DA Recommended Passes

[willowcatfish]

Hey Guys,

How many passes is most suggested for using:

1. UC and Burgundy Pad
2. UP and Yellow Pad
3. ULW and Finishing Pad

For the UC and UP, I was going to being working on small sections like 20" x 20", or if a better size section is recommended.

And I read in a previous post, that we should use several UC pads, and UP pads because product builds up on them, and we will need to start with a fresh one for the next panel on the car.

How many Burgundy and Yellow pads do you guys recommend using on one car?

Is it necessary to use one per panel, or would it be fine doing multiple panels per pad?

Thank you everyone for all your great help!


Ray

[Michael Stoops]

Re: DA Recommended Passes

Hi Ray,

The number of passes used is determined by the severity of the defects, the hardness of the paint, the desired result, the choice of liquid and pad, and the technique/skill of the operator. Because there are so many variables, we always recommend doing a test spot first to determine which mix yields the best results in the least amount of time while maintaining as much paint integrity as possible.

You make an excellent point about pad quantity for a given project, especially as it relates to working clean. There are a couple of options here: 1) swap pads often, using perhaps 4 cutting pads on a single vehicle or, 2) clean the pads thoroughly on the fly with a pad washer or other means. For the casual user a pad washer may be too expensive (although they work great!) so regular brushing of the pad surface along with a deeper cleaning by tightly rolling the pad in a terry towel to force excess product out of it also works well. Either way, it's best to avoid the "more is better" mentality and limit your use of product - things just go smoother that way!

One pad per panel may be a bit overkill, unless you're prepping an extremely high end vehicle for a major event like Pebble Beach or you're shooting for a Ridler Award. 3 to 4 cutting pads is usually sufficient, but you still want to clean regularly. Polishing pads, or at least a follow up polishing step, usually doesn't stress the pads as much as compounding does, so generally 2 or 3 polishing pads is sufficient. But you want to be extra diligent with cleaning here since you're now really trying to refine the surface and maximize gloss. Lastly, a single finishing pad is usually all you need for wax application.

Perhaps a better way to state this is: 3 or 4 pads for the cutting/defect removal process (regardless the pad type); 2 or 3 pads for the polishing/refining step (regardless the pad type); one pad for wax/sealant application. The cutting/defect removal process puts the most stress on the pads and removes the greatest amount of paint - which means the greatest amount of paint residue being collected in the pad. It doesn't matter if you use a polishing pad for this step or a cutting pad - select the pad that the paint wants, as determined by your test spot(s).

[willowcatfish]

Re: DA Recommended Passes

Thank you for taking the time to write this Terrific Post Michael! This helps Greatly, and is saving me money also. This will be my first time using a DA and the Megs Pads, so I will post results pictures as soon as we get a couple decent weather days up here near Chicago. I'm pretty excited.


You Rock Man, and have a Good one!


Ray