When to use a rotary?

[tguil]

When do you reach for the rotary?



I recently purchased a Makita 9227 and am sure that there will be times that I will use it. But I’m just not sure when. Right now both my 2003 black Dodge Hemi and my wife’s silver 2002 Tacoma are in near perfect condition having been detailed with #83, #82 and two applications of NXT. I accomplished this with very little effort using a pc and various pads.



I talked with one of the customer service folks at CMA about pads to use on a rotary and in our discussion he stated that I really should only use the rotary to remove paint defects that will not come out with a pc. I just think that he might be right. Why take the chance on holograms, etc. if you don’t need to?



How many of you routinely use a rotary to maintain vehicles that are in relatively good condition? What products, pads and rotary speed do you use to do so?



I don’t feel the need to justify buying the rotary. I have lots of other “tools� that don’t get a heck of a lot of use.



Tom

 

[tangix2001]

I agree only use the rotary when the PC or a Cyclo can't remove the defect. However I have used the rotary for all steps including applying wax with no ill effects. Then again the more you use the rotary the better you'll get.

 

[l33]

Don't use the rotarty for applying wax or glaze, the rotarty should be used for paint correction ONLY. Neither have cleaning properties or enough cleaning properties(i.e. cleaner wax) to justify.



Any light touch ups, very minor marring, i use the PC. Otherwise for polishing and compound i use the rotarty mainly, you'll get much better results and in less time. The better you get with it the more uses you'll find.



For glaze or LSP i use the PC

 

[imported_BretFraz]

I've pretty much learned by sight what a PC can/can't do in a reasonable amount of time. However, I still usually end up doing a test patch or two.

I'm pretty much the same way. Unless the car/paint is new and is almost flawless, I'll usually test the rotary on a panel to judge results.



If a car is frequently maintained, you may never need to use a rotary on it.

 

[DaGonz]

I use the rotary only if a vehilce is badly swirled. 90% of the time I use the PC, which is enough to handle the paint defects.



I detailed a 2004 Chrysler Concorde that I had to use the rotary for. The owner took it a "free car wash with fillup" car wash at one of the local Exxon stations. The problem was the car that went through before her lost a piece of it's trim... you guessed it.. the trim was stuck in one of the brushes and the driver's side was scratched badly.



Most of the scratches came out using DACP and my PC with a yellow pad, but there were a few that I had to wetsand with 2000 grit, then polish with the rotary and DACP, followed by the PC/dacp and then the whole car was polished with Meguiar's #9 with the PC on a white pad, followed by 2 coats of Meguiar's #20.



DACP/9/20 is a great combo on dark gray metallic!