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Meguiar's DA Power System #G3500
Introduction
This System turns household drill into a dual action polisher. It's a very well built and thoughtfully designed tool. The first impression may not be fully convencing, but trust me, that tool delivers what it promises.
The main purpose of this System is to create the bridge between hand work and variable speed dual action polishers. It attaches to a household drill, 3/8" chuck is recommended with speed range 1,200-2,500 rpm (max. 2,800 rpm). The package contains DA Power System tool, one 4" Soft Buff 2.0 foam polishing pad and step by step directions booklet.
The System can be ready to use in just couple of minutes by opening its clear plastic package and attaching the tool to a drill (the tool has to go all the way into the chuck for proper and secure attachment). No experience necessary, just like with other dual action polishers, you can start compounding, polishing or waxing right away.
Meguiar's recommends their 4" Soft Buff 2.0 (W7204) burgundy cutting pad with Ultimate Compound for compounding/ defect removal, 4" yellow polishing pad (W8204) with Ultimate Polish for polishing and 4" black finishing pad (W9204) with Ultimate Wax for waxing. Bigger buffing pads cannot be used as the backing plate is permanently attached to the tool.
Additionally extra accessories are available for use with DA Power System: pad combos, pad/ liquid combos and carpet/ interior attachment. This System is extremely flexable.
I used corded drill with trigger lock while testing this System.
Waxing
You won't feel any difference between waxing with DA Power System and any traditional dual action polisher, besides being limited to 4" pads. I was able to wax medium sized SUV (BMW X3) in just 30 minutes. I used M16 Professional Paste Wax and my experience was nothing but excellent. Furtermore 4" pads fit perfectly into most paste wax jars.
Polishing
The System delivers very good performance in this step. You will be able to remove light swirls/ scratches and add deep gloss in this step without any problems. The whole process, again, may take slightly more time due to smaller pad size but comparing to hand work it's gonna be more effective. Expect final results very similar to traditional dual action polishers.
Compounding/ Defect Removal
The System delivers good performance and good results in this step. I worked on slightly smaller areas, using 4" cutting pad, that I would normally do with bigger pads. It was mainly to concentrate on proper and effective defect removal plus to prevent compound from drying out. The same principals apply in this step: slow arm speed, down pressure, pad kept flat against surface, frequent removal of product and removed paint to prevent pad clogging. Above surface bonded contaminats should be removed by claying prior to this step as well. There are some vibrations associated with this step, which is so typical for random orbital machines, but nothing extraordinary nor escalated.
Drills with higher speeds (closer to 2,500 rpm) would be more effective.
Expect good tool performance in this step and removal of oxidation, scratches, water spots, etc.
Highlights of DA Power System
This tool is extremely easy to use. The whole set up process takes no longer than 2-3 minutes. As it is not a full replacement of traditional dual action polishers, it delivers very similar results, with polishing and waxing performance being almost identical to other machines.
The tool works more like a dual action polisher with forced rotation, converting one-dimensional circular motion of a drill into random orbital movement, therefore it is more effective.
DA Power System is very ergonomical. It may look like it's not so convenient to use, but after just a minute spent polishing/ waxing all these concerns go away. It offers full flexibility, including interior work.
Its price is set much below all dual action polishers and performance much greater than all orbital buffers (aka wax spreaders). You won't be able to get similar results working by hand, it's much faster and effective.
Final Thoughts
I really recommend DA Power System to everybody who still did not commit to any power tools or uses orbital buffers. No more working on just 1-2 panels per day, this tool will allow to do even full paint correction in one day. It is not as fast with defect removal as rotary buffers nor larger variable speed dual action polishers but it delivers solid and effective performance much beyond hand work ability.
Meguiar's 5-step paint care is still in effect while using DA Power System, don't forget to wash and clay your vehicle prior to use of this System.
If you use a corded drill with trigger lock (like I did), remember that it locks in its highest speed setting, so make sure you don't exceed 2,500-2,800 rpm.
To Come
Testing with a cordless drill. I have Makita 18V LXT System which uses 3.0 Ah batteries. Let's see what we can achieve.
Introduction
This System turns household drill into a dual action polisher. It's a very well built and thoughtfully designed tool. The first impression may not be fully convencing, but trust me, that tool delivers what it promises.
The main purpose of this System is to create the bridge between hand work and variable speed dual action polishers. It attaches to a household drill, 3/8" chuck is recommended with speed range 1,200-2,500 rpm (max. 2,800 rpm). The package contains DA Power System tool, one 4" Soft Buff 2.0 foam polishing pad and step by step directions booklet.
The System can be ready to use in just couple of minutes by opening its clear plastic package and attaching the tool to a drill (the tool has to go all the way into the chuck for proper and secure attachment). No experience necessary, just like with other dual action polishers, you can start compounding, polishing or waxing right away.
Meguiar's recommends their 4" Soft Buff 2.0 (W7204) burgundy cutting pad with Ultimate Compound for compounding/ defect removal, 4" yellow polishing pad (W8204) with Ultimate Polish for polishing and 4" black finishing pad (W9204) with Ultimate Wax for waxing. Bigger buffing pads cannot be used as the backing plate is permanently attached to the tool.
Additionally extra accessories are available for use with DA Power System: pad combos, pad/ liquid combos and carpet/ interior attachment. This System is extremely flexable.
I used corded drill with trigger lock while testing this System.
Waxing
You won't feel any difference between waxing with DA Power System and any traditional dual action polisher, besides being limited to 4" pads. I was able to wax medium sized SUV (BMW X3) in just 30 minutes. I used M16 Professional Paste Wax and my experience was nothing but excellent. Furtermore 4" pads fit perfectly into most paste wax jars.
Polishing
The System delivers very good performance in this step. You will be able to remove light swirls/ scratches and add deep gloss in this step without any problems. The whole process, again, may take slightly more time due to smaller pad size but comparing to hand work it's gonna be more effective. Expect final results very similar to traditional dual action polishers.
Compounding/ Defect Removal
The System delivers good performance and good results in this step. I worked on slightly smaller areas, using 4" cutting pad, that I would normally do with bigger pads. It was mainly to concentrate on proper and effective defect removal plus to prevent compound from drying out. The same principals apply in this step: slow arm speed, down pressure, pad kept flat against surface, frequent removal of product and removed paint to prevent pad clogging. Above surface bonded contaminats should be removed by claying prior to this step as well. There are some vibrations associated with this step, which is so typical for random orbital machines, but nothing extraordinary nor escalated.
Drills with higher speeds (closer to 2,500 rpm) would be more effective.
Expect good tool performance in this step and removal of oxidation, scratches, water spots, etc.
Highlights of DA Power System
This tool is extremely easy to use. The whole set up process takes no longer than 2-3 minutes. As it is not a full replacement of traditional dual action polishers, it delivers very similar results, with polishing and waxing performance being almost identical to other machines.
The tool works more like a dual action polisher with forced rotation, converting one-dimensional circular motion of a drill into random orbital movement, therefore it is more effective.
DA Power System is very ergonomical. It may look like it's not so convenient to use, but after just a minute spent polishing/ waxing all these concerns go away. It offers full flexibility, including interior work.
Its price is set much below all dual action polishers and performance much greater than all orbital buffers (aka wax spreaders). You won't be able to get similar results working by hand, it's much faster and effective.
Final Thoughts
I really recommend DA Power System to everybody who still did not commit to any power tools or uses orbital buffers. No more working on just 1-2 panels per day, this tool will allow to do even full paint correction in one day. It is not as fast with defect removal as rotary buffers nor larger variable speed dual action polishers but it delivers solid and effective performance much beyond hand work ability.
Meguiar's 5-step paint care is still in effect while using DA Power System, don't forget to wash and clay your vehicle prior to use of this System.
If you use a corded drill with trigger lock (like I did), remember that it locks in its highest speed setting, so make sure you don't exceed 2,500-2,800 rpm.
To Come
Testing with a cordless drill. I have Makita 18V LXT System which uses 3.0 Ah batteries. Let's see what we can achieve.
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