How long does it normally take to polish a car with a G-100

[prince_ramses]

Hello all,

I just used my G-100 together with Speed Glaze for the first time last weekend. It took my approximately 8 hours to do the entire car (5 series BMW). I was following the instructions on this website on how to use the DA machine.

By the time i broke down the panels into several smaller section, with around 3 minutes per section and resting in between, i spent the whole day on the car. Am i doing something wrong? It does not seem to be as easy as most of you guys have described.



Also, the vibration on the DA is quite severe. I'm almost got blisters just holding on to the G-100 machine for the whole day. Is that right, or is there something wrong with my machine?

Would greatly appreciate some feedback.

Thank you.

[OrangeRcode]

Depending on how dirty the car was and the steps used, you could easily eat up the better part of the day. I detailed my daily driver pickup last weekend and I probably spent about 6-7 hours on it once I got everything put away. I did not detail the engine compartment. I washed, clayed, washed, #80, and NXT with my DAP. I also vacuumed and detailed the interior, and dressed the tires. My truck sits outside and had not been waxed in probably a year so it needed some work.

You will get faster as you become more comfortable with the process, products, and machine. I have used my DAP many times and have never experienced excessive vibrations you mentioned. Mike can probably give you more insight. Sounds like you may have a problem with yours. Good luck. Share some pics of your project if you can. :xyxthumbs

[prince_ramses]

Hi OrangeRcode,

Thanks for the feedback.

Polishing with the DA seems to take rather long. I'm polishing each section for about 3 minutes, as i wanna to make sure that the diminishing abbrasives breakdown.

Do you think i'm spending too much time in one section, or is that normal.

As for the vibration, been checking around, some people have problems with it, and other dont seem to be bothered by it.

[JeffM]

I hold the polisher by the head, behind the shaft to the pad.

The handle is kinda in the way, but i leave it on, its useful to keep it on its backside when you set it down, the pad stays clean.

I can certainly see how 8 or more hours are spent on a vehicle. I believe it takes as long as it takes to meet my expectations.

I think it would be better if you told us how much product you used (X) how many times you did each panel.

Then it would be more clear what is going on.

[Mike Phillips]

Originally posted by prince_ramses
Hello all,

I just used my G-100 together with Speed Glaze for the first time last weekend. It took my approximately 8 hours to do the entire car (5 series BMW). I was following the instructions on this website on how to use the DA machine.

By the time i broke down the panels into several smaller section, with around 3 minutes per section and resting in between, i spent the whole day on the car. Am i doing something wrong? It does not seem to be as easy as most of you guys have described.

What condition was the paint when you started? Paint in bad condition, filled with swirls and scratches will take longer than paint in good condition. The good news is after you've spent the time upfront removing the defects, future detailing session will take a lot less time. The cleaning step is the most important step because if you don't' remove the defects during this step they will be there at the last step.


Also, the vibration on the DA is quite severe. I'm almost got blisters just holding on to the G-100 machine for the whole day. Is that right, or is there something wrong with my machine?

Would greatly appreciate some feedback.

Thank you.

I think it's just something you have to get used to. Meguiar's doesn't recommend going past the 5.0 setting, if you do the vibrations really increase.

How did your final results turn out?

[prince_ramses]

Hi everyone,

I was going through the car with No.80 once, but on some panels i did it twice. Product usage wise, i would draw a line with No.80 on the panel which i was working on.

When i started out, the paint condition was not very good, a lot of swirls, scratches and oxidation (will No.80 take longer to breakdown if the paint condition is bad?).

In the end, the paint gloss improved significantly. Majority of the swirls were removed, leaving only the deeper scratches.

I was quite happy with the results, as it was my first time, but it took a lot of work.

[rusty bumper]

Originally posted by prince_ramses
Hello all,

I just used my G-100 together with Speed Glaze for the first time last weekend. It took my approximately 8 hours to do the entire car (5 series BMW). I was following the instructions on this website on how to use the DA machine.

By the time i broke down the panels into several smaller section, with around 3 minutes per section and resting in between, i spent the whole day on the car. Am i doing something wrong? It does not seem to be as easy as most of you guys have described.

Would greatly appreciate some feedback.

Thank you.
I spent 22 hours on 2 cars (Outside detailing only) last week with the G100, #80, & NXT (Plus claying).......I was wore out to say the least. :D

These cars were in decent shape to begin with, but neither one had been given a real detail job, by MOL standards.


Originally posted by prince_ramses
Also, the vibration on the DA is quite severe. I'm almost got blisters just holding on to the G-100 machine for the whole day. Is that right, or is there something wrong with my machine?

It may be that your machine needs to have a break-in period. I've had mine since 1999, and I can't remember how much vibration it had when it was brand new, but I don't remember it causing the problems that you just stated.

I did talk to Porter Cable once about lubing my machine, and I was told that if the gears were not reassembled (I presume he was talking about match marks) in the right way that it would result in severe vibrations.

Mine's been running "smooth-as-silk" for as long as I can remember, but I guess I need to have it lubed.

[Lanevoboi757]

Originally posted by prince_ramses
Hi OrangeRcode,

Thanks for the feedback.

Polishing with the DA seems to take rather long. I'm polishing each section for about 3 minutes, as i wanna to make sure that the diminishing abbrasives breakdown.

Do you think i'm spending too much time in one section, or is that normal.

As for the vibration, been checking around, some people have problems with it, and other dont seem to be bothered by it.

I agree.
Im also curious, since Im still learning is 3 minutes a long time for each section? Im afraid i might damage or burn the pain( i think that what its called) if I stay to long on one section.

My Meguiars PC only vibrates crazy on setting 5. I thought that was normal since its spinning at about 6500 rpm.

[Murr1525]

Maybe it is worth mentioning that #83 is an option if the paint is in bad enough shape. One pass of #83 could equal a couple of #80.

[rusty bumper]

Originally posted by Lanevoboi757
Im also curious, since Im still learning is 3 minutes a long time for each section? Im afraid i might damage or burn the pain( i think that what its called) if I stay to long on one section.

It depends on what kind of product you are using.

The 80's series of products (for example) are polish rich, and 2 to 3 minutes sound about right to me. But there other factors that influnce your buff time, such as temperature & humidity........Not to mention the speed setting on your machine, and even the pad selection.

My rule of thumb is to stop buffing when the product starts to lighten up in appearance, or starts to look a little tacky.



Originally posted by Lanevoboi757
My Meguiars PC only vibrates crazy on setting 5. I thought that was normal since its spinning at about 6500 rpm.
Maybe it will improve after the gears have had a break-in period. The PC is a professionally built machine.

Meguiars recommends a 4 1/2 setting for most products, so it might be a good idea to work at that speed until the machine breaks-in, or until you feel more comfortable at the 5 setting.