heat good or bad

[White lexus 23]

when polishing with a rotary i have heard people say that when polishing with a foam pad that heat is good and i have heard others say heat is bad. When i usually feel the paint its usually warm but i was wondering why some would say either is good or bad.

 

[JasonD]

Heat with a rotary is something that can't be avoided. It is the heat that helps breaks down the polish, and is also what separates the rotary from all other types of machine polishers.



That being said, too much heat *can* be a bad thing. This is the key to using a rotary correctly. It's knowing how to control the heat and friction to work in your favor, and not do damage.



So, to answer your question, heat is normal and good. Too much heat is not good.

 

[Holden_C04]

Too Much Heat = Burned Paint

Too Little Heat = Insufficient Correction (on significant marring)



Edit: The key is to find the balance. You can read about how other members perform correction, and watch the videos of Meguiars open garage seminars with a rotary. However, your technique will only be honed with experience. A good idea is to grab a spare hood from a parts depot and practice on that.

 

[danponjican]

Yup, it is all about finding that balance. Heat is just a by-product of friction. Friction is what is removing that layer of paint to remove defects. Many people gauge how much correction they are doing by how much heat is generated. The tricky part is the the amount of material being removed goes up almost exponentially with the "heat gauge" method. So when you start going from warm to HOT, you better be careful because you are removing clear coat VERY fast at that point.