you rush the work, use high speeds, use the edge of the pad more than keeping it flat, there will be swirls, etc., in the paintwork...

I think that if you lift up and put the machine down while its running that can add holograms to the paint..
I never do this of course, but from looking at them, it might be what is happening there..

A lot of the defects are caused because the people are ill trained, use production type products that are made to somewhat clean the paint and hide defects quickly..

Perhaps they dont have good lights above and on the sides so they can see (if they are paying attention) what they are doing and if they are leaving each panel all swirled up...

I have had Clients with brand new Black Mercedes vehicles all swirled up, tell me that the Dealer said that the swirls are part of the Detail and dont worry about them.. Imagine!!!!

No one uses a Claybar to help clean out the paint beforehand, and probably everyone has seen a clean new claybar come out just almost black with gunk that was embedded in the paint that was never cleaned this way in its life, and probably had nothing but that nasty spray wax from the Brush-N-Scratch-Car Wash...

If a good wash with a good soap that helps remove wax, etc., from the beginning, and a good claybar/claytowel/media is used properly and every panel is silky-smooth, there will already be way less work for a Rotary to do and if done properly, there will be beautiful results quicker with no vibration to hurt body parts..

What has to be strictly adhered to in addition to what I have already said above, is that the pad must be moist, wiped clean a lot between passes, to get all the gunk it picked up out of the paint off so you are NOT re-cycling them back into your work, and that you do NOT put too much media on the pad to begin with, that you prime the pad with a pad conditioner and a little of the media you are using at the beginning, do not cross-mix media on the same pad, that you use pads that do not absorb quickly so they last longer, and that you have lots of pads available before you start..

The Rotary needs to be one that has soft start at 600rpm, so that you dont splatter all over the place and the pad needs some downward pressure depending on the amount of correction that is needed, and you are constantly LOOKING at the work, feeling how it is and slowing down or lifting up slightly if you feel it start to get sticky, grabby, etc., and either adding a little more moisture so it can continue to finish the process for that panel spot, or stop and gently clean off what ever is left if anything..
I personally like to work this process until there is pretty much nothing left on the panel spot, and I can see the difference compared to the area around this spot very easily, before I stop..

Sometimes depending on the paint type, it may take a few of these processes across the same place to get what you are looking for, but it for me, always comes out great, very clear, smooth, and glossy...

When I can read fine print in the paintwork (yes it will be backwards like a mirror), then I know that it will be blinding in the sun for that sun check..

One machine, one little 1-1/2" spacer, backing plates from 6" to 1" and pads, very easy and fast to change out backing plates..
I use nothing but 5" pads and either a 3" or 4" pad for things like tail light lenses and headlight/foglights..
Dan F

[JustJesus]

There is nothing smaller for the 3401 than the 4 3/16" backing plate (or, if you have it, the older Lake Country 4" backing plate, no longer being made). It isn`t possible to have a smaller backing plate due to the backing plate`s gear teeth on the back side that engage the polisher`s ring gear.

The Lake Country 4" plate is still being sold on Autopia https://www.autopia-carcare.com/flex...l#.Wo3mhqjwaUk
(unless you meant another one?)

The Flex Mini bp is listed at 4.5"

When I bought the LC version (in 2015), it didn`t come with the larger plate as part of the interchangeable system.

[kkritsilas]

The Lake Country 4" plate is still being sold on Autopia https://www.autopia-carcare.com/flex...l#.Wo3mhqjwaUk
(unless you meant another one?)

The Flex Mini bp is listed at 4.5"

When I bought the LC version (in 2015), it didn`t come with the larger plate as part of the interchangeable system.

The LC backing plate system for the Flex 3401 has been out of production for at least a couple of years. So have the Hybrid Power pads (the first pads specifically designed for the Flex 3401). Any LC backing plate systems, or Hybrid Power pads being sold are existing inventory, not new production. The current LC pads for the Flex 3401 are the Hybrid Force pads, and are now 5.5" pads, vs. the 5.0" pads previously. They are now large enough to be used with the small Flex backing plate, whereas the older 5.0" Hybrid Power were too small for use with the small Flex backing plate.

Speaking of the small Flex backing plate, the exact measurements are 110 mm(exact conversion is 4.3307") in diameter. My local site (carzilla.ca) shows a 4.35" diameter measurement. not 4.5". I have personally measured the diameter, and is just below 4 3/8". Various sites I have seen show it at 4 3/16", 4.38", and 4.5", but it is definitely smaller than 4.5", even though it really doesn`t make much of a difference as long at the 5.5" pads are adequately supported.

[Accumulator]

Is it as hard to avoid holograms with 1-2-3" backing plates as with larger BP and pads 5" and higher? Or is that it`s gets smaller buffer trails that makes them more difficult to see? And is it still so hard to polish with the new abrasives and pads on a rotary polisher when doing the last polishing step and not get holograms?

I have no experience with rotary polisher so is intrested on how it`s know days.

Smaller issues are less obvious than larger ones, all a matter of what you`re capable of and what your standards are. You can work *tiny* areas with a rotary tool and get tiny little holograms (which I`d see in a dark room when inspecting with a SunGun...every time).

I did`t find the newer stuff any easier/harder than the old-school stuff with regard to finishing out, and hey that first 90% of the work is easy enough IMO. Which reminds me of how easy it was to finish out hologram-free on single stage back in the day (when I was just an ignorant kid too).

To hear many talk it`s easy enough to avoid holograms if you simply avoid [obviously stupid stuff], but that simply hasn`t been my experience either with my own rotary work or that of others that I`ve seen IRL. I fully believe that some people can do it, but then some people can do all sorts of stuff that I`ve never actually witnessed.