DA Polisher for begainers.

[johnlewis1964]

Hi folks I need to remove swirl marks and was wondering what is a good reasonable prices polisher for a begainer and what compond should I get many thanks for advice.

 

[AltonAnt]

The Argos one is ok. It does the job but really needs a smaller backing plate and pads.
I bought it on offer for £47 and ordered a 5" plate and 5.5" 'hexlogic' type pads on ebay for around £10.
The cable is a little short but otherwise no issues. It is identical to many others sold by Halfords etc except lower priced.
I use the Meguires ultimate compound which Halfords stock.

 

[Chrishazle]

Have a look on ultimatefinish.co.uk for a starter kit. I bought a Kestrel DAS6 years ago, cost about £100 but is easy to use - i'd never used one before, and it transformed my 968 coupe bodywork. There are many paint correction fluids - Farecla is one well known brand, I use 3M Perfectit after seeing it used at a high end bodyshop we visit annually with PCGB. Equally there are many different pads, I use mainly Sonax but have also bought a couple of 3M blue pads for the Perfectit polish.

Before getting stuck in with a DA, you first need to prep the car thoroughly - a good wash, maybe a decontaminate with something like IronX, then clay the car, I use the Bilt Hamber clay as it only needs water as a lubricant, and 1/4 of the bar is enough for 1 car. Then the DA and paint correction fluid / polish, finally wax.

Welcome to the OCD world of car detailing!

 

[clk320x]

DAS-6 PRO - Meguiars Hex Logic Kit

Look no further

 

[Chrishazle]

I forgot something important - 3M 25mm blue masking tape to mask off shut lines, panel edges etc before using the DA.

 

[johnlewis1964]

Thanks so much guys.

 

[daveenty]

DAS-6 PRO - Meguiars Hex Logic Kit

Look no further

This is what I use on my cars. I also use a green hex-logic pad which suits my needs. It's sort of in between the ones advertised in the link above in cutting power and is allegedly used by Mercedes themselves.

Be very careful if buying pads from "the bay of dreams" by the way as there are a lot of poor quality copies out there which can do more harm than good. Try to get genuine Chemical Guys ones for consistency.

 

[PaulXC]

Thats exactly what I bought - works a treat!

 

[PaulXC]

DAS-6 PRO - Meguiars Hex Logic Kit

Look no further

Thats exactly what I bought - works a treat!

 

[chrisk2010]

I picked up the Argos one on offer for under £50 and for beginners it's fine certainly done the job for me anyway. I also picked up a couple of hex logic pads and Nano tech super gloss polish which i highly reccomend, it didn't dry while using it and i felt like i could have spent the whole day working each panel without reapplying but quick spritz on the pad with water from a spray bottle and you're good to go.

 

[chrisk2010]

Just seen these drop to £39.99 if it helps anyone.

Buy Challenge Dual-Action Car Polisher | Car cleaning | Argos

 

[toolman1954]

Silverstorm 1500W Sander Polisher 180mm M14 Thread

I have two of these, one up here in Scotland and one back home in Northampton. I bought the first one when I had the 300TD, mainly for polishing up the headlights, which it did very well and I found the second one up here at a car boot sale, going very cheap, which I also use mainly for polishing the headlights on the 320cdi.
This machine has a variable speed thumb control, which helps avoid any burning and a nice big handle to hold it. The big 1500 watt motor makes it a tad heavier than the £100 plus ones, but perhaps less chance of it burning out.
An old comrade of mine who is very proficient in polishing, just advised me to use quality pads and polish to get excellent results, which I believe is half the battle.
Silverline make a cheaper alternative to the Silverstorm, but I think price wise it is a worthy contender for the occaisional user. As they say "You pays your money and takes your choice ".

Two Sanders Steve. ....which reminds me of ..............

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[Chrishazle]

That's the sort of rotary polisher that pros use, IMHO for an amateur the DA type is more suitable and harder to do damage with - but I'm no professional detailer! I know from past experience that one of those in the wrong hands leaves swirl marks - that happened to my 968 coupe 2 years after I bought it, had it in to a Porsche main dealer for windscreen and sunroof seal replacements, they covered the whole car in swirls, I did not notice them until a couple of weeks later so had no come-back, took me a long while to get rid of them.

 

[gramey]

One thing you need to be aware of is not to leave the polisher, whichever one you go for and personally I have Meguiars, in one place for too long, keep the pad moving on the panel and don't let the polish dry or you'll do more harm than good. Personally I go over a panel twice the second time at 90 degrees to the first, left to right and then top to bottom.
Polish you let dry out, cutting compound you don't let dry out, either whilst polishing or before you take it off, buff it off before it dries, this is not from me but from a demonstration by a guy from Meguiars at a Porsche owners club day.

 

[Chrishazle]

Gramey is correct, using paint correcting fluid with a DA, the fluid will dry out quite quickly. I always have a spray bottle of water to hand when using the DA, it becomes very obvious when you need to use it!