Why 7 inch 2.0 pads?

[Clutch34]

I've learned a lot from this forum about detailing and the one thing I can't seem to figure out is why the new 2.0 pads are 7 inches. Smaller pads work better for DA's, whereas larger pads work better for rotaries. Soooo, are the 2.0 Soft Buff pads made more for rotaries then DAs? I believe the older soft buff pads were 6 or 6.5 inches, so why not keep the same size or make them smaller, like 5.5 inches?

[Clutch34]

Re: Why 7 inch 2.0 pads?

No one's got an answer for this? Any of the Mike's want to enlighten us?

[ClearlyCoated]

Re: Why 7 inch 2.0 pads?

This is from a thread dating from 2008, just as the new 2.0 pads were being introduced. It might help answer your question:

I have the new pads, haven't used the W7207 but the finishing and polishing ones are great, what I really like about them is that because they are bigger and the backing plate stays the same size you can lift the DA a little and the pad will bend so on tight places that's something I see very nice and the fact that you just can put them on the washing machine is a big thing for me

[ziggo99]

Re: Why 7 inch 2.0 pads?

Don't forget it's Sunday, and a lot of the Mike's take the day off to spend time with family and church.

[yalerd]

Re: Why 7 inch 2.0 pads?

Another thing you should consider is that Meguiar's in some way have added more power and features to the DA model that without any problem can handle the 7" pads.

You can achieve great results withe the new 2.0 pads (correction/gloss/protection)

[Michael Stoops]

Re: Why 7 inch 2.0 pads?

A couple of points to consider with regard to pads:

On a rotary speed is key to defect removal, and a pad with a larger diameter will have a higher effective speed at the outside perimeter than a smaller pad will. So, on a rotary, the larger the diameter the more potential cutting ability.

On a D/A the opposite is true because of the oscillating nature of the tool. The smaller the pad, the more you concentrate the energy and, therefore, the more cut you get.

Obviously with either tool the speed you run at will impact the cut as well (higher speed, more cut; lower speed, less cut), as will foam construction of the pad (cutting vs polishing vs finishing).

There are, however, other considerations. Again, all else being equal, a pad with a textured face (dimpled, egg crate, diamond cut) will offer less cut than a pad with a flat face. It gets a bit tricky to make direct comparisons between manufacturers because, for example, our competitors don't use the exact same foam that we do. What can be compared straight up is our black W9207 Soft Buff 2.0 Finishing Pad vs our black So1o WDFF7 Diamond Foam Finishing Pad; both are 7" pads and the foam construction is identical (cell size, cut, etc), but the WDFF7 has the diamond surface and so yields less cut than the W9207 (assuming identical tool speed, pressure, etc). Same goes for the yellow W8207 Soft Buff 2.0 Polishing Pad and the yellow So1o WDFP7 Diamond Foam Polishing Pad - same size, same foam construction, less cut with the diamond face pad. This holds true whether you're using a D/A or rotary, by the way.

Now, consider a 5.5" pad vs a 7" pad. If the foam was identical then the 5.5" pad would offer more cut on a D/A simply because it's smaller. But when you add a textured face to that 5.5" pad you lose some of the cut advantage offered by the smaller sized pad. So which is it with some of these 5.5" pads - more cut (because they're smaller) or less (because of the textured face) or are they just right back where they started from with a larger pad?

But wait, there's more!! How many of you seriously consider your backing plate? After all, it's just a stiff plate with a hook & loop surface so you can stick your pad to the tool and buff away, right? Not so fast. The backing plate can play a large role in the effectiveness of the process. A very stiff backing plate that reaches to the outer diameter of a pad will give more cut than a smaller plate that merely supports the center of the pad. As you press down on the pad how evenly are you distributing the pressure? How well does that pressure match contours of body panels on the car? The W68DA backing plate was designed with the Soft Buff 2.0 pads in mind. Look closely at one of them, especially when a Soft Buff 2.0 pad is mounted to it. You've got good support across a very large percentage of the total pad diameter, plus you've got increasing flex as reach those outer edges so the whole package can better match body contours. And this wide reach is possible, with a high degree of safety, due to the recess on the back of the pad that the backing plate fits perfectly into. You can't safely have a flush mount backing plate reach too close to the edge of the pad - there's simply too great a risk of having the plate contact the paintwork, and that would be really bad.

So, pad size alone is only a small part of the story, regardless of the tool being used. You'd be amazed at the amount of time, energy and research that went into these new pads and backing plate!

[Clutch34]

Re: Why 7 inch 2.0 pads?

Wow, thanks for those who posted and THANKS Mike for the explanation!! Definitely answered my questions! I never thought about the smaller pad with dimples vs larger pad without dimples. But your explanations really cleared it up for me! I read your post 3 times to make sure I understood everything. lol