Ooops.....

First lets get something straight right now, you MOST CERTAINLY CAN BURN THROUGH PAINT WITH A PC. Base coat clear coat or single stage. I have done it and seen others do it several times. It isn't as easy as doing it with a rotary but you can and will if you are not careful.

One of the biggest misinformations on these detailing sites is that a PC can't correct paint. Well I do it all the time and judging by the before and after pics posted on here so do many others.How do you think a PC corrects paint? It removes it. It abrades the paint and levels it. How many times do you think you can do this? Eventually you wear through. How many times you can abrade paint before you wear through depends on how thick the paint is. That depends on if it's factory paint, repaint, location on the car, how many times previously it was polished, etc. It also depends on how aggressive you get. A cutting pad with a compound on 6 with pressure and repeated applications is pretty aggressive. Ask my door how I know that. :eek:

The bottom line is you only have so much paint and when it's gone it is gone, time for a repaint. This is why you use the least aggressive method to do the job and then you use anal washing and drying techniques and tools to maintain the finish as defect free as possible. The less you have to level the paint the better.
 
check out RespectTheMullet.com it expalins and demonstrates using the buffer correctly and damages that can be done. once damaged, must be repainted.
 
Fixed.
Cost about $260 and 2 days to fix, rental included.

Before:
dsc012127ra.jpg

After:
dsc012130ny.jpg
 
Glad to see you got that fixed.

In the end, the cause of the paint burn was likely your use of the PC with SSR 2.5 and orange pad. As Anthony pointed out there's only so much paint on a panel and cutting pads and abrasive polishes will remove that paint even with a PC. It's not easy to remove all the paint at once with these tools, but they do remove paint each time you use them and that's how they're meant to work.

However, there could have been contributing factors. For instance, many cars arrive at dealerships slightly damaged during transit from the factory. Many of these cars are re-painted, wet sanded, or compounded and then sold without any notification of the work. It's quite possible someone else caused the paint to be thin in that spot and you just burned right through what little paint was left.

I wouldn't let this scare you away from machine polishing. Overall, the PC is a rather safe tool to use and SSR2.5 is a good, safe polish. Maybe you could add a paint thickness meter to your detailing arsenal though.
 
Anthony A said:
What did they do to repair it? Touch up the spot or repaint the panel or repaint the panel and adjoining panel?


I believe he sanded the area(maybe the whole fender) and then painted it. It looks like they went over the fender with a buffer after it was finished because there is marring/swirls in the fender and a little part of the door and hood.
 
Mikeyc said:
Glad to see you got that fixed.

In the end, the cause of the paint burn was likely your use of the PC with SSR 2.5 and orange pad. As Anthony pointed out there's only so much paint on a panel and cutting pads and abrasive polishes will remove that paint even with a PC. It's not easy to remove all the paint at once with these tools, but they do remove paint each time you use them and that's how they're meant to work.

However, there could have been contributing factors. For instance, many cars arrive at dealerships slightly damaged during transit from the factory. Many of these cars are re-painted, wet sanded, or compounded and then sold without any notification of the work. It's quite possible someone else caused the paint to be thin in that spot and you just burned right through what little paint was left.

I wouldn't let this scare you away from machine polishing. Overall, the PC is a rather safe tool to use and SSR2.5 is a good, safe polish. Maybe you could add a paint thickness meter to your detailing arsenal though.


Looks like I might have to do some machine polishing in the future to remove the marring/swirls left after the repaint or pay someone to do it. If I do it myself though,this time I will be using a finishing pad and some Menzerna CeramiClear PO106FF. What do you think? Where do I get one of these paint thickness meters?
 
jaybs95 said:
How long did the say before you could wax or seal it?

P.S.
Glad to see you that repaired

"J"


He said about three weeks. He said it was ok to wash it . I will need to do this as soon as possible because whoever washed it afterwards left all kinds of water spots and steaks all over the car. I had a few coats of Natty Blue on it,hopefully thats enough to prevent them from setting on the paint.
 
RedLight_Si said:
He said about three weeks. He said it was ok to wash it . I will need to do this as soon as possible because whoever washed it afterwards left all kinds of water spots and steaks all over the car. I had a few coats of Natty Blue on it,hopefully thats enough to prevent them from setting on the paint.
Whatever wax you had on that fender is LONG GONE since it was repainted. I've never heard of waiting to wash after a re-paint. That's kind of new advice to me. I would wait a few months for the paint to set before trying to polish out those defects the body shop put in the paint. It's just pretty tricky IMO to buff soft paint like that.
 
Good to see that you got it fixed. ON the issue of a paint thickness guage, I wouldnt waste your money on that. I think they are usually about 800 bucks. Just make sure not to do to aggresive polishing all the time. remember, least abrasive product first!

Greg
 
GregCavi said:
Good to see that you got it fixed. ON the issue of a paint thickness guage, I wouldnt waste your money on that. I think they are usually about 800 bucks. Just make sure not to do to aggresive polishing all the time. remember, least abrasive product first!

Greg
Is that how much they are? I had no idea. I just thought I would throw it out there as a suggestion. After I thought about it I felt he would have to know how thick his paint is supposed to be for the gauge to be helpful.

Anyway, I still believe that the paint was thin before he started on this particular buffing experience.
 
Mikeyc said:
Anyway, I still believe that the paint was thin before he started on this particular buffing experience.

Chances are, you are right. About a week after I bought my car, I noticed a roughness in the paint on the curved in part of the fender right before the mirror on both sides of the car,so I brought it back to the dealership. If I remember correctly, the guy said he buffed it with a light compound. Since he was working in that area, there is definetly a good chance that he went over that curved edge where the paint did come off.
 
RedLight_Si said:
I believe he sanded the area(maybe the whole fender) and then painted it. It looks like they went over the fender with a buffer after it was finished because there is marring/swirls in the fender and a little part of the door and hood.

They didn't blend it with the adjoining panels? Most places I know will paint the area and the panels beside it to blend the color match. In your case I would think they would have did the door and maybe the hood to.
 
Back
Top