G110V2 Pad not spinning

[Psaint]

I have been trying to wax my fiberglass RV using the G110V2 along with Lake Country 6.5" foam pads and Meguiars #50 RV wax. I have watched the how to videos and it doesn't seem that difficult. However when I try to wax the RV the machine orbits OK but the pad stops spinning with the least amount of pressure on it. I sent the machine back to Meguiar and they sent me a new one but didn't say if they had found a problem with the returned one.

Now having the new one I was eager to complete the waxing. The new machine is doing the exact same thing as the returned one! The pad stops spinning with almost no pressure being applied and of course does not spin with any moderate pressure. I have tried it with no extension cord and plugged directly into the outlet in the garage and I can stop the pad from spinning with gentle pressure from my hand on it.

My understanding of this machine is that it has a sensor that increases the power if moderate or heavier pressure is applied and I have used orbital sanders that have the same action as the polisher so I expected the same type of experience with the GB110v2. Is there something I am doing that is causing the pad to stop? Customer service said to send it back but I would really like to be able to use this one, considering it costs me about $20 shipping to CA. Has anyone else had this problem with the G110V2?

[SFC]

Re: G110V2 Pad not spinning

I have this same problem with the g110v2. Does anyone have any suggestions?

[BS MXRacer]

Re: G110V2 Pad not spinning

Does the pad stop spinning when used on all speed settings with little to no pressure?

[Markus Kleis]

Re: G110V2 Pad not spinning

Are you applying pressure evenly across the pad, or possibly loading it heavily to one edge?

I have a really hard time imagining that you got a defective machine...twice. Plus, I have never heard of this issue with proper technique.

Do you by chance have access to a video camera? If you could film it in action and host it on YouTube to post here that would make a world of difference.

[Psaint]

Re: G110V2 Pad not spinning

Are you applying pressure evenly across the pad, or possibly loading it heavily to one edge?

I have a really hard time imagining that you got a defective machine...twice. Plus, I have never heard of this issue with proper technique.

Do you by chance have access to a video camera? If you could film it in action and host it on YouTube to post here that would make a world of difference.

Wow...great service! I only had to wait six months for a reply. I posted my question in JUNE.

I tried every possible combination of applying pressure with every angle possible. The machine is junk.

It's not my technique. I borrowed a friends Porter Cable and it worked great. I don't have a video camera and will be buying a Porter Cable this spring.

[Flash Gordon]

Re: G110V2 Pad not spinning

I have been trying to wax my fiberglass RV using the G110V2 along with Lake Country 6.5" foam pads and Meguiars #50 RV wax. I have watched the how to videos and it doesn't seem that difficult. However when I try to wax the RV the machine orbits OK but the pad stops spinning with the least amount of pressure on it. I sent the machine back to Meguiar and they sent me a new one but didn't say if they had found a problem with the returned one.

Now having the new one I was eager to complete the waxing. The new machine is doing the exact same thing as the returned one! The pad stops spinning with almost no pressure being applied and of course does not spin with any moderate pressure. I have tried it with no extension cord and plugged directly into the outlet in the garage and I can stop the pad from spinning with gentle pressure from my hand on it.

My understanding of this machine is that it has a sensor that increases the power if moderate or heavier pressure is applied and I have used orbital sanders that have the same action as the polisher so I expected the same type of experience with the GB110v2. Is there something I am doing that is causing the pad to stop? Customer service said to send it back but I would really like to be able to use this one, considering it costs me about $20 shipping to CA. Has anyone else had this problem with the G110V2?

Your pads sound a bit large for a DA. I would go with 5.5's or 4". Also, fiberglass if its dried out, tends to "grab" a pad. I would try mistng the surface with a shot of water right before polishing

What compound are you using? If its 105, you might try to step down to Ultimate Compound

I have this same problem with the g110v2. Does anyone have any suggestions?

Get the Griots DA

[Markus Kleis]

Re: G110V2 Pad not spinning

Wow...great service! I only had to wait six months for a reply. I posted my question in JUNE.

I tried every possible combination of applying pressure with every angle possible. The machine is junk.

It's not my technique. I borrowed a friends Porter Cable and it worked great. I don't have a video camera and will be buying a Porter Cable this spring.

Sorry your post was overlooked, as you could imagine we have days with hundreds of posts and sometimes one slips through the cracks.

I have never heard of anyone having your issue out of the tens of thousands of these units sold once proper technique was applied - so if you truly have a bad machine, I am sorry to hear that and maybe you could give customer service another call and ask if they could take better care of the issue this time.

As for video, I guess you overlooked my question - any chance you could video use of the machine for us? Also, have you tried using a Sharpie to apply lines to the back of the pad in order to track movement?

[Flash Gordon]

Re: G110V2 Pad not spinning

Have you tried using the machine on a regular metal surface? Give it a whirl on your trunk lid and see what happens

If this is crusty old fiberglass your working with, a rotary is the only way to go

[Michael Stoops]

Re: G110V2 Pad not spinning

It is very important that the pad be kept flat on the surface in order to keep it spinning. But you should be able to apply quite a bit of pressure and still have some rotation of the pad. It will NOT spin at a very high rate of speed, similar to that of a rotary buffer or even the D/A itself under no-load conditions. And you don't need a very high rotational speed to get the job done either, but you don't want just the oscillation - there must be some level of rotation of the pad.

As to your initial post being overlooked, we are truly sorry for the oversight but as Mark pointed out there are times of heavier traffic here on MOL and if that happens to coincide with some travel time on my part then this can happen. Again, our apologies for the oversight.

[SFC]

Re: G110V2 Pad not spinning

Maybe I should have elaborated on my case specifically.
My machine worked fine for about 6-8 months. I would in no way call it junk. It is a really good machine and I really enjoy using it. I know that the machine isn't a defective machine because it did work properly at one point. I also know that it isn't due to my technique because, again, it did work for me at one point.

Now the pad will spin, but I have to actually lift the machine a bit. If I try to polish with just the weight of the machine then the pad will stop spinning and it then just vibrates. This happens on completely flat surfaces, so there is a problem. If anyone has any suggestions on what I should do to try and fix it, I would greatly appreciate it.
thanks!

[Flash Gordon]

Re: G110V2 Pad not spinning

Maybe I should have elaborated on my case specifically.
My machine worked fine for about 6-8 months. I would in no way call it junk. It is a really good machine and I really enjoy using it. I know that the machine isn't a defective machine because it did work properly at one point. I also know that it isn't due to my technique because, again, it did work for me at one point.

Now the pad will spin, but I have to actually lift the machine a bit. If I try to polish with just the weight of the machine then the pad will stop spinning and it then just vibrates. This happens on completely flat surfaces, so there is a problem. If anyone has any suggestions on what I should do to try and fix it, I would greatly appreciate it.
thanks!

Sounds like your brushes are burnt up

[SFC]

Re: G110V2 Pad not spinning

Sounds like your brushes are burnt up

Hmm...Let me switch them out. I will report back shortly to let you know if it fixes the situation.
thanks!

[SFC]

Re: G110V2 Pad not spinning

Well I switched the brushes out and it seemed to be running a lot stronger. I will take it in with me tomorrow and put it on some paint to know for certain.

[Shawn T.]

Re: G110V2 Pad not spinning

Yeah, if the brushes wear out then the machine will definitely not operate properly. I thought there would be a fail safe for the machine to shut off when the brushes were too worn out. Maybe I'm thinking of a different machine. Anyway, I hope that resolved the problem otherwise Meguiars Customer Service is fantastic.

[Mike Phillips]

Re: G110V2 Pad not spinning

Now the pad will spin, but I have to actually lift the machine a bit. If I try to polish with just the weight of the machine then the pad will stop spinning and it then just vibrates. This happens on completely flat surfaces,

It's kind of weird but if you take ANY of the DA Polishers, Meguiars, Griot's and PC, and hold the pad flat against the paint so it's just barely in contact, then turn the machine on, even on the high setting the pad will just vibrate and sometimes spin backwards.

Then if you apply approximately 15 pounds of downward pressure the pad will start rotating.

I've tested this numerous times because people post that their pads are not spinning with just light pressure and this is true... you're supposed to push down on the head of the tool to use it correctly.

I've also demonstrated this in front of a full class of people.

As for using the Meguiar's DA Polisher, it's vitally important that the pad be held flat, too much pressure on just and edge of the face of the pad can slow down and sometimes stop pad rotation.

Pad rotation under pressure is slow, as Mike Stoops posted, it's not a rotary buffer.

Smaller pads do work better as there's dramatically less surface area in contact with the paint.

Thin pads rotate better also as proven by the Microfiber DA Pads. The 6.5 CCS pad you're using, like the Meguiar's 7" Soft Buff pads, are quite thick and it's the thick foam that absorbs the power coming out of the tools and dissipates it and this shows up visibly by anemic pad rotating ability.

Run through this checklist of common mistakes and the remedies and see if you're making any of these...

Tips & Techniques for using the G110, G100, G220 and the PC Dual Action Polisher
(These are all similar tools)


Here's a list of the most common problems

1. Trying to work too large of an area at one time.
2. Move the polisher too fast over the surface.
3. Too low of speed setting for removing swirls.
4. Too little pressure on the head of the unit.
5. Too much pressure on the head of the unit so the pad quits rotating.
6. Not keeping the pad flat while working your product.
7. Too much product, too little product.
8. Not cleaning the pad often enough.

Here's a list of the solutions in matching order,

1. Shrink your work area down, the harder the paint the smaller the area you can work. The average area should be and average of about 16" by 16" up to 20" by 20" or so. You have to do some experimenting, (called a Test Spot), to find out how easy or how hard the defects are coming out of your car's paint system and then adjust your work area to the results of your Test Spot.
2. For removing defects out of the paint you want to use what we call a Slow Arm Speed. It's really easy to move the polisher too quickly because the sound of the motor spinning fast has a psychological effect to for some reason want to make people move the polisher fast. Also the way most people think is that, "If I move the polisher quickly, I'll get done faster", but it doesn't work that way.
3. When first starting out many people are scared of burning or swirling their paint, so they take the safe route of running the polisher at too low of a speed setting, again... this won't work. The action of the polisher is already g-e-n-t-l-e, you need the speed and specifically the pad rotating over the paint as well as the combination of time, (slow arm speed), together with the diminishing abrasives, the foam type, and the pressure to remove small particles of paint which is how your remove below surface defects like swirls or scratches. It's a leveling process that's somewhat difficult because the tool is safe/gentle while in most cases, modern clear coat paints are harder than traditional single stage paints and this makes them hard to work on. This is also why people get frustrated, they don't understand paint technology, all they know is their paint swirls easy and getting the swirls out is difficult and thus frustrating.
4. For the same reason as stated in #3, people are scared, or perhaps a better word is apprehensive, to apply too much pressure and the result of too little pressure is no paint is removed thus no swirls are removed.
5. Just the opposite of item #4, people think that by pushing harder on the polisher they can work faster and be more aggressive, but the truth is the clutch in the tool is a safety mechanism to prevent burning and will cause the pad to stop rotating, thus less cleaning or abrading action and once in a while this will lead a person to then post on the forum something like this, "Hey my pad doesn't rotate". There needs to be a balance of enough pressure to remove defects and keep the pad rotating but yet not too much pressure as to stop the rotating action. This balance is affected by a lot of things, things like type of chemical, some chemicals provide more lubrication and the pad will spin easier, curved surfaces or any raise in body lines will tend to stop the pad from rotating. This is where experience on how to address these areas comes into play or you do the best you can and move on. It's not a perfect tool, nor a perfect system, but it's almost always better than working/cleaning by hand.
6. Applying pressure in such a way as to put too much pressure to one side of the pad will cause it to stop rotating and thus decrease cleaning ability.
7. Too much product over lubricates the surface and this won't allow the diminishing abrasives to do their job plus it will increase the potential for messy splatter as well as cause pad saturation. Too little product will keep the pad from rotating due to no lubrication and there won't be enough diminishing abrasives to do any work. Again it's a balance that comes with experience, or another way of saying this would be it's a balance that comes with hours of buffing out a car to learn what to do and what not to do. Information like what you're reading here is just an edge to decrease your learning curve. Hope this is helping.
8. Most people don't clean their pad often enough and most of the time the reason for this is because they don't know they're supposed to clean their pad often and they don't know how to clean their pad. Again, that's why this forum is here to help you with both of these things. You should clean your pad after every application of product or every other application of product, your choice, most of the time cleaning your pad after every other application of product works pretty well. It enables you to work clean and enables the foam pad, the polisher and the next application of fresh product too all work effectively. How to clean your pad will be addressed below sooner versus later, but not at the time of this posting. (Sorry, I'm behind a keyboard, not a video camera

The first 4 are the most common.