1st time with PC 7424 was a disaster and I quit early, HELP

E

Egoolps

New member
So I took my day off of work.



I washed the car, clayed it, and was ready to polish and seal it.



I took out my PC and tried to emulate the autogeek videos on youtube since I am a ROOKIE and this was my first time using it.



I just could not get the hang of this thing. I spread the polish out on the part I am working and turn it on. 3 was too fast for me. I could keep the PC on the car. It kept bouncing up and down. I figured I was pushing too hard...but I wasn't. Then I figured I wasn't pushing hard enough...and I wasn't doing that either.



After a minute, I look at the car and I thought I had scratched it. I don't know if the polish was set it in or what....but it took a microfiber towel AND elbow grease to get the polish off of the car. I mean I was using almost all of the muscle I had to get this polish off.



After I got the polish off of that one section, I gave up...figuring I need to read up more.



What could I have done wrong? I started wondering if I'm even qualified enough to use the "idiot proof" PC. Help me out please.
 
Usually speed 3 is great for spreading the polish. It does very little to correct the paint. With the PC you usually have to up it to speed 5-6 :)



I say practice a bit more and don't give up. It does take awhile to get used to it all. Don't forget that everyone here started out like you. We were all scared once ;)
 
Tell some folks where you are located and see if there isn't a fellow autopian who can meet you and give you some hands on training.
 
Egoolps said:
So I took my day off of work.



I washed the car, clayed it, and was ready to polish and seal it.



I took out my PC and tried to emulate the autogeek videos on youtube since I am a ROOKIE and this was my first time using it.



I just could not get the hang of this thing. I spread the polish out on the part I am working and turn it on. 3 was too fast for me. I could keep the PC on the car. It kept bouncing up and down. I figured I was pushing too hard...but I wasn't. Then I figured I wasn't pushing hard enough...and I wasn't doing that either.



After a minute, I look at the car and I thought I had scratched it. I don't know if the polish was set it in or what....but it took a microfiber towel AND elbow grease to get the polish off of the car. I mean I was using almost all of the muscle I had to get this polish off.



After I got the polish off of that one section, I gave up...figuring I need to read up more.



What could I have done wrong? I started wondering if I'm even qualified enough to use the "idiot proof" PC. Help me out please.
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You're not an idiot at all. With a little practice and experimenting, you'll be surprised how great your car will look. Just curious, what pad/polish combo are you using? Did you spray the pad with a quick detailer before you started? Doing that helps me out especially on the first few panels. Don't get discouraged, there's a lot of good help and advice here on Autopia:2thumbs:
 
Egoolps said:
It kept bouncing up and down.
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What size pad? Was it centered? Is the backing plate on good and tight? Is the backing plate warped? Is the counter weight loose? The PC is usually a one handed operation for me.
 
like others said dont give up. ive only used my PC twice and pretty much got the hang of it. just gotta work out a few tweaks. make sure the pad is dead center! i was off slightly, took me 5 mins to get it spot on in the middle and it made a world of difference. i need to do winter prep soon! good luck...
 
citizen arcane said:
What size pad? Was it centered? Is the backing plate on good and tight? Is the backing plate warped? Is the counter weight loose? The PC is usually a one handed operation for me.
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As for the backing plate being tight...do I need to tighten it right away (first time I use it)? All I did was put the pad on right out of the box...velcro to velcro. 6" pads and I'm pretty sure it was centered.
 
It shouldn't be that bad.



It sounds like your counterweight may be wrong or loose or whatever, also make sure the pad is centered and the backplate is correctly tightened.



You should try practicing first by just waxing the car with the PC instead of polishing it. Get a feel for it first before you attempt to get serious with it.



Crawl before you walk and walk before you run....:dance
 
JoshVette said:
..You should try practicing first by just waxing the car with the PC instead of polishing it. Get a feel for it first before you attempt to get serious with it.



Crawl before you walk and walk before you run..
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Ah, good advice there :xyxthumbs



One of the reasons I always recommend 1Z polishes for newbies is that they behave very much like cleaner-waxes. Simply no chance of them getting stuck to the finish or anything like that because they just break down to the wax they leave behind.
 
JoshVette said:
It shouldn't be that bad.



It sounds like your counterweight may be wrong or loose or whatever, also make sure the pad is centered and the backplate is correctly tightened...
Click to expand...





I'd be surprised if the counterweight was the problem, but yeah, at least take a peek to make sure it's not missing.



The backing plate almost has to be OK...it can sometimes be overtightened so don't go nuts with that wrench ;)



Even though it seems there *must* be something wrong, some people simply aren't PC-friendly so stuff we shrug off and/or take for granted can be very troublesome for those folks.
 
What kind of pads are you using? I experienced some hopping once with a CCS pad but it only happened on that one occasion.
 
What size pads are you using? I've found the 6 or 6.5" pads on the Pc at moderate to high speed cause A LOT of vibration, could be interpreted as hopping I guess.... I use smaller, 5" pads. No vibration or "hopping"



Maybe that helps?
 
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