Robert--But what about the issue when Long Throw polishers stop spinning if pressure is applied??
Polishing power is mostly a result of friction. Friction is mostly a factor of pad movement across the paint's surface (augmented, of course, by the pad type as well abrasive type/amount). A large-throw machine, like the 21mm stroke that RUPES designed, gets the overwhelming amount of it's movement (thus friction) from the orbital movement of the tool. I have removed 1500 grit sanding scratches in front of people at SEMA while preventing the pad from rotating at all.
When the pad stalls (stops rotating) as a result of friction at the paint surface (the pad encounters a contour for example that creates a point of drag) then you do run the risk of the foam pad absorbing some of the orbital action - thus you get a double whammy (no rotation / loss of orbital action) which can result in less-than-optimal results.
What to do?
First, use foam pads that are designed for orbital action. Standard rotary pads are too soft and are too likely to absorb the orbital action, like a glob of Jello giggling on itself.
Second, increase pressure. By adding some compression to the foam you ensure that you are transferring the orbital action of the tool more effectively to the paint's surface. Don't push down super hard, just firmly apply pressure.
Pad rotation is nice as it certainly increases pad movement as well as help the scratch pattern to cross-hatch resulting in a better finish, but it isn't necessary - even for heavy correction.
