Initial Review- UDM!!

budman3

budman3

Detail time!
First off I want to give huge thanks to everyone at Autogeek for giving me this opportunity to test out the new Ultimate Detailing Machine. The UPS guy delivered me a huge box from AG today. Inside were 6 or 7 pads, XMT pad conditioner and cleaner, a couple of German applicators, 5" backing plate, a buffer bag, and best of all the UDM. Sorry I do not have any pictures of the machine.



Of course it didn't take me long to unwrap everything and try it out. I was expecting this machine to be very similar to the Porter Cable 7424, but it is not. It sounds different and very smooth. I tested it out on the hood of my Jeep with a 5.5" light cut pad and it was very nice. Smooth, quiet, and powerful. I then tested it side by side with the PC with a 7.5" LC white polishing pad. I used the UDM with a 5" BP and the PC had a 6". Both machines worked the same... the results were very similar but I will need to do more testing before reaching any conclusions. I don't find the vibration on the PC to be overwhelming and the same is true with the UDM.



I know that it isn't good for the machine to run it without touching the surface, but I did. I had the PC in my right hand and UDM in my left, no pads on either one. The UDM has less vibration than the PC under this condition.



Here is a little list that I put together while I was looking over the UDM:



-It is about 1/2" longer and wider than the PC

-The cord is 6' 1/2" long ... 3' 1/2" shorter than the PC

-The weight compared to the PC seems the same

-The dial is backwards from the PC, confusing for a PC user

-The head of the UDM where the counterweight is located is significantly larger than the PC

-The UDM has a very different counterweight- quite unique.

-The plastic housing does not rattle like the PC does, with or without the handle

-The front lip is longer which makes gripping the head easier (without the handle)

-The backing plate stops spinning, without any friction, about half as fast as the PC would... you know when you are polishing and lift your pad and turn it off, the pad continues spinning? The UDM reduces that spinning by 1/2.



Here is a video, well sound, of the UDM. Since I am not allowed to post photos of the machine, you'll have to look at a few of my detailing products. Make sure your speakers are on. These videos are again holding the machines in the air with no pads. I spent about 5 seconds on each speed setting, starting at 1 and working my way up to 6.



UDM:

Speeds 3, 4, and 5 are all very similar in speed.





And the PC for comparison:

Speeds 1, 2, 3, and 4 are very similar in speed.





In the above videos you can tell where the machine speeds are the same. There is a significant tone difference between the two machines. I haven't tested the machine enought to give you any field test information... thus making this an initial review . Hope this helps give some information about this new polisher. Any questions???
 
You said the head of the UDM is larger, does that mean even more restriction on places you can get too? Like the pc you can only go so far on the door before you hit the side mirror housing, is it worse with the UDM?
 
thanks for the review. I thought this product had already been released (beginning of June?) ... so may I ask why you couldn't post pictures?



thanks.
 
paul34 said:
I thought this product had already been released (beginning of June?) ... so may I ask why you couldn't post pictures?
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Here is the official picture:



autopia_1952_168949
 
MobileJay said:
You said the head of the UDM is larger, does that mean even more restriction on places you can get too? Like the pc you can only go so far on the door before you hit the side mirror housing, is it worse with the UDM?
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I haven't had much "seat time" with the UDM yet but I mostly use 7.5" pads and don't have this problem. The UDM's head is 3 1/2" and the PC is 3 inches. So using a 4 inch pad may be tricky in tight spots. I also think that the orbital action on the UDM may be a little tighter than the PC... not positive yet though.



As for the pictures, Autogeek said that I couldn't post pictures of the machine because I got a version without the warning labels on it. Some type of liability issue I believe.



I'm glad you liked the sound clips, it sounds like one mean machine in person when you crank it up to speed 6! When I was working on the hood I applied a little pressure and the machine sounded mean but when I just let the weight of the machine on the surface ... wow.
 
budman3 said:
The UDM's head is 3 1/2" and the PC is 3 inches. So using a 4 inch pad may be tricky in tight spots.
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That's very strange because the counterweight guard on the UDM in my possession just now has a diameter of 100mm, or fractionally under 4".





budman3 said:
I also think that the orbital action on the UDM may be a little tighter than the PC... not positive yet though.
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The offset of the UDM is greater than the PC and measures 24mm according to DavidB.
 
I hope someone can put together a really good side by side comparison on the abilities of this machine to polish and compound paint. It really needs to be better to shell out more money for another PC style. I have been using my rotary more and more, it sure gets the job done faster in many cases.
 
Greg Nichols said:
I hope someone can put together a really good side by side comparison on the abilities of this machine to polish and compound paint. It really needs to be better to shell out more money for another PC style. I have been using my rotary more and more, it sure gets the job done faster in many cases.
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That is exactly why I pre-ordered it yesterday. However, I will bit be comparing it against rotary as it is not meant to be replacement for rotary, it is meant to be replacement for PC, better PC than a PC.
 
ZoranC said:
That is exactly why I pre-ordered it yesterday. However, I will bit be comparing it against rotary as it is not meant to be replacement for rotary, it is meant to be replacement for PC, better PC than a PC.
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Being that they are claiming that it can achieve 90% of the polishing ability of a rotary, I think a comparison against one is absolutely needed. No reason to buy one if you already have a PC if it's not head and shoulders better than one.
 
Alan W said:
That's very strange because the counterweight guard on the UDM in my possession just now has a diameter of 100mm, or fractionally under 4".



The offset of the UDM is greater than the PC and measures 24mm according to DavidB.
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I'm guessing that you have a different model than the one that I have...



Sorry that I haven't gotten the chance to post about the functionality of this machine yet. Hopefully you guys have a better feeling of what this machine actually is... physically.



The on / off switch is a little tricky.... but I've heard that David B. is working on that.



As for the vibration issues others have been talking about .... my girlfriend won't use the PC because of the vibrations (she tried it on speed 3 or 4) but I gave her the UDM to try and on speed 5 she was fine using it... I had her bump it up to 6 and she thought the machine was going to fly out of her hands... not because of the vibes but because of the power.
 
budman3 said:
I'm guessing that you have a different model than the one that I have...
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I think it will take DavidB to explain if there are two different pre-production machines being tested and which one is going to make it into production.



budman3 said:
The on / off switch is a little tricky.... but I've heard that David B. is working on that.
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I found the switch very simple to operate, no detents or latches etc, only requiring to be pushed forward for the machine to work and pushed back to stop it. If anything it was too easy and I accidently started the machine whilst holding and handling it at one point!



With regard to the performance, correction ability and vibration I'll post on Monday after a day spent playing with it tomorrow.
 
Alan W said:
If anything it was too easy and I accidently started the machine whilst holding and handling it at one point!



With regard to the performance, correction ability and vibration I'll post on Monday after a day spent playing with it tomorrow.
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Ditto :wavey I accidentally turned it on and polish went everywhere. Oops..



I'll be doing atleast one detail tomorrow with it, so I too will respond shortly after that.
 
Alan W said:
With regard to the performance, correction ability and vibration I'll post on Monday after a day spent playing with it tomorrow.
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budman3 said:
I'll be doing atleast one detail tomorrow with it, so I too will respond shortly after that.
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:bigups



I'm all kinds of anxious now.
 
So I just got done doing a quick detail with the UDM on a Buick. I did OPS with a 7.5" LC orange light cut pad topped with Collinite 845 with a 6" LC black CCS pad.



I'm fairly impressed with the UDM. I don't think there is a lot different with this machine compared to the PC. I worked the UDM pretty hard and it kept on going. It was very difficult to get the pad to NOT rotate on speed 5 and 6... which is better than the PC. The machine got fairly warm after these two steps... The vibrations, I don't find the PC to vibrate that much and the UDM is very similar.... but I believe that vibration has to do with how you center your pads. Non centered pads will vibrate a heck of a lot more than centered pads.... saying that the UDM vibrates more than a PC, in my experiences so far, is false.
 
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