Meguiars PowerBall for Paint

[robspeed325i]

IMO this is a waste of money. I had some seriousish oxidation on my 91 alpineweisse and wanted to address it so i could wax the living shit out of it before the winter salt arrives. Anyway I got some turtlewax polishing compound and tried the Ball (bought at wallyworld for about $22), with extremely lackluster results. I then stepped it up to rubbing compound (more agressive than polishing) and still had very lackluster results. I have always been a believer in HAND polishing paint and this experience hasnt changed that. Just normal terrycloth towels, compound, and some elbow grease yielded the same if not better results than the ball, with little more effort. Either you stand there moving the ball back and forth or lean into it a bit more with the towel.

I have the car completely (hand) "rubbed" (with rubbing compound) and next step will be to use the "polishing" compound before hitting it with the wax.

[e30nub]

I bought one of those too and it was THE BIGGEST waste of money. Didn't do squat.

[devonjordan]

Only thing mine is good for, the nooks and crannies in my wheels.

[Mtriple]

I bought the "red" ball for wheels. It works pretty good for polishing....

[robspeed325i]

I bought the "red" ball for wheels. It works pretty good for polishing....

Yah, ive had one of those (donno where it went tho).

Fortunately walmart took back the yellow ball, despite the condensation inside the package from when i washed it in washing machine... no harm done. ;)

[E30Idea]

I bought the "red" ball for wheels. It works pretty good for polishing....

Agreed, I use my to polish. Works great!

[Jparkr]

Maybe you should study how buffing paint works, before you damage something using a machine. Of course the power ball is going to suck on paint. It won't generate enough heat, even with a heavy cutter your results will be uneven because the small surface area.

Get a Griot's Random orbital buffer and some machine cut 1 and 2 if you wanna cut into your paint. Usually I would recommend a direct drive orbital, but. Umm, I don't wanna feel responsible for all your swirls and burn through areas.

[robspeed325i]

Maybe you should study how buffing paint works, before you damage something using a machine. Of course the power ball is going to suck on paint. It won't generate enough heat, even with a heavy cutter your results will be uneven because the small surface area.

Get a Griot's Random orbital buffer and some machine cut 1 and 2 if you wanna cut into your paint. Usually I would recommend a direct drive orbital, but. Umm, I don't wanna feel responsible for all your swirls and burn through areas.

you are only responsible for your sneering king-shit attitude.

i know perfectly well how to buff paint. I am used to using a 3/4hp angle grinder adapted with buffing wheel. unfortunately that equipment is in storage in california.

the yellow powerball, after MANY overlapping passes, did a worse job with rubbing compound than doing it by hand, basically doing nothing while doing it by hand made a huge improvement in the level of oxidization left behind. on the roof of the car for example, i got it basically to mirror finish (after both rubbing and polishing compounds) while the trunk lid for some reason was more stubborn. i ended up doing the entire car by hand, with rubbing, then polishing compounds, then carnauba wax in preparation for salt season...

[robspeed325i]

incidentally this is what im talking about (in case anyone is confused):



NOT the little red (or even the big red) polisher ball...

[Jparkr]

you are only responsible for your sneering king-shit attitude.

i know perfectly well how to buff paint. I am used to using a 3/4hp angle grinder adapted with buffing wheel. unfortunately that equipment is in storage in california.

the yellow powerball, after MANY overlapping passes, did a worse job with rubbing compound than doing it by hand, basically doing nothing while doing it by hand made a huge improvement in the level of oxidization left behind. on the roof of the car for example, i got it basically to mirror finish (after both rubbing and polishing compounds) while the trunk lid for some reason was more stubborn. i ended up doing the entire car by hand, with rubbing, then polishing compounds, then carnauba wax in preparation for salt season...

You need to watch your attitude. I didn't call you an idiot, and I didn't mean to sound condescending. So get the sand out of your Vagina and since im "king-shit" I won't hold back on a explaining this to you so listen up.

I don't care if you have a fucking direct drive in your storage box, and using one doesn't mean you know shit on how it works. I can tell you are the kinda guy to turn the speed up and go to town, so ill break this down for you why your power cash burner didn't work, and your magic hand job did. hehe

Here is your basic car finish, Some are single stage but this is what is common.


Here is a scratch,


When you work by hand, you cannot generate the heat or friction needed to soften and remove small layers of clear coat. It is possible in small areas like a single scratch. However for sun damage like oxidization, or swirl marks you'll never remove them, by hand, from a large area.

Instead the handyJ you gave your car, simply filled the gouges of the swirl marks and left a fresh layer of protection over your oxidized paint.


In about a month or even 1 or 2 washes from an auto car wash and your car will look the same as before.

Now what you tried to do with that ball was cut threw the contaminated clear.

When you buff a car you create friction and heat to sand through layers of clear coat to remove scratch(s), oxidization and impurities. Like working with wood you start aggressive and end light.
Rubbing compound is very abrasive and I match it with an aggressive wool pad. Think of this combo as 80 grit sandpaper when your sanding a woodworking project. It is the start. This will only work when you have heat and pressure to apply the compound.

How much pressure did that ball have? Oh wait I know the answer, none.

Anyways here is what the scratch will begin to do after the initial cut.

Ill explain, just to make sure to understand. That the area that looks like ants walking in a line... thats the area that you've removed.

Next you move to a polishing compound and a lighter Pad. I prefer a yellow foam pad for polishing, it has about 50 pores per inch. This begins to clean up the area, but still cuts. Think of it as switching from 80 grit to 220.
your area now looks like this.

Once again ants = removed area

Finally you move on to a finishing combination. I use a finishing wax and a Black diamond anti-swirl pad to remove any last holograms I left behind. It looks like this:


Your foam ball would be o-k for this stage I guess since not much heat or pressure is needed.

Anyway, merry christmas, and thanks for recognizing me as your sneering king.
;-)

[robspeed325i]

You need to watch your attitude. I didn't call you an idiot, and I didn't mean to sound condescending. So get the sand out of your Vagina and since im "king-shit" I won't hold back on a explaining this to you so listen up.

I don't care if you have a fucking direct drive in your storage box, and using one doesn't mean you know shit on how it works. I can tell you are the kinda guy to turn the speed up and go to town, so ill break this down for you why your power cash burner didn't work, and your magic hand job did. hehe

Here is your basic car finish, Some are single stage but this is what is common.


Here is a scratch,


When you work by hand, you cannot generate the heat or friction needed to soften and remove small layers of clear coat. It is possible in small areas like a single scratch. However for sun damage like oxidization, or swirl marks you'll never remove them, by hand, from a large area.

Instead the handyJ you gave your car, simply filled the gouges of the swirl marks and left a fresh layer of protection over your oxidized paint.


In about a month or even 1 or 2 washes from an auto car wash and your car will look the same as before.

Now what you tried to do with that ball was cut threw the contaminated clear.

When you buff a car you create friction and heat to sand through layers of clear coat to remove scratch(s), oxidization and impurities. Like working with wood you start aggressive and end light.
Rubbing compound is very abrasive and I match it with an aggressive wool pad. Think of this combo as 80 grit sandpaper when your sanding a woodworking project. It is the start. This will only work when you have heat and pressure to apply the compound.

How much pressure did that ball have? Oh wait I know the answer, none.

Anyways here is what the scratch will begin to do after the initial cut.

Ill explain, just to make sure to understand. That the area that looks like ants walking in a line... thats the area that you've removed.

Next you move to a polishing compound and a lighter Pad. I prefer a yellow foam pad for polishing, it has about 50 pores per inch. This begins to clean up the area, but still cuts. Think of it as switching from 80 grit to 220.
your area now looks like this.

Once again ants = removed area

Finally you move on to a finishing combination. I use a finishing wax and a Black diamond anti-swirl pad to remove any last holograms I left behind. It looks like this:


Your foam ball would be o-k for this stage I guess since not much heat or pressure is needed.

Anyway, merry christmas, and thanks for recognizing me as your sneering king.
;-)

YAWN! Ive been a professional detailer in a past life, so you are wasting your time. Care to lecture me about something else I already know how to do? I'll send you a list...

p.s. merry christmas! =p

[robspeed325i]

Also, when you buff with a real buffer you arent just removing material, you are warming the material, which lets it flow. THIS is how a true pro refreshes and buffs paint, not by "sanding" it down. I can literally FILL scratches, by warming and flowing the paint, not just remove the area around it to make it match the depth of the scratch. My hand-job did exactly this to my oxidized roof areas. the trunk is going to require a much warmer day and a lot more elbow grease to get the job done, just because of the severity of the oxi...

[Jparkr]

YAWN! Ive been a professional detailer in a past life, so you are wasting your time. Care to lecture me about something else I already know how to do? I'll send you a list...

For someone who knows how this stuff works, the whole rubbing compound concept stumped you pretty good huh?

Also, when you buff with a real buffer you arent just removing material, you are warming the material, which lets it flow. THIS is how a true pro refreshes and buffs paint, not by "sanding" it down. I can literally FILL scratches, by warming and flowing the paint, not just remove the area around it to make it match the depth of the scratch. My hand-job did exactly this to my oxidized roof areas. the trunk is going to require a much warmer day and a lot more elbow grease to get the job done, just because of the severity of the oxi...

No, this is incorrect. Clearcoat will not flow in such a way, and especially not by hand.
If this were possible in the way you've described then the only scratches that would be irreversible would a scratch past the color layer. Anything else and you would be able to just fill the scratch in seamlessly and perfectly.
But, we 'professional' detailers know that there are many scratches that are too deep, even when they are in the clear coat layer.

I can literally FILL scratches, by warming and flowing the paint, not just remove the area around it to make it match the depth of the scratch. My hand-job did exactly this to my oxidized roof areas.

What the hell are you talking when you say this? It literally made me LOL. fill method is how you removed your oxidization? No Oxi, is simply sundamaged clear coat, you Have to cut through it to remove it.

If warming and transferring the clear into a scratch was possible, then your car has a very soft finish do to improper mixing. And then your not only putting in swirl marks, your also cutting through at a much faster rate.

Funny counter arguments though, I think it might have tricked... Well average folks. But then, How would they know you knew nothing?

[robspeed325i]

For someone who knows how this stuff works, the whole rubbing compound concept stumped you pretty good huh?



No, this is incorrect. Clearcoat will not flow in such a way, and especially not by hand.
If this were possible in the way you've described then the only scratches that would be irreversible would a scratch past the color layer. Anything else and you would be able to just fill the scratch in seamlessly and perfectly.
But, we 'professional' detailers know that there are many scratches that are too deep, even when they are in the clear coat layer.

What the hell are you talking when you say this? It literally made me LOL. fill method is how you removed your oxidization? No Oxi, is simply sundamaged clear coat, you Have to cut through it to remove it.

If warming and transferring the clear into a scratch was possible, then your car has a very soft finish do to improper mixing. And then your not only putting in swirl marks, your also cutting through at a much faster rate.

Funny counter arguments though, I think it might have tricked... Well average folks. But then, How would they know you knew nothing?

I'm glad you find it amusing, I am just sharing information yet your fragile little ego seems to need to shit on anyone else who dares to comment on this topic. What are you afraid of? Someone knows something you don't, about a topic about which you *think* you know everything? (and have handy graphics ready to educate all us worthless slobs who know nothing...)

I used to charge $350 to hand rub an entire car (back when $350 was a lot of money), and it takes some muscle but its possible to warm the paint by hand (on a warm day), to get it to flow and come to a fantastic mirror-polished finish. I actually prefer the finish I get from a hand-rubbed job rather than via buffer.

Filling scratches, you are correct to note, must be done with the angle-grinder buffer. Where you are wrong is in believing it cant be done at all. You (or I, rather) simply warm the paint/clear and, yes, actually move the paint/clear into the scratch area with the torque and direction of the buffer wheel. Laugh all you want, Ive done it many times with brilliant results. The softness comes with the warming, not with improper paint. I would make a giant show of laughing at you, but I dont have the ego problem you have.

The problem I had with the rubbing compound was with the sucky powerball, and an extremely cold garage. Not that it was much of a problem once I switched to the hand method. I'll attack the trunk lid further on a warmer day.

[robspeed325i]

I will add a small clarification, oxi does need to be removed as it is indeed damaged material. But you can achieve this by warming the paint below it, releasing the upper damaged/oxi layer/s which you then remove with the help of compound. This leaves a MIRROR finish if you do it right....