Sprayhead for Optimum Spray Compound?

A

Accumulator

Well-known member
I'm using Optimum's new Spray Compound via Flex 3401/Griot's 6" for a quick (and less-than-Autopian to be sure!) job on the '00 beater-Tahoe (emphasis on "beater"). Gotta get the thing in service like yesterday and I'm working in a very crowded shop, so a low-dust, user-friendly compound like this is just perfect, even if it doesn't cut like some of my usual faves. It's doing a good enough job for what I'm after, it's not making a mess, and it's not wearing me out.



So, OK so far....except for being able to spray the stuff, let alone in a nice fine spray like in the video that Mike Phillips made with Dr. G.



The sprayer that came with the compound lasted two squirts, and they were *squirts* not "sprays". Then it died with a breaking-plastic sound.



I've tried a few other spray heads (grrr...contaminating them with compound means they go in the trash) with pretty lousy results. All I can say is that I am getting the stuff on the pads, but sheesh...I'm not doing this right by a long shot.



So what's the optimal (heh heh) spray head for Optimum's Spray Compound? How do you get a reasonably fine spray? And any other advice would also be appreciated.



This stuff sure leaves a nice finish (at least on imperfect GM Pewter), not sure what I'm gonna follow up with :think: Something user-friendly and quick, that's for sure!
 
Accumulator, I'm not sure if it would work for spraying a compound, but the maroon Meguiars generic QD bottle has the best spray pattern of any bottle I've ever used. I buy the stuff, use it for clay lube, then keep the bottle for spraying anything that needs to have a very even, fine spray pattern. Just don't know how well it'd do with something as thick as a polish. If you happen to have a bottle laying around, it might be worth a shot.



Very interested to hear how you like that compound. Been meaning to order some, but with all the polishes I already have, kinda hard to justify. I'm sick of the 105 dust, for sure.
 
As per Doc's instructions on Optimum's forum. The sprayer on both their compound and polish works a little backward. You open it all the way up for a stream and then slowly close it down until it sprays. I open to a stream and hold it tight against the pad which primes the pad.(nice feature) Then I gradually close it until I get the spray I want. The spray head will break if it is not opened enough, so don't pull hard. If it is adjusted correctly, it is a easy pull and works well.



Also the compound is not very agressive but finishes nice. The polish is very fast to apply and finishes great.
 
Look what I did - the bottle between EZ Creme and Zaino 5?



That is OHC :D - I just poured it into a bottle. End of trouble.



2010thanksgiving039.jpg
 
I use a tolco 320 spray head which works much better! FWIW, OHCS doesn't cut nearly as much as advertised, IME. M105 cuts much better!
 
I think it cuts great with a standard wool pad and finishes with very shallow and faint buffer trails. Cuts for along time too which is totally different than M105. Sorry about the sprayer Accumulator. It's yet to happen to me.
 
tdekany said:
Look what I did - the bottle between EZ Creme and Zaino 5?



That is OHC :D - I just poured it into a bottle. End of trouble.



2010thanksgiving039.jpg
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Doesn't that defeat the purpose of the whole spray compound thing they got going on? lol
 
I never used it, so I can't comment but it just seems if a product was made to be sprayed then why squeeze it? Then again, Im one for doing some strange things! lol
 
Yes it is effective. But it isn't the most cutting of compounds like 105/HD UNO. However it works very well and finishes amazing. Try it with a wool pad on your da.



DitchTehFish said:
Is OHSC effective with a DA and cutting pad?
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I hope you don't ban my butt for it. :D:D:D



My sprayer was spraying everywhere and also was dripping. The product is very thin and it still works the same as in a sprayer.



Please don't ban me???? :bow :bow :bow



Barry Theal said:
Doesn't that defeat the purpose of the whole spray compound thing they got going on? lol
Click to expand...
 
I talked to Dr. G recently on the phone and another pointer he gave me since my sprayers were crapping out was once you find the right angle of spray you are looking for, leave the nozzle there, don't close it again once it's set because it can/will clog up the sprayer and cause parts to fail.
 
Thanks for all the replies...didn't see 'em until now as I was out in the shop all yesterday (and I mean until oh dark hundred this morning) doing the correction on the beater-Tahoe. Well, "correction" such as it was...hey, this is Autopia :o



I had figured out that the sprayer needed adjusted properly; the only sprays I really got before it broke were onto a towel while I adjusted it. Sheesh, it broke after I got it right! But I never *did* get a misty spray and the product never seemed as thin as I was expecting :nixweiss.



The nice folks at Optimum are sending me another sprayer, great customer service (I had a PM waiting here when I logged on).



Here are some first-time use impressions of the compound:



-Milder cut than M105. I used foam and coulda/woulda/shoulda gone with wool had I wanted to take off enough clear for an "Autopian" finish (which I didn't want to do for a lot of reasons).



(And yeah, plenty of today's wool pads work fine via RO/DA; I even use 4" wool via PC. Just gotta use the right wool pads.)



-Works fine, if mildly, by hand. Plan on spending a while if you want to actually *correct* something with it by hand.



-VERY nice finish for a compound, even via Flex 3401/Meg's 7006. Finished even nicer when I used an orange LC pad. If somebody said they considered the results ready-to-wax on certain colors/paints I wouldn't argue *too* much. But yeah, it sure looked better after M205/LC white and ZAIO/LC black (both via Griot's 6"). Overall, this compound kinda reminds me of how 3M's PI-III RC 05933 used to work so nicely on single stage paint back in the day. Didn't see the same kind of micromarring I've come to expect from M105 (the kind I can only see under the SunGun).



-It's a *VERY* low-dust product! I generally don't worry about that, but this time it was important and the Optimum didn't disappoint. It wasn't *NO* dust, but I was almost certainly using too much product so YMMV in a good way. But hey, even as it was I've never used a compound that dusted so little, not by a long shot.



-If you use a lot of product (hint: don't do that) it can be murder to get out of your pads and keeping the pads unclogged/clean enough to work right can be a challenge. Had the product dispensed in a fine, thin spray I think this woulda been a non-issue.



-I wonder a little about sensitivity to lower temperatures. I didn't heat up the shop all that warm (cheapskate me, but hey..I was comfortable while working) and that might've affected the product a bit.



Overall, a winner :xyxthumbs But I'm not ready to say it'll replace all my compounds and IMO it's certainly not in the same class as rotary-only rocks-in-a-bottle. But it *might* be a replacement for such stuff if combined with very gentle wetsanding (which wasn't on the table for this detail); I bet it would team up great with 3-4000 sanding media.
 
shouldnt there be one setting for this stuff? I think that Dr. G should get a sprayer that works and one that is "set" already instead of letting the customer try to figure it out



and I agree, the megs bottle is the best bottle I have used! I dont like the product, the QD, but the bottle is awesome!!!
 
toyotaguy said:
shouldnt there be one setting for this stuff? I think that Dr. G should get a sprayer that works and one that is "set" already instead of letting the customer try to figure it out



and I agree, the megs bottle is the best bottle I have used! I dont like the product, the QD, but the bottle is awesome!!!
Click to expand...



The current sprayer performed well in all our testing (over 6 months). We loosen the head all the way and tuned it back down until we hit the sweet spot then left it. Going back at different intervals to check it without any troubles. Yes, we would also prefer a one setting trigger sprayer, but one with our specs doesn't currently exist (we are still looking). There are a few reported breakages, but for the amount of product sold, there are very few having problems. For those of you having problems, you may email me a photo of your broken sprayer and a brief description of what happened and I will get a new one out to you.



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