Please help ... PC hurting my car, I think

B

benoh

New member
I recently purchased a PC, trying to remove a lot of small scratches / spider webbing. I just tried using it on my hood and it seems that the PC and / or the pad and polish I'm using is making it worse by putting hologram / swirl marks on the car.



I did the following steps ... maybe I did something wrong.



Washed the car with Adam's car wash

Clayed the car with Claymagic

Dried the car with a cotton towel

Use Adam's black pad (from the white / black pad & backing plate combo)



with 3m Perfect It - Swirl Remover for Dark colored cars (39009)



and i stopped there because of the swirling / hologram. I had the PC speed @ 4.





What am I doing wrong? How do I remove the swirls I just put on? Help!
 
Are you holding it flat against the paint, how fast/slow are you moving the buffer, how much product are you using for a given size area, are you buffing until dry or stopping while still wet?



You could sign up at meguiarsonline.com for their detailing class, they go over proper use of the PC, pads and polish. Also, if you specify the city, maybe someone in your area that's sucessful with their PC can show you how it's done.
 
i am holding the PC flat against the paint.



As for how fast I'm going ... it's really hard to explain, but it's not really slow.



As for the product, I probably used about a good gloop of it, about the size of a half dollar



I buffed till it was still wet ... perhaps it was dry. I'll give it another try and see how it goes.





Also, I'm in Fullerton, California.
 
just got back from giving it another try ... i got most of the swirling i put on off ... but still don't see any results with the paint. it looks exactly the same.
 
3M dark SMR will often hologram by itself. I don't know why it does this but I've had it happen before, theres no paint damage because of it. Also, the black pad is so soft, it'll never do anything correction wise.



Get the following:

6" Orange pad

PB's SSR2.5

PB's SSR1



Use SSR2.5 via orange @6

SSR1 via white @6

Seal/wax as desired



The black pad is fine for applying waxes, but it is pretty much useless, otherwise. Don't be afraid of the PC, it is 99% impossible to do damage with it. Hell, I run a rotary, and I haven't done any damage in the 20 cars or so I've used it on.
 
It is not the appropriate combo. Maybe the black pad is too delicate for swirl removal, and you are using too little product. Another mistake: Speed too low.



While Adam uses his b/w pad colors inversely (back for polishing, white for waxing), it still may be good for polishing. Don't know these pads.



Solution: slap the polishing pad on (Adam's black or a good white - even orange - one from a known vendor), bur before that, check its surface! If you can't find any contaminants, dirt, etc., pour a decent amount of polish on it. A nice spiral will do; and use the polish liberally! At first, you may feel that the pad is a bit stiff. Smear and spread the product with the machine turned off (20×20 inch area). You may feel a little grittyness, or - when using a finer polish - sandyness from under the pad. Then lay your pad on the surface, and start the machine @ 4. In a nice systematic pattern, cover the whole 20×20 area. When you take a close look, you may see tiny dots (the abrasives, actually), and still feel some coarseness. Not problem, just keep the machine moving. SLOWLY! That means 2-3 inch/sec. When you covered the whole area pretty good, kick the speed up to 6, to break down the abrasives. This way they will finish up significantly finer. You will feel that the sandy feel disappears, and you won't see tiny abrasive-grains any more, just a fine hazy layer of product. Move the PC even SLOWER, and because this time the pad is already softer, you can apply a little bit of pressure. Just push the pad down to make it a little bit puffy (when necessary). Continue polishing until the product produces a finer haze but still wet. Don't wait until it dusts. Remove with a MF. As necessary apply more polish, but this time a bit less. Polish again, remove, inspect.

If you are satisfied, stop and top it. If not, chime back :D!!!
 
Mike of Meguiars just posted a good article on how to use the PC on their website. You have to move slow, very slow and use a good amount of pressure. In the 3M line I would use their Finesse-It II machine polish but really you should be using a dimishing abbrasive for a beginer like Meg's #80 or #83. Perfect-It II is a rubbing compound and should be used for extreme cases where you are removing a deep scratch or sanding marks and with a rotary buffer and a wool pad. Also, a PC will draw product to the center of the pad, the opposite of a rotary buffer so don't put product in the center, it will not get evenly distributed on the pad. Put a bead around the pad near the edge, blot in a few areas around where you're working to spread the product out and turn the PC on/off only while it's pressed against the car. My office is in Orange if you are still frustrated.



http://www.meguiarsonline.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=7034
 
I too believe it is the pad you are using. Most companies that produce black pads, those pads are used for final buffing after polishing, sealing, waxing, etc. Maybe you need a more aggressive pad and polish such as the other's were mentioning.
 
themightytimmah said:
3M dark SMR will often hologram by itself. I don't know why it does this but I've had it happen before, theres no paint damage because of it. Also, the black pad is so soft, it'll never do anything correction wise.
Click to expand...





has anyone else had the same results with the 3M SMR hologramming?
 
like on the megs site i use megs 83 on mine (with orange sonus das pads), this slightly dulls the paint, you then go over with megs 80 (2 passes on a sonus green pad), this is a tried and tested combo and wont leave the marks you talk about , its well worth a go
 
JamRWS6 said:
Yes, I've had the exact same thing happen.
Click to expand...



What kind of pad were you using? could you be specific on what you were using? I searched the site and it seems people don't really have a problem with the SMR 39009 ... but I could be wrong
 
benoh- I think you'll find a *lot* more people who *don't* like that 3M SMR than people who *do* like it. It probablay "looks the same" because the SMR has *very* mild (as in, *too* mild) abrasives and a lot of fillers. Unless you're using a rotary the abrasives won't do much, and unless your marring is very mild the fillers won't hide it. Save yourself frustration and try a different product.



For good results with the PC, let alone when just starting out, I'd recommend the Meg's #80. Nice results with a good steep learning curve. Just get a polishing pad, work the #80 until it turns from green/brown to clear, wipe off before totally dry, and admire the great results.



Oh, and I'd quit drying with the cotton towel, it could well be causing the marring you're struggling to get out ;) And at the risk of sounding snarky, the video on the Adams website about how to wash a car is more like "how to scratch up the paint of your car". Good wash technique is the foundation of good detailing, and that's a good example of how *not* to do it.
 
i was thinking about getting a microfiber towel for drying but ... from what ive seen, the cotton towel isnt creating new swirls and sscratches but I really can't tell since the paint is really scratched. As soon as I polish most of the swirls off ... I'm sure I can tell.



Currently, I'm going to try to use the Adam's black / white pad later on today with the Swirl Remover and the Revive. I'm sure that Adam created this combo for a reason, and hopefully, it'll remove some of the swirls caused by the 3M SMR.



I've been searching the forum for people who have used the Adam's black / white pad combo with the swirl remover / revive - exactly how Adam uses it in the video (@ 4 on the PC - 90% revive / 10% swirl) ... but I tried a 50/50 mix of the revive and swirl, but didnt get any good results.



I'm probably going to try the SSR2 / SSR2.5 with a yellow / orange cutting pad later on, but as for right now, I just want to repair the damage caused by the 3M SMR.



I just want my car to be normal =(
 
i havent got it yet ...



just went through with the adams black pad with some of the revive and a lot of scratch remover and it got most of the swirl / hologramming off. my paint is almost near normal.



actually, i think it was my technique with the PC. I actually tried the described on this post ...



http://www.meguiarsonline.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=7034



and it actually did remove some swirls ... but definately not scratches. I used the revive / scratch remover with a 50 (revive) / 50 (swirl) combo with the technique described on the post and it does get rid of light swirling, but definately not scratches. I also used the PC at 4 to spread the compound around and set it @ 5 and started applying more pressure.



So, from all this, I've learned

Adam's revive is pretty kick *** ... actually brought some depth / clarity in my paint

Adam's swirl remover with the black pad is pretty much worthless, unless you have some very very light swirls.

Using the swirl remover and the revive together is all right, but a 50/50 mixture of swirl remover is needed. I would rather go with another polish / scratch and swirl remover for cars that have medium

swirl and scratches. The thing I liked about the revive and S&S remover is that it's so easy to take off.



As for the 3M SMR ... I'm going to stay away from that for a while. It could be me not knowing how to use the PC and the SMR correctly, but I'm just going to try the SSR 2.0 / 2.5. The process seems relatively easy and from checking the board, it seems like a popular product.
 
IPA? what does that mean?



As for the revive having fillers ... i personally dont think so, but you can call Adam's to perhaps find out.



You can contact Larry DeWeese ... who is a distributor for adam's products.

cell #: 310-951-6548
 
IsoPropyl Alcohol. Removes wax. Just spray on undiluted or cut 50:50 with water. Let it sit a few minutes and wipe it down with a MF. Then you should see the true surface - without fillers.
 
Hologramming often happens even by pros who polish every week. It's not a big deal, just follow with a good finishing polish like FPII and poof byby holo's.
 
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