I have a friend that seriously underestimates the power of a PC...help me get my poin

S

slammin86

New member
I have a friend who started detailing cars a few months back. He always argues with me about the PC that I use and get great results with. Today he went over the edge with this statement.



"You can't cut scratches or remove swirls with a PC. You can hide them but not remove them."



I told him I was going to post this here and am going to direct him to this link.



Everyone chime in here.
 
Pick out a nicely swirled black car and show him
biggrin.gif
 
I can see both sides of the coin...



1) I can complete a full correction with a PC and 4" pads, removing 99% or more of swirls. It takes quite a bit of time, though.



2) With a rotary, I can complete a full correction in 25-50% of the time and achieve a better finish.



With a 6.5" pad however, a PC is IMO completely useless except to apply waxes or polish extremely, extremely soft paint.
 
I'm assuming that your friend is more or less an enthusiast detailer, not a Pro? If so, I'd have to say that a Pro(or people that charge a Pro rate for their services), are more or less cheating themselves and potentially their clients if they rely on a DA style machine for correction work?
 
Most of the argument is really time and pad surface area.



If you have enough time, you can use the PC to do almost anything that the other two general options can do. At least 99%.



If time is a factor at all on a heavily swirled paint job...for gosh sake use something other than a PC!!!
 
KnuckleBuckett said:
If you have enough time, you can use the PC to do almost anything that the other two general options can do. At least 99%.
Click to expand...





Why is it 99% and not 100% ? Can you explain the 1% difference? Explain please...
 
At a meeting of local detailers this past summer, we worked on an older 5 series BMW, black with scratches, swirls and oxidation. We tried 3 different techniques on 2 sections of the car, 1 on the side and the other on the trunk lid. Two guys did a compounding step with Makitas and I did one with a G110 - I got better results using the same product (megs 95 I believe) on PFW. Hey, they agreed, as did the owner of the Beemer. So, I say it depends on the car, the condition, the pads, the products and the technique. But to say that an orbital can't do as good as a rotary is not true, there are too many varibles to be considered.
 
A rotary can remove 1500/2000 grits efficiently. Some detailers or

paint correction specialists do work on fresh paint.



I have a Dynabrade RO head attachment for finishing super soft clears.

Rarely used but it is faster/better at times. So, having both is best.



:)
 
I removed 100% of swirls on a Toyota and an Audi with a PC using 6.5" pads, all I had at that time. To say this combination is useless except for applying waxes is laughable.
 
It depends on the paint and the condition. You can easily deswirl a WRX, for example, with a PC. You need a rotary for Ceramiclears.
 
I think a better question then if it can be done is



Why can't you show him and prove it?

a proper demo is worth way more then a thread on a forum
 
I have a PC, been using it for about half a year now. Before, I think it was ok but now I feel that the polishing with it is just too slow and I feel like ripping off my customers since I charge by the hour. I charge very small but still... It usually takes me a day and a half to do a 2 step polish.



I plan to get a rotary in the near future.
 
Here is -my- experience with a PC.



I believe that the PC isn't very efficent and leveling paint. While it 'removes' paint the goal isn't just the removal of paint but also the leveling of the paint. I believe that a PC is more likely to round off the changes in paint height, thus making swirl marks disappear.



I did a test on the amount of clear removed between rotary and pc to remove scratches and the only side that showed any defect return was the pc side.



This doesn't mean that the PC is bad, it can reduce the appearance of microscratching while still maintaining a thick clear coat. Also it can remove hologramming.



The portercable has limitations, IME.
 
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