Plenty of questions about UC

[Dosto233]

Hey guys,

I plan on using UC on my wife's 2008 Scion TC painted in Sizzling Crimson Mica.

I'm not sure what kind of paint this is (hard/soft) but its factory paint, metallic base and clear coat. I'll be using a Harbor Freight 7" rotary polisher on its lowest setting for this. Here are my questions:

How many passes does UC require (using overlapping passes of course) I've seen some users use one pass while in other videos they've gone over 2-3 times which made me wonder about the product drying.

Also, if the product dries, can it cause unwanted scratches? I tested a small spot with the rotary and no pressure in what I thought was cool weather and it seemed to dry very quickly and became difficult to remove with the microfiber. Checking in sunlight the next day revealed what appears to be light marring generally in line with the passes of the pad. Any ideas?

Finally, what pad is generally recommended to be used with UC and my Rotary. I was thinking the Meguiars yellow buffing pad.

[Marc08EX]

I typically do 5-6 passes in each section with UC and the product shouldn't dry. If the product dries, you can just re-apply the product on the dried area and it should reactivate itself.

The product drying quickly could be an indication that your paint is extremely dry. I would suggest using Ultimate Polish first so that your paint can be revitalized then you can hit it again with UC. However, Ultimate Compound was never really designed to work with rotary so maybe it's the speed of the rotary that's drying up the product.

What RPMs are you running the tool at?

I would suggest the W8207 Polishing Pad with Ultimate Compound and W9207 with Ultimate Polish.

[Dosto233]

I'm using the rotary on the first 3 settings which go from 200RPM to 1500RPM. You mentioned doing 5-6 passes in a given section but how many times do you go over that given section? 5-6 sounds like a lot but I could be wrong. I see now that what I'm seeing in sunlike is referred to as light 'marring' which shows the path the pad travelled along with a little bit of haze.

I read in another thread that the product drying and feeling difficult to wipe is a tell-take sign of using too much product.

[Marc08EX]

I'm using the rotary on the first 3 settings which go from 200RPM to 1500RPM. You mentioned doing 5-6 passes in a given section but how many times do you go over that given section? 5-6 sounds like a lot but I could be wrong. I see now that what I'm seeing in sunlike is referred to as light 'marring' which shows the path the pad travelled along with a little bit of haze.

I read in another thread that the product drying and feeling difficult to wipe is a tell-take sign of using too much product.

Based on your description, it looks like you're getting holograms. Follow it up with M205 (rotary friendly) on a W9207 black finishing pad. It should help make your paint look crystal clear.

When I say 1 pass, you cover the working area 1 time with 50% overlapping motions. As an example, I start out from the top left of an imaginary 2'x2' square and use vertical motions. Since I'm using vertical motions with 50% overlap, I will move from left to right and let's say we end up in the lower right hand corner. I call this 1 pass. For the 2nd pass, I do horizontal motions. I will start out where I left off (bottom right) and work my way up since I'm using horizontal motions. Let's say we end up in the top left again. This is my 2nd pass. I cover this imaginary square 5-6 times at the maximum. All that is what we call 1 section pass.

[Michael Stoops]

How many passes you need to remove defects depends a bunch of variables - paint hardness, severity of defects, what liquid and pad are used, what speed setting the tool is on, the type of tool used, skill of the user, etc. It should also be noted that Ultimate Compound is not really recommended for rotary application although we have seen several people get excellent results using it that way. Still, since it's not directly recommended to be used this way we can't necessarily guarantee the outcome.

We always recommend that you do a test spot before jumping in and working on the entire vehicle. A test spot should be an area no larger than 2' x 2' and you should go over that area in overlapping strokes, moving from side to side, then up and down, then repeat both directions, stop and wipe off the excess product. If you're working with a rotary buffer we would recommend starting at 1400rpm and working from there, depending on the results of your test spot. But it can very difficult to finish out completely hologram free with a rotary, especially on softer paints. It is critically important to keep the pad as flat against the paint as possible, and to move it slowly but consistently over the paint. If you start to move the pad quickly or at an angle to the paint, or both, you greatly increase the risk of creating holograms, no matter how soft or hard the paint is. Remember, too, that this is your initial correction step and you most likely will need a finish polishing step with a less aggressive liquid (like Ultimate Polish) and a less aggressive pad (like our W9207 black finishing pad) at a much lower tool speed (maybe 1000 rpm max) with that pad dead flat on the paint to even think about finishing out totally swirl free. Again, the softer the paint, the harder this is to do.

[John Sawyer]

When a compound is drying out too fast as you work it onto the paint, is it OK to make it a little wetter by spraying it with a couple shots of something like a detailing spray?

[Murr1525]

It is something you can try.

If there is a known reason that it is drying out (old dry paint, hot sun, etc), you may do better to try and fix the reason.

[andytsang]

When a compound is drying out too fast as you work it onto the paint, is it OK to make it a little wetter by spraying it with a couple shots of something like a detailing spray?

I guess it depends on what kind of detailing spray. Some quick detailer has silicon which could impact your correction effort. My $0.02.

[Michael Stoops]

When a compound is drying out too fast as you work it onto the paint, is it OK to make it a little wetter by spraying it with a couple shots of something like a detailing spray?

If you really need a supplemental wetting agent when machine polishing, it's usually best to use just plain water. As andystang points out, many QD sprays contain ingredients that could actually compromise the polishing process, but a small amount of water in the right circumstances can help extend the buffing cycle and possibly even increase cut. But UC generally provides a long enough buffing cycle that a supplemental wetting agent is rarely needed.