Problems with Menzerna twins?

  • Thread starter Thread starter jw
  • Start date Start date
J

jw

New member
I bought the Menzerna twins a while ago and have tried them a couple of different of cars. I'm using the orage and white pads from CMA with my PC. I used it on the trunk and it seems to work ok. When i used it on the hood it looks like it left some smaller micro scratches that can be seen in certain lighting. This has happened with both the final polish and the stronger polish. Am I doing something wrong or are the menzerna products not that great. Whould i try something else? I like to use p21s as a final topper.
 
Menzrna are the best polishing products sorry to here about your probs. Mezerna Power Gloss is more of an orange pad product. Ip a good white pad. FPII a good finishing pad product. Have you tried FPII with a finishing pad? Also you like that p21s topper good, but also use that p21s paint cleaner after polishing.
 
I have used Ip with orange cut pad and FPII with white polish pad without any probs at all. Are you working the polish in long enough?



I have found out that if you dont work the polish in long enough the abrasives wont have enough time to break down properly, then when you go to wipe it clean, you are rubbing the remaining abrasive into the finish causing the micro scratches. Try working the polish in a little longer almost till there isnt much left to haze then wipe. This will assure the PC has broken the abrasives down enough IMO.



The only other things i could think of why you may have gotten different results from different parts is that maybe one, the hood or the truck lid has been previously repainted or was the hood warm or hot from running the engine?



I feel that IP works best with orange cut pad but nothing wrong with using a white polish pad as well. The FPII I feel will work best with white polish pad, allowing it to "burnish" the paint a little more then the gray finishing pad would allow. That's just my opinion of course.
 
jw,



Strange you should post this. I bought IP and FPII six months ago, used an orange and white CMA pad and got great results with the PC.



Last week; wash, clay, and then I break out the IP and FPII, and after I'm done, in direct sunlight I see BAD micro-marring, everywhere, very fine lines, parallel "arching" scratch patterns, like a tiny piece of diamond was on the pad and went in long strokes up and down about a half an inch wide. I was shocked. :eek:



Even used it lightly on 2 for a brief few seconds on the quarter panel windows...YICKS! Found the same fine scratches and "the pattern" on the glass...visible from certain angles in low sunlight. #$^**(@%^. I thought that was safe! Wrong. Was it the yellow pad and IP I used this time instead of the orange pad??? (That's probably it, but I never ran the DA over 3 on th paint.) The white pad and FPII not over 3.5. It didn't clear up the marring so maybe the FPII did the damage. I've used other polishes before on windows with no damage and FPII always gave a great finish. Boy, did I do something wrong this time! The piant I'll fix. The windows are "ruined" in my mind, but it's not very noticeable to other people.



I've puzzled over this a lot. Was it old dry clumps of polish initially put onto the pad out of the spout... like pieces of micro sand? Was one of the pads defective? Why did I have no problems before? Did the polish go bad? I gave them a shake every month. I'm really not sure what happened, but It's shaken my confindence in the Menzerna polishes I have and in what I thought I knew about them. A QUART OF FPII !!! I'm not sure I want to risk using it again. I don't know how to test them for safety from here on. Maybe it would be something to save and someday get a rotary. I've never "screwed up " a job before. It's a real ego deflator. Glad it was MY truck and not someone else's ride. DACP never did this....maybe because it breaks down.



I'm going to redo with SSR2.5 and SSR1 but the windows are probably unfixable. Hope someone can offer answers but I'm not sure anybody can. Messing up doesn't bother me as much as not knowing why it happened.



Just thought you might like to know I had a similiar experience and FWIW, I feel your pain.
 
P.S. to the above....I worked them plenty. They had time to break down. Especially the IP.
 
JW,



I use IP with an orange and white pad, and FPII with a white pad. I've had minimal problems. One thing is that I work them until about dry and then wipe with a damp MF towel spritzed with a 50/50 mix of alcohol and water. Are you wiping with a dry or wet MF?



Regards,



Dan.
 
If your having problems with your paint after using fpII with a white pad that could be the problem. I use this stuff all the time and you should use a finishing pad with FPII for best results. But menzerna is so forgiving you can use many different pads per application, but that's not necasserily the best way. If you use IP for the swirls with either w or o pad, FPII with a finishing pad will give you the mirror look your looking for. But it's possible your not polishing long enough too.



Application guide:



http://www.sportscarcare.com/scc/product.asp?ItemID=men-fp2



PS. - NEVER use on glass! For glass I use dissappearing windows with 0000 steel wool, if MF isn't enough.
 
Is the pattern your finding the pattern that would be left by an orbital or the cloth you used to remove the product.



When I use the IP with a yellow pad I have never had marring.



Also when I use either I use a spray bottle with distilled water and spritz the surface to keep the product workable.



Maybe the cloth had something in it? Maybe the claying never took off everything and something was picked up.



Just some thoughts.
 
Marty Grant- Sorry to hear about the scratches, messed up glass is a real bummer. The only Menzerna product I've used is FP (I), but marring like that says "contamination" to me. I use all kinds of products, including some pretty aggressive ones (always at 5-6 when by PC), and I never get marring like that on glass. IMO something got on/in the pad and inflicted the damage. Scratching glass like that is *way* beyond the abrasives in something like those products, even when dry.



Real lesson here: do limited areas at a time and inspect your work carefully as you go. Better to mess up *one* section of a panel and catch it right away.
 
sorry to hear you had problems with IP & FPII, I've used both a few times in my limited experience and the results have always been satisfying and I've fixed more imperfections than I've introduced unexpectedly.



I would suspect some product residue or something caught in the pad so here's a thought. There are two variables that come into play here, the product & the pad so it's easy to eliminate the pad if you try some FPII on a fresh, unused polishing pad in a limited test area.



The label says nothing about "shake well" before using but I tend to do this out of habit. The "dried product in the tip of the spout" is a distinct possibility so it might be worth wasting a couple drops to clean the spout.



good luck
 
Jesstzn,



The cloth having something in it might be a possibilty. I'm trying to remember if I might have accidently picked up the MF I had used to dry my wheels with and picked up something off that?

-------------------------------------------

Accumulator,



Yes. I've used DACP and other polishes on this truck's glass and never had a problem before. I tend to think pad contamination myself because the "pattern" on the paint is just like one area on a quarter panel glass.

-------------------------------------------

NYV6Coupe,



I like your test idea. New vs. "old" pads. It's worth trying just to see what happens.

-----



I appreciate the advice, guys. Good to know Menzerna doesn't do this marring thing and pads, clay or cloth could have contributed.



Hope jw's problem is helped by all this, too.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top