Am I using my 7336SP correctly?

[kenshinoro2009]

Hello,



I am new to all this.. today I tried to use my new 7336SP (which is the same as the 7424 as far as I can tell). I used the pad it came with, and then changed to a Meguiars backing plate with yellow pads (light abrasive). I used speed glaze (80) and then some gold class wax. I have a dreaded black car . I felt like the PC vibrated like crazy and doesn't really spin.. My question is, should it spin when on the car? It does spin (and spray) if I lift off..but seems to just vibrate alot when applied to the car surface. It is kinda loud too. Is it defective (new from Amazon)? Should i use a different pad and get more spin? It says only use w/ 6 inch pads on the counter weight. I wish I could see one in a store.. does anywhere have them? Thanks..sorry for all the questions. I did get alot of the scratches out of my paint and got a decent polish out of it.. I also didnt know what rpms to use..so i used mostly 6000 (max). I was just worried it was busted because of the lack of spin. Thanks!

 

[Accumulator]

kenshinoro2009- Welcome to Autopia! And, heh heh, to the sometimes frustrating world of polishing with the PC



Your concerns are normal, and I'd bet your PC is normal/OK too.



Stick with the 6" counterweight, IME it works best with all sizes of pads (more on the pad size in a minute..). The "use 6" stuff" notice refers to use with *sheets of sandpaper* as the PC was designed as a finish sander and note that a foam pad, wet with product, weighs a *lot* more than a single sheet of sandpaper



With ~5-6" pads speed 6 is the way to go when polishing; I like 4-4.5 for waxing.



It's easy to overload the PC when using ~6" pads (say, by pressing down too hard in an attempt to get it to get the scratches out), and when that happens the pad won't really do the correct dual-action/random orbital movement, but rather just jiggles around a little. The large/heavy pad, and all the friction, is simply more than the machine is designed to deal with. IMO that' sorta the dirty little secret of using this machine to polish cars...gee, they never mention that in the ads or the online videos huh?



#80 is often too mild for serious correction, but it *is* a good product. I'd stick with that for a while. Don't use so much...the slinging when you lift up the PC (which is normal) *might* be an indication that you're using too much product, which most people do.



I find that doing correction with the PC really calls for smaller pads, namely 4" ones. Those require a smaller backing plate. With the 4" pads, it won't bog down and "just jiggle" when you apply pressure, and you won't even *need* to apply as much pressure as it PC will behave more aggressively. You can usually use lower speeds too, and the vibration will be a little more bearable.



And I would'nt use the pad that comes with the PC for *anything*, it's junk IMO and can mar up your paint.