LC 3.5" backing plate

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Was polishing my headlights today with a 3.5" backing plate and ccs 4" pads. About 5 mins into polishing the backing plate went flying. The rubber plate just tore away from the metal part. Got a nice ding in my headlight. Lucky I wasn't polishing my paint. Anyone had this experience? Guess I need the rotary type BP with an adapter
 
what kind of backing plate was it? i have the 3.5" backing plate from exceldetail and haven't had any probs...
 
Lucky you weren't doing a customers paint!!!!!



Contact Phil Detailer's Domain. He will set you up with the nizzle!!!



Andy
 
Here's what it looks like:

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It's about a year old and used maybe 3 times for a total of 1 hr. Even if they replaced it, I wouldn't use it in fear that it could damage my paint or worse, someone might get hurt.
 
i try not to run it on the higher speeds for a long periods of time, these smaller DA backing plates seem to be more prone to falling apart when doing so...
 
BigAl3 said:
i try not to run it on the higher speeds for a long periods of time, these smaller DA backing plates seem to be more prone to falling apart when doing so...
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Exactly... even on speed 4-5 if you run the RO too long or with lots of pressure (or when it's hot out) that's going to happen... just be aware next time and check how hot the backing plate gets.
 
So whats a safe alternative? I was about to order a LC backing plate and some 4in pads as it seems that 4in are recommended on a DA for actual correction
 
purplenurple said:
So whats a safe alternative? I was about to order a LC backing plate and some 4in pads as it seems that 4in are recommended on a DA for actual correction
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There's really not a great alternative.. heat is heat and a RO will make tons of it if used under pressure and in hot conditions... just stay at speed 5 and/or give it time to cool off... feel the head of the polisher as you go along as well as take off the pad and feel the backing plate... if the pad is getting hot you might be SOL very soon.
 
I use speeds of 4-5 with PC/4".



With the currently available products (e.g., M105) and pads (e.g., PFW), that's plenty fast enough. Even with older-tech compounds that need to break down in a big way (e.g., 1Z Pasta Intensiv), that speed is sufficient. It's different with small vs. large pads...the old rule of "use speed 6 for correction" doesn't always apply.



I'd take it a little easy with the pressure too...we're not rewriting the laws of physics here and it's certainly possible to overdo things. When I had my "oops!" on the MPV it was with the PC and a 4" green Cyclo polishing pad (not too aggressive) and 3M PI-III RC 05933 (again, not very aggressive stuff), at speed 4.5 IIRC. I did apply a bit too much pressure and I'm sure that contributed a lot to the "oops" happening so easily (and no, that's not the word I used at the time ;) ).



I've taken out serious defects on hard clear without high speeds or excessive pressure. For that matter, even being fairly reasonable, I've gone too far :o with PC/3.5" PFW...and that was on an Audi too.



Gee...after decades of doing this stuff safely with machines like this I messed up the clear on two vehicles with the PC and small pads. Heh heh, as they say...that's a clue.



I wish I could remember where I got my little PC backing plates...they've held up fine for years and years. What about ones made for the Cyclo? The thread size is the same and while you need to wrestle the velcro-topped rubber boots on I've *NEVER* had an issue with Cyclo backing plates in the 20-some years I've used them.
 
Yep. Same thing happened to me about a month and a half ago. I nearly had a heart attack but was lucky enough to pull away from the paint just as the backing plate came apart.



It was probably due to me using it high speed. Do you think LC would replace this?
 
Had the same problem last week. I have always been a rotary guy and a Cyclo if necessary, but I ordered a PC because everyone was getting such great results and finishing down with less steps, so I had to try it. My LC backing plate from AG burned up on the first vehicle. It came apart where the threads and plate meet. Looks exactly like to much heat, and I was using pressure. I was correcting a Denali and I was about 3/4's through the correction. I was releasing on the pressure so no damage occured, but it could of been brutal. I didn't have a back-up and I was angry because I was getting great results with the M105/205 combo. Luckily, I have a Tasco Auto Color right down the street and was able to find a 3M Perfect-it backing plate. I've done many cars since with no problem. I think my PC will burn up faster than my new plate though.
 
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