Flex or Rotary?

Alexshimshimhae said:
yea... i can't say enough about the flex--minus the fact that it's not designed for tight corners ..
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Try putting a big pad on it and using the over-hanging outer portion/edge of the pad. Doesn't work as swell as with a rotary, but it doesn't pose the same risks or produce the same holograms either.



Also, you can take the black plastic handle off to fit into some tight areas better, but the metal housing sure does get hot quickly.
 
Since you're just starting off, it's common to use a non-rotary first.

Switching to a rotary does not ensure you can definitely get it done faster or better. Lots of other factors.

But if you're serious about the business, you shd start learning rotaries now.



Using car size to determine working time is unrealistic because you're dealing with the paintwork (condition, type of clearcoat, nature of problem etc). If I'm just blindly applying polish and wax to a car, then I can use the "car size" approach because I'm not doing any correction...just slapping on the products.



But the problem is, on most cars you get, I'm sure you just CANNOT apply polish and wax (cosmetics) to it. You'd hv to do some kinda correction. The Flex or similar machines cannot correct serious problems. If you force it, you'll just use more time+products and getting mediocre results.



Many customers are not looking ONLY for a great looking, glossy clean car.

They're looking to u to remove PROBLEMS - swirls, water marks etc cos they know the problems are there.

The Flex might not be wholly effective here.



Assuming you hv developed your rotary skills, your suggestion is certainly sound....use a rotary to do intensive correction, and then refine the finish using a Flex or similar machines.



Note:

Meguiars 205?? If you happen to be doing lower-budget jobs as a beginner, I think using Megs 205 might not be cost effective. There are so many other similar products and methods that can get the job done.
 
Not that I have extensive knowledge base on rotaries by any means (the only one I own is a Vector) but as I'm sure that you COULD get major work done faster via rotary, I rather like having the middle ground that the flex provides.. Plus I rarely if ever have a paint so hard and beat up that I even peek over at my rotary.. Although now you guys are making me curious to.... ( accumulator, I think you might need to talk me off the ledge...again...)
 
yakky said:
If you already have a DA, go for the rotary. Cheaper and faster, and you can always finish up with the DA till you get your technique down.
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As already stated, you can still use the DA while you hone your technique on the rotary ...... although the Flex is a great machine for correction if you just want to use the one machine.
 
tdekany said:
The flex will do at least an even job if not faster correction as you don't have to chase after holograms.
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And...what about the oh-so-faint holograms that you can't always inspect for (weather conditions, etc.). I've had some that were *SO* minor that I couldn't see them under the SunGun/etc. Could only spot them in natural sunlight, at *just* the right angle (think "time of day"), and even then, only when sombody moved between the sun and the panels, creating a "shadow to light transition". Yeah, it took two people and a whole lotta time/effort; anybody else woulda called the vehicle in question (my Yukon XLD, big long job...) perfectly "hologram free" but my wife and I are both fanatics about holograms and it just wasn't good enough for us.



Coulda avoided the whole thing via Flex, but I wasn't the guy who rotaried it....



Note that those holograms were still there after extensive work with a few aggressive products via Flex, just barely there, but there nonetheless.
 
I have 3 units of PC and 3 units of Flex VRG + rotaries in my shop.

Although the Flex does have its strengths, I don't dare to say the FLEX will not cause holograms.



Once your FLEX work is done, and you think its swirl and hologram free, use full-strength alcohol to wipe repeatedly. Not IPA with water. Then, use M6000. Then wash the area using full strength MPC. Dont wipe dry...blow dry.

Switch off all fluorescents. Use your metal halide and incandescent lighting. Even better, wait till night and park under the sodium vapour street lights. I'm getting sodium vapour installed in my shop next month.



Then, you'll see the REAL picture. Flex VRG, if used improperly with wrong products and pads, can cause holograms. On super soft clearcoats such as Porsche and Honda, even a PC with a yellow pad or finishing pad + PO85RD CAN cause very light/faint hologramming....I've seen it before!!!!



If the weather is good, all cars are my shop MUST be inspected in this fashion before I proceed to sealants, waxes and coatings.

From my experience, just IPA or IPAmixed with water and M6000 won't show you the real picture.



So, depending on the budget of the job and the kind of clearcoat you're facing, pls be careful.
 
gigondaz- This is probably a(nother) case of miscommunication/use of terminology; while it's certainly possible to get various forms of micromarring with the Flex 3401, I don't consider such artifacts to be "holograms". I see holograms as a purely rotary-induced phenomenon, and I've never seen them from any RO/DA polishing. I've seen "pseudo-holograms" as I call them, but while very similar, I don't think they're the same thing. IME, the proper pad/product/technique can avoid that sort of thing with RO/DA polishers,though it can be a challenge to find the right combos for problematic paints.



Sorry if that sounds oh-so-pedantic :o



And yeah, failure to do proper inspections can lead to all sorts of surprises! And just get me going about inspection lighting....
 
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