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**Andrew C.** · Jun 10, 2009, 12:06 PM

Re: 1st DA use... UC great! SwirlX & 205 not so great!

Originally posted by Vader View Post

Lots of rookie mistakes! As soon as a made a few passes with UC/yellow Meg's polishing pad, I was so excited to see the results and proceeded to lift up the polisher while it was still running @ 5! Splattered everywhere... I had to laugh at myself for that one.

Finally, I wound up using the UC again and did some very light passes and it was darn near perfect. Finished up w/ NXT and it looked great!

My question is what went wrong with the less abrasive finishing products I tried to use? Maybe my car just likes UC and it is simple as that?

Now you will never lift it up without turning it off

As for the swirl x and M205, were you doing the same exact procedure as with UC, with light pressure towards the end?

It doesn't seem to make sense that it would do that since they are both less aggressive than UC. How bad was the hazing?

**xantonin** · Jun 10, 2009, 12:16 PM

Re: 1st DA use... UC great! SwirlX & 205 not so great!

My guess would be the pad. Maybe you should use the black finishing pad with the other two products?

Also, did you buy extra pads or re-use any of them?

**Vader** · Jun 10, 2009, 02:05 PM

Re: 1st DA use... UC great! SwirlX & 205 not so great!

I bought 3 pads w/ my DA: 2 yellow polishing and 1 black finishing. Used the yellows w/ UC and SwirlX, black w/205 (separate pad for each product). I cleaned them "on the fly" throughout the application.

For the final passes of all of these products, I used no pressure, just the weigh of the DA.

I am puzzled as to what I did to make these 2 products finish so rough.

The good news is that if I just stick w/ UC, I will have consolidated my product arsenal and save time and money by just having one cleaner.

I do worry about frequent apps of UC over time though...

**xantonin** · Jun 10, 2009, 02:10 PM

Re: 1st DA use... UC great! SwirlX & 205 not so great!

UC is very powerful, I'd be worried too. I'm very curious as to why the other products hazed though.

I've yet to try them myself, I'll know soon though

**Vader** · Jun 10, 2009, 02:11 PM

Re: 1st DA use... UC great! SwirlX & 205 not so great!

I am thinking that maybe I should have spent more attention to priming the pads?

**Benzboy280** · Jun 26, 2009, 02:14 PM

Re: 1st DA use... UC great! SwirlX & 205 not so great!

Vader,

I noticed its been a good two weeks since you posted this, just wanted to know if you managed a solution to your problem....Thanks

**OhioCarBuff** · Jun 26, 2009, 07:50 PM

Re: 1st DA use... UC great! SwirlX & 205 not so great!

Actually the more I play with th new products the more I'm discovering UC is the best product with a PC. I haven't had 205 or Swirl-X haze the paint, however I've noticed both 205 and swirl-X seem to go dry rather fast, which is very puzzling and UC seems to stay lubricated basically forever, heck it seems like you could buff with UC for five straight miniutes and it wouldn't go dry on you. I called the customer support line about my experience with 205 going dry fast, they gave me all kinds of suggestions like clean the pad etc, I tried everything and it still tends to go dry rather fast, and dust too.

All in all, UC is the absolute best product for PC usage, IME

**Tuck91** · Jun 26, 2009, 08:11 PM

Re: 1st DA use... UC great! SwirlX & 205 not so great!

tomorrow I will be using M205 for the first time tomorrow. I"ll see if it likes Dodge Caliber paint.

**akimel** · Jun 26, 2009, 08:59 PM

Re: 1st DA use... UC great! SwirlX & 205 not so great!

I'm glad this thread was resurrected. I would like to invite the experienced pros to comment. Let's assume that the problem is one of technique. What might be causing the hazing with SwirlX and M205 but not with UC?

**Bounty** · Jun 26, 2009, 11:14 PM

Re: 1st DA use... UC great! SwirlX & 205 not so great!

Originally posted by akimel View Post

What might be causing the hazing with SwirlX and M205 but not with UC?

In my experience with M205 it seems to be very pad and technique sensitive...varying on the relative hardness and scratch-sensitivty of the surface being worked on.

I've been able to one-step a few cars (Toyota Corolla S and Mitsubishi Lancer) with it aplied via CCS Green pad and Flex. I have also had it finish poorly on a Cadillac STS so it can take some tweaking of your pad/product/technique combinations to get it to perform at an optimum level.

In this particular case I'd section off a test area and begin refining a process. We know that on this given paint surface, Ultimate Compound with a Meguiar's polishing pad finishes close to LSP ready. The limits of Meg's three pad system are that there aren't a lot of minute differences between or intermediate cut levels of pads. It's sort of an all-or-nothing deal by selecting a cutting, polishing, or finishing pad. Rather than just suggesting purchasing different pads or products let's work with what we have.

Given the interesting note that the follow-up pass with UC and a polishing pad cleared up all hazing with light pressure I'd go with a pass of UC on the finishing pad with light pressure and perform an IPA wipedown then pull it in the sun to check results. See where you're at and you just might find a totally LSP ready surface. The M205 hazing/marring could be the results of many factors and experimenting on a test area with arm speed, machine setting speed, applied pressure, product amount, and overall polishing time would be of benefit to determine what exactly is required to produce the desired reslts.

Oftentimes, the limits of a ROB polisher can surface in many ways. Let's look at what we know:

1. The most aggressive product used with the most aggressive pad at the highest applied pressure with the fastest speed setting produced the best results...almost perfect in fact.

2. Subsequent passes with less aggressive pad, product, and technique produced marring and/or haze.

Could this be a case of exceptionally hard and at the same time scratch-sensitive clear? Could the nature of the clear be such that only the really aggressive combo removed sufficient clear to get below the defects while the less aggressive combo's merely "scrubbed" or "scoured" the surface without effect? Too many variables for an "internet diagnosis" without working on or even seeing the car's paint surface.

I'd give it a shot with the UC/Finishing pad and see where you're at...

**PorscheGuy997** · Jun 26, 2009, 11:25 PM

Re: 1st DA use... UC great! SwirlX & 205 not so great!

When dealing with sensitive paint, it is important to eliminate as many variables as possible.

Here are some things I would try:

- Prime a new finishing pad with SwirlX or M205. The new pad ensures that there is nothing trapped in the pad that will potentially cause swirling.

- If that is not working, try the opposite liquid with another new pad.

- You can always try Ultimate Compound with a finishing pad.

- The final option would be to use the liquid with a foam applicator. You can then determine whether it was the liquid or the pad causing the marring.

What toweling are you using to clean the pad? I would only use a microfiber. When cleaning the pad, there will be fibers from the towel left on the pad. If a cotton terry cloth causes marring on your paint, then the same trapped fibers could be contributing to your marring problem.

When dealing with these paints, I find it necessary to slow down the speed of the polisher. Try priming a finishing pad with M205 and turn the dial to speed two or three.

There are some paints that will just not finish out 100% perfect. I know of a few examples where a Gold Class hand applicator would scratch the paint.

**javastan** · Jul 10, 2009, 07:14 AM

Re: 1st DA use... UC great! SwirlX & 205 not so great!

I had the same problem with swirlx, my car is black so EVERYTHING shows up, switched to u/c on a yellow polishing pad, then went to #80 on a finishing pad, then went to nxt 2.0 on a finishing pad and my car looks awsome. People don't belive me when I tell them that is the original paint on a 10 year old car. I will say swirlx is the only megs product that let me down. U/C is the best paint cleaner I have EVER used.

**rusty bumper** · Jul 10, 2009, 11:21 AM

Re: 1st DA use... UC great! SwirlX & 205 not so great!

Unfortunately, I'm not familiar with these newer products yet, as I tend to use the 80s series of products a lot. Maybe the applicator pad is not being cleaned as good as it should be. I like to use a nylon toothbrush type of tool to scrub off dried up residue with...

If any of the newer products leave a powdery residue, then the brush will be an invaluable tool to clean the pads with. However, the brush has its limitations when cleaning a finishing pad, like the W-9006. A cleaning towel might work better in this case.

**switerajaya** · Oct 30, 2010, 10:54 PM

Re: 1st DA use... UC great! SwirlX & 205 not so great!

Originally posted by Vader View Post

Swirl X: Used yellow Meg's pad and created lots of haze/holgrams/marrring.

M205: Used black Meg's pad and created haze.

It seemed everytime I tried a finishing product, I made it worse than when I started. I did several test spots w/ various pressures and tried different speeds 3-5.

If my memory serves me right, then i've read somewhere about KBM which states that using the DA along with SMAT type buffing liquid for final polish should not ease up pressure and speed toward the end of buffing cycle for most paints. Maybe someone with experience and in the know could confirm/correct this?

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1st DA use... UC great! SwirlX & 205 not so great!

1st DA use... UC great! SwirlX & 205 not so great!

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