First experiences with PC & SMR -- need some help

B

batesmarshall

New member
Well, today was the day I used my new PC. Luckily I had my wife's '92 Saab to experiment on. When I get the hang of the technique, then I'll go to work on my Passat.



I washed and dried the Saab, then got to work with the PC. After reading as much as I could on the forums, I did the following:



* Put a small amount of 3M SMR on the white foam polishing pad (probably a quarter-sized blob), set the PC on 1, placed it on the hood, and turned it on.



* I first applied moderate to heavy pressure and worked back and forth north to south across the hood. Then after about 15 seconds I turned the speed up to about 4 and lightly went back over the areas that I had already covered.



I immediately noticed that it seemed to be giving off kind of a powdered residue. Is this the SMR, or is the polishing pad disintegrating? (NOTE: I used the white pad that came with my 7336SP, not the CMA pad which I'm reserving for my Passat). Is this normal?



So I wiped off the powdered residue with a terry towel, and it looked remarkably good, for a newbie attempt.



Questions:



* Is my technique right? Anything else I should be doing?

* Am I using too much/little polish?

* Is the powdery residue normal?



The one thing I was unprepared for was the feeling of numbness in my hands after working with the PC for only a few minutes. It feels like I just got back from a 6-hour motorcycle ride!



Thanks for the help!!



// Bates
 
When first using the pad it sometimes soaks in REAL fast and you need to reapply SMR again sooner than yoy think. The powdery residue is probably the SMR drying prematurely fast. Add more SMR. You don't want to run it dry.



As far as the numbness, be sure that the proper counterweight is in the machine for the size pad being used.
 
I agree with Brad; sometimes you need to use a little more product to "load" the pad, kinda like loading a paint brush. What I do is apply the product to the pad in a big X across the pad. Just paint a X with the SMR. That way as the pad spins the product is being spread on the panel and the pad more evenly instead of a blob.



Otherwise everything sounds normal, including the vibrations. Mine does it too. I use the same exact setup.
 
Thanks for the replies.



I will definitely use more polish - I think that was a key factor.



What about the powdery residue? Should I just expect to have to wipe down the panels when I'm done?



// Bates
 
batesmarshall said:
Thanks for the replies.



I will definitely use more polish - I think that was a key factor.



What about the powdery residue? Should I just expect to have to wipe down the panels when I'm done?



// Bates
Click to expand...



I think that stuff is similar to the powdery residue you sometimes get after buffing normal carnuaba wax...It's just dried/hardened product.
 
I agree that the residue is normal, but I think it's actually a mixture of dried product and dead foam off the pad. I never worried about it.



In my (limited!) experience, that combination of products is really pretty gentle; you can go to the yellow pad without fear and also increase your initial speed. I typically run 4-5 with 3M smr and the yellow pad.



Luck,

Robert
 
Ok, sounds good. I'm going to crank the speed up today and add more polish and see what happens.



It's amazing how much shine the SMR restored on our old and neglected Saab -- and I understand from other posts that this is a relative thing since I'm using an orbital and not a rotary and a mild polish and not something more serious.
 
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