Playstation 3 vs. PlastX?

[G-STAR]

Re: Playstation 3 vs. PlastX?

I forgot to add, i use Megs foam app pads + Supershine Terry Towel. I apply PlastX gently in circular motions, wait 5 mins then wipe off in a straight action.

Last 2 weeks now, and i dont see any improvement. As you can see the marks are still quite disturbing (for me!) so just waiting to see other tips. Hopefully Mike could provide some further input? Cheers

[Mike Phillips]

Re: Playstation 3 vs. PlastX?

I forgot to add, i use Megs foam app pads + Supershine Terry Towel. I apply PlastX gently in circular motions, wait 5 mins then wipe off in a straight action.

Last 2 weeks now, and i dont see any improvement. As you can see the marks are still quite disturbing (for me!) so just waiting to see other tips. Hopefully Mike could provide some further input? Cheers

If you're using a soft foam applicator pad and good technique then there's probably a limit to how perfect you can get this type of plastic. Some plastics don't lend themselves well to being polished.

You can make it as complicated as you want and by this I mean it may be possible to machine polish the plastic as your hand which is actually a few fingertips pushing down on a foam applicator pad can never compete with the equal pressure applied by the face of a foam pad as it's spinning on a polisher.

Chances are, even if you work every swirl and scratch out of the plastic housing if you use this at all, just normal wear and tear is going to instill light swirls and scratches again?

This touches on this topic...

http://meguiarsonline.com/forums/showthread.php?t=7228

[G-STAR]

Re: Playstation 3 vs. PlastX?

Thanks Mike for your feedback.

So should i use PlastX + foam pad to machine polish, or do you think it may also be safe to use ScratchX + machine polish?

Im going to pop into a hardware store sometime today and see how i go.

Again, thank you very much for your advice. I anticipate a machine would do a much better job. Sorry if im being pedantic over a console, but im just like this

[benhui86]

Re: Playstation 3 vs. PlastX? Before PIC

Hi Vormund. Can you please give me the full product name of 'NXT'?
I believe the lettering is quite strong, so it should be ok.

Here is a before pic of the top of the ps3 console. This is after about 2 weeks of application & elbow grease. As you can see, its still shocking under direct light.








Using Megs foam app pad & Megs Supershine Terry Towel. I apply PlastX using gentle circular motions, wait 5 mins then wipe off doing a straight action method.

I just dont know what else i can do it to improve it. These are very fine scratches.


[Edit: Removed the link to something that wouldn't pull up? -Mike Phillps]

NOOOOO!!!! you're doing it all wrong!! your suppose to rub plastX in..... its not a wax.... the purpose is to level out the swirls by scrubing away microscopic levels of plastic.....

put some pressure into it.... scrub the swirls away

[Mike Phillips]

Re: Playstation 3 vs. PlastX?

NOOOOO!!!! you're doing it all wrong!! your suppose to rub plastX in..... its not a wax.... the purpose is to level out the swirls by scrubing away microscopic levels of plastic.....

put some pressure into it.... scrub the swirls away

Great catch... you don't apply a cleaning product or a defect removing product like a pure wax which is what it sounds like he was doing.

I posted this above,

This touches on this topic...

http://meguiarsonline.com/forums/showthread.php?t=7228

Here's the actual title of the article and the text...

What it means to remove a scratch out of anything...

We get a lot of questions on our forum and at our Saturday classes from people trying to remove scratches out of all kinds of things, for example:

How do you remove a scratch out of;

* Glass?
* Clear plastic like a headlight lens, radio face plate, dash gages?
* Chrome, like a chrome wheel?
* Paint?
* Interior plastics like a plastic door sill or glove box door?
* Stainless steel, like a stainless steel door sill protector?
* Aluminum?
* Rubber?
* Pebble textured plastic like trim components?

This article isn't' about the how-to for removing scratches out of the above materials or coatings but about the practical science behind how you remove a scratch or any below surface defect out of any material or surface coating.

Read the below statement and think about it for a few minutes...

"Some materials and/or surface coatings don't lend themselves well to being abraded with the end-result looking good or looking like the original appearance"

In order to remove a scratch out of anything, metal, plastic glass, paint, etc. You must remove material around the scratch until the upper most portions of the surface are level with or equal to the lowest depths of the scratch or defect you're trying to remove.


Does that make sense?

The below diagram is for paint, however the the same idea applies to just about any coating or surface material.





In essence, you don't really remove a scratch, you remove material around a scratch.


Then the big question becomes...

Is the material or coating workable?

As in, can you abrade small particles of the material or surface coating and leave behind an original looking surface.


For example: Some things you can abrade, (remove the scratch), but you can never completely remove all of your abrading marks, thus you can't really fix the problem, all you can do is exchange one set of scratches of a different set of scratches.

The next factor you have to consider or at least understand is;

How thick is the surface material or material you're working on?


You are limited to what you can do with any material or surface coating. By this we mean there is usually a limit as to how much material you can remove before you run into the risk of removing too much and exposing the underlying surface or removing so much material that you change the component you're working on in a way that it won't look good and you can't undo the damage.

There's a saying on this forum we use often when discussing different members detailing projects and it goes like this,


"Sometimes you don't know what you can so until you try"

It's always a good idea to test your choice of products, applicator materials and application process, (by hand or by machine), to an inconspicuous area. If you cannot make a small area look good with your product, applicator and process, you will not be able to make the entire surface look good.

It's always a good idea to test first and error on the side of caution, versus make a mistake you cannot undo over the entire component or vehicle.

[Mike Phillips]

Re: Playstation 3 vs. PlastX?

Here's the key phrase out of the article above...

In order to remove a scratch out of anything, metal, plastic glass, paint, etc. You must remove material around the scratch until the upper most portions of the surface are level with or equal to the lowest depths of the scratch or defect you're trying to remove.

That means you need to work the PlastX against the plastic in an effort to remove small particles of plastic to level the surface out.

Afterwards you might even want to apply a coat of wax like NXT to take the finish to an even higher level.

Of course, only you can decide if creating a show car finish on a electronic gadget is worthy of your time...

(Isn't it just going to get grabbed, held, set-down, dropped?, you know... wear and tear?)

[G-STAR]

Re: Playstation 3 vs. PlastX?

Cheers for the advice again.

When it comes to electronic gadgets, i like to take super care of everything.

I have a $2000 black glass AV rack. bottom shelf houses the 2ch Power Amp, 2nd shelf houses the CD player, 3rd shelf houses the hd-dvd player, and sitting proudly on top is... the PS3! So you can see there is about $15,000 worth of AV equipment, so the PS3 should look as good as the others (minus scratches) I dont have kids (yet) just my missus vacuumed the ps3!!

I will be using a static duster in the future for any cleaning..

[G-STAR]

Re: Playstation 3 vs. PlastX?

Hi once again.

Verdict (Take 2)

I bought Megs ScratchX & Megs NXT Polish. After about 5 coats of ScratchX, and about 6 coats of NXT, i was finally satisfied with the look!!







As you can see in the photos, the scratches have 95% disappeared, and the gloss is just.. wow.. i placed it on my tv just to show the reflection and its essentially made it newer than new.

Thanks Mike for the extra tips and of course, Meguiars products. Yes i know i am a pedantic fool, but i can finally rest easy.. phew

[Mike Phillips]

Re: Playstation 3 vs. PlastX?

Great to see that Meguiar's saw you through to success!

Thanks for the follow up!

[BlueZero]

Re: Playstation 3 vs. PlastX?

Turned out great!

I might have to try that on a corner of my PS3.

[G-STAR]

Re: Playstation 3 vs. PlastX?

My pleasure Mike. I can certainly advise to anyone, if they were to remove the scratches from a PS3, ScratchX is more effective than PlastX. Maybe the paint they use is more compatible with SX.. hmm.

Such fantastic products, you must be proud of being a Megs Representative

BlueZero, i guarantee you will apply more coverage than just that corner hehe

Cheers

[jfelbab]

Re: Playstation 3 vs. PlastX?

You wind up with a super high-gloss PS3? I think I'd have started out with something much milder, like #10 maybe, but it sure is pretty.