Cutting through clear coat?????????????

[ADPGT]

My question was how many times should you be able to compound a car with a factory paint job (thin clear coat). I understand that this is a very broad question and there are several factors such as, method used to apply, compound used, pressure used, time worked in, etc......

But for the sake of argument, lets say M105/M205 Combo with the G110v2

[Fly Bye]

Re: Cutting through clear coat?????????????

I understand that this is a very broad question and there are several factors...

[Ravi_1992]

Re: Cutting through clear coat?????????????

I'm curious to know too, I hope one of the mike's see this thread

[roushstage2]

Re: Cutting through clear coat?????????????

The info is somewhere around here...

With a D/A, you will get much more "life" than if it were a rotary. IIRC, it was a decent amount of time, or corrections I suppose, even with more constant working of the paint.

[TOGWT]

Re: Cutting through clear coat?????????????

My question was how many times should you be able to compound a car with a factory paint job (thin clear coat). I understand that this is a very broad question and there are several factors such as, method used to apply, compound used, pressure used, time worked in, etc......

But for the sake of argument, lets say M105/M205 Combo with the G110v2

Strikethrough (Paint burn)

It should go without saying that you need proper lighting available when you’re polishing. Always work in good lighting conditions, and frequently check your work. Without it you may polish through (breakthrough) paint surface or friction ‘burn’ the paint by polishing in one area for too long.

Speed, applied pressure, foam pad actual surface contact area, pad grit number (abrasive ability) amount of surface lubrication available, area being polished, i.e. it takes longer to strikethrough paint in the middle of a panel as opposed to an edge.

Basically when friction (kinetic energy = heat) has compromised the clear coat and exposed the base coat. Paint often looks a slightly lighter colour; it’s usually concentrated on a small area or ‘spot ‘You will also be able to see a non-glossy patch (base coat) where the clear has been removed with the edges of the remaining clear coat being visible .

Areas of risk- bumpers, as they don’t conduct heat like metal panels, edges an seams and the paint in these areas is generally thin (masking tape is good insurance) Applying pressure and holding the polisher stationary for too long will cause kinetic friction (heat) to be concentrated, especially with a foam pad due to their higher surface resistance.

[ADPGT]

Re: Cutting through clear coat?????????????

I'm curious to know too, I hope one of the mike's see this thread

Lets hope they make a sticky on this.......

[Michael Stoops]

Re: Cutting through clear coat?????????????

there are several factors such as, method used to apply, compound used, pressure used, time worked in, etc......

And that's what makes this question almost impossible to answer. What makes it even scarier, however, is that you don't need to go all the way through the clear coat in order to run into problems. Yes, burning through the clear is a problem right now, but removing more than recommended by the manufacturer is a problem waiting to happen.

As a general rule of thumb, the average factory clear coat is on the order of 2 mils thick. That is 2/1000 of an inch. That's not a lot of paint. But practically all manufacturers recommend against removing more than 0.5 mil of clear before having to refinish the vehicle. That's because the UV inhibitors tend to rise higher up in the clear, so the further down into the clear you go the less UV inhibitors you find. That means that removing a small percentage of clear tends to remove a larger percentage of UV inhibitors. And that's not good.

But back to the initial thought here - how many times can you D/A buff with M105 before running into problems? Those of you who have measure paint before, during and after a buffing session know that D/A buffing removes very little paint, especially compared to what aggressive rotary buffing does (and nothing like what wet sanding does!). Routine D/A correction should be safe to do for many years, but perhaps the bigger issue is why should one have to correct with a D/A and M105 so often as to be a concern in the first place? Why is the paint getting so badly marred that it needs this level of correction over and over again?

Preventative maintenance is at least as important, if not more so in some ways, than correction work is. Let's face it, if you never put the defects in the paint to begin with, you never have to remove them. If you look at this article from April of 2008 you'll see how a finish can be maintained following a full correction and kept looking good for over a year. Crazy thing is, it's been 2 1/2 years since that was written, meaning it's been 3 1/2 years since that car was last fully corrected. The most aggressive thing that's been done to that car since March of 2007 was a single once over with M205 on a D/A and the paint still looks like it does in those pictures.

[scott0999]

Re: Cutting through clear coat?????????????

in order to be exact about it,

when the car was first painted you would of had to measure the thickness of just the color coat. then after the clear coat measure again. then you would know how much clear there is

you can try looking up the average thickness of paint for your car, but still its no guarantee your dead on

if your really worried about it get a thickness gauge.. see how thick the paint is and how it compares to your car brand new freshly painted. normally your allowed to take off .5 mils to still have enough UV protection..

thats another important thing to consider.. you cant buff the clear coat down so far that its hardly even there.. you need the UV protection

[RaskyR1]

Re: Cutting through clear coat?????????????

This article by Joe gives you a general idea of things...

http://meguiarsonline.com/forums/showthread.php?t=4013