splattering?

M

mihilc

New member
I tried to polish a car with some "scrach remover" and a rotary with a polishing pad, I put some product on the pad, sprayed it a little with water and started buffing. But I got a lot of splattering. why?
 
mihilc said:
I tried to polish a car with some "scrach remover" and a rotary with a polishing pad, I put some product on the pad, sprayed it a little with water and started buffing. But I got a lot of splattering. why?
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That is just the nature of the beast. Once you get to use the rotary more and more you can control it a little bit. You could also switch to a concaved polishing pad instead of a flat one.
 
I just got Meguiars flat pads for my rotary but have not used them yet. I am new to mchaine polishing. Should I return the flat pads and get concave ones like Lake Country?
 
It's not the pad but the operator & technique that causes splatter when using a Rotary.



The splatter comes from polish being caught on the outer end of the pad and thus being slung around.



How to avoid it?



1) When prepping a pad don't saturate it, just a spritz to get it moist. I usally hold the spary bottle at least 6' away or more. A couple of light spritzes (depending on the size of the pad) then run my hand over the pad to work the water in.



2) Using much product. I've seen how-to's/write-ups here and on other sites where they have what looks like an oz or two or three of polish on the pad. That may work for a PC, but it's way too much for a Rotary and it's counter productive.



3) Don't use alot of polish on the pad and spread it around the work area you'll get splatter. Why, cause you've moved the polish (in excess) to the outer edge of the pad.





When I don't follow these simple rules (usually when I'm rushing or pissed off) I will get splatter, no matter what size pad.
 
MorBid said:
It's not the pad but the operator & technique that causes splatter when using a Rotary.



The splatter comes from polish being caught on the outer end of the pad and thus being slung around.



How to avoid it?



1) When prepping a pad don't saturate it, just a spritz to get it moist. I usally hold the spary bottle at least 6' away or more. A couple of light spritzes (depending on the size of the pad) then run my hand over the pad to work the water in.



2) Using much product. I've seen how-to's/write-ups here and on other sites where they have what looks like an oz or two or three of polish on the pad. That may work for a PC, but it's way too much for a Rotary and it's counter productive.



3) Don't use alot of polish on the pad and spread it around the work area you'll get splatter. Why, cause you've moved the polish (in excess) to the outer edge of the pad.





When I don't follow these simple rules (usually when I'm rushing or pissed off) I will get splatter, no matter what size pad.
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+1

I'll add keep the pad flat and don't left it up. The more you use your rotary the better you'll get with it . It's about the technique :buffing:
 
A soft flat pad is OK but a hard flat pad like a Megs burgundy pad will sling. I get very little sling out of the Edge pads. They are very slightly concave.
 
I've noticed when I spread the product on the panel I'm working on, I'll dab then drag it across a little bit to not have any peaks of product.
 
Also watch pressure. PC's require a lot of pressure. Let the rotary do the work via it's speed and the friction caused by the speed. I find that when I inadvertantly add pressure, I get splatter. Once you've worked in the polish a few seconds you can then add a little more pressure to work a problem area, but mainly I have found even this to not be very necessary.
 
One thing I have noticed in the two times I have used it now, the backing plate does not evenly contact the surface so there is an up and down wobble when working it. Is that normal? It doesn't look normal on buffing videos I have seen.
 
When using a rotary and polish I get get zero splatter.



When using a rotary, polish and a fair amount of QD to increase hang time I get loads of splatter. I think its impossible not to get splatter when using QD in this way.
 
thecarguy said:
One thing I have noticed in the two times I have used it now, the backing plate does not evenly contact the surface so there is an up and down wobble when working it. Is that normal? It doesn't look normal on buffing videos I have seen.
Click to expand...





Probaly the pad isn't "centered" on the plate. Wobbly is not normal, when the machine is rotating it should be smooth, like the pad isn't even there.
 
I took the backing plate and buffer back to the place I bought the plate. It just so happened that a community college auto finishing instructor was there helping out. He tested the plate and other plates on different machines. My buffer shaft is bad. SO I will take it back today and get another one. Despite getting this rotary buffer for an incredible price ($29), I would have been MUCH better off buying a quality parts online and not spending hours driving around town to different places to get parts here and there. Lesson learned.
 
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