I've copy and pasted this from a Saab forum I use more regularly (sorry), but haven't had much response there. Basically I had my first go with a DAS6 Pro and some products, but had great difficulty with Megs 205 so looking for some tips if anyone has any, and any tips in general in fact. It does include pics of the Puma, which hopefully make it more acceptable.
I've also just bought 2 tripods for the camera (£14 delivered for both from Amazon!) so I'll give the car a once over with QD and take some better shots soon.
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I bought myself a DAS6 Pro with Xmas monies, and have CG Hexlogic pads: Orange, Green, White and Blue, and Megs 105, Ultimate Compound, 205 and Ultimate Polish.
I used my girlfriend's Puma as a test mule as it was recently fully clayed and hand polished so was already in a fairly good state, whereas the 9000 needs a bit of work still.
So Saturday morning I do the wash and decontamination and readied myself for a go with the polisher. I did a test section on the bonnet as people advise; to be honest the UC didn't fully take out the scratch however I was a bit worried about going as far as 105 on the orange pad after a few bits I'd read whereby people had been too aggressive with it. In hindsight I'm sure it would have been fine.
I used the green pad with the UC, but it took ages and I wasn't too impressed. It didn't seem to cut very well, dried up very very quickly and the pad clogged up constantly making it hard to work with. Took most of the day but eventually finished and packed away for the night.
Troubleshooting that night I read a few more guides on using a DA and learned that I hadn't primed the pad, I think I was also being a bit too gentle and not putting enough pressure down. The other thing I learned was that it's important to clean the pad every few section passes, and for this I planned to use this technique.
The next morning I set up to go again, but wasn't going to repeat the UC. The surface correction was fine, it was only medium and heavier scratches that remained visible from close and as this was a beginners test, I left it.
So on with the Megs 205 with the white pad, primed as per the Mike Phillips guide, in fact everything was taken from his guides. The first few section passes seemed ok, but then it completely clogged up and the pad seemed dry (it wasn't at all). It was hard to tell as it's a silver car, but it didn't leave a nice trail of worked product like his vids show. I'm really not sure what I was doing wrong.
Pad cleaning didn't work either, 205 kept forming a thick greasy layer on the pad and refused to come off meaning all the pores in the centre of the pad just clogged. The Mike Phillips technique didn't work, I tried spinning it on a slow speed in a bucket of water and then letting the centrifugal force dry it, I used a toothbrush to agitate and try to work the pores free. Just didn't work.
Eventually finished the car and went over it with Ultimate Polish and a blue pad as the glaze. This was fine, primed pad, and used a few new pea sized drops for each new panel. I found the UC and UP washed out of the pad easily as I guess they're water soluble, whereas the 205 definitely isn't, so any advice on how to get it out of the pad would be appreciated? After all that I was glad to pack the machine polisher away and put Collinite 845 on by hand.
So, questions are:
1. Technique for DA cutting and polishing?
2. How do I know I have the right amount of product?
3. How to clean the pads and unblock the pores?
4. Any other advice?
Currently my technique for correction is to prime pad + 3 peas, spread product over 20" x 20" area with machine off, 2 quick section passes on speed 2, 4 section passes on speed 6 at 1-2" per second with roughly 15lbs pressure, buff off residue.
Eventually finished the car (bar hoovering, seats and inside glass cleaning) just before it started spitting, and it was pretty dark so didn't manage to get many good photos as I'm a bit rubbish with a camera. Overall though I'm happy with the finish and other than megs 205, very happy with all the new products, particularly the Angelwax stuff.
The only half decent shot, unfortunately a rusty and dismantled Mini was blocking the other half of the Puma and location isn't exactly 'scenic'.
Thanks for any help :thumbs:
I've also just bought 2 tripods for the camera (£14 delivered for both from Amazon!) so I'll give the car a once over with QD and take some better shots soon.
------------
I bought myself a DAS6 Pro with Xmas monies, and have CG Hexlogic pads: Orange, Green, White and Blue, and Megs 105, Ultimate Compound, 205 and Ultimate Polish.
I used my girlfriend's Puma as a test mule as it was recently fully clayed and hand polished so was already in a fairly good state, whereas the 9000 needs a bit of work still.
So Saturday morning I do the wash and decontamination and readied myself for a go with the polisher. I did a test section on the bonnet as people advise; to be honest the UC didn't fully take out the scratch however I was a bit worried about going as far as 105 on the orange pad after a few bits I'd read whereby people had been too aggressive with it. In hindsight I'm sure it would have been fine.
I used the green pad with the UC, but it took ages and I wasn't too impressed. It didn't seem to cut very well, dried up very very quickly and the pad clogged up constantly making it hard to work with. Took most of the day but eventually finished and packed away for the night.
Troubleshooting that night I read a few more guides on using a DA and learned that I hadn't primed the pad, I think I was also being a bit too gentle and not putting enough pressure down. The other thing I learned was that it's important to clean the pad every few section passes, and for this I planned to use this technique.
The next morning I set up to go again, but wasn't going to repeat the UC. The surface correction was fine, it was only medium and heavier scratches that remained visible from close and as this was a beginners test, I left it.
So on with the Megs 205 with the white pad, primed as per the Mike Phillips guide, in fact everything was taken from his guides. The first few section passes seemed ok, but then it completely clogged up and the pad seemed dry (it wasn't at all). It was hard to tell as it's a silver car, but it didn't leave a nice trail of worked product like his vids show. I'm really not sure what I was doing wrong.
Pad cleaning didn't work either, 205 kept forming a thick greasy layer on the pad and refused to come off meaning all the pores in the centre of the pad just clogged. The Mike Phillips technique didn't work, I tried spinning it on a slow speed in a bucket of water and then letting the centrifugal force dry it, I used a toothbrush to agitate and try to work the pores free. Just didn't work.
Eventually finished the car and went over it with Ultimate Polish and a blue pad as the glaze. This was fine, primed pad, and used a few new pea sized drops for each new panel. I found the UC and UP washed out of the pad easily as I guess they're water soluble, whereas the 205 definitely isn't, so any advice on how to get it out of the pad would be appreciated? After all that I was glad to pack the machine polisher away and put Collinite 845 on by hand.
So, questions are:
1. Technique for DA cutting and polishing?
2. How do I know I have the right amount of product?
3. How to clean the pads and unblock the pores?
4. Any other advice?
Currently my technique for correction is to prime pad + 3 peas, spread product over 20" x 20" area with machine off, 2 quick section passes on speed 2, 4 section passes on speed 6 at 1-2" per second with roughly 15lbs pressure, buff off residue.
Eventually finished the car (bar hoovering, seats and inside glass cleaning) just before it started spitting, and it was pretty dark so didn't manage to get many good photos as I'm a bit rubbish with a camera. Overall though I'm happy with the finish and other than megs 205, very happy with all the new products, particularly the Angelwax stuff.
The only half decent shot, unfortunately a rusty and dismantled Mini was blocking the other half of the Puma and location isn't exactly 'scenic'.
Thanks for any help :thumbs:
