Ok, so I bought this machine at Auto Zone for $40. And I noticed that it's only a single-speed and does only 3000RPM - which is just stupid. That amount of speed seems like it's guaranteed to burn something on my car for sure, according to most of you guys here and the stickies. Now my question is what should I do with it? Should I attempt to return it? Or is a random orbit machine different from a standard orbital machine in how it polishes?

So I should be worried with the speed of the machine? Any tips?

 

Yes return it

High speed+only one speed setting=not good

 

the fact thats its a RO will help alleviate the burn issues, but 3000 rpms is wayyy too much for a RO. even my buffer i use around 1100. return it and get a dewalt lol!

 

Cool. Thanks.

 

Its not going to burn through the paint, nor is it even going to make much of a difference on the clear coat. Random Orbitals are harmless.

Now if this were a Rotary Polisher, yes, 3000rpm would be too much.

 

You're sure about this? Let's get some more opinions. =)

 

If it is a Random Orbital, then yes, im positive. Those "$40" buffers are meant to be used to apply/remove wax. They will cause pretty much no harm.

 

Arnold: I just looked it up and it's definitely one of those jobs that's for wax application and removal.



If you are feeling a little ballsy, go to Harbor Freight and get one of their rotaries with a 300 - 3000 rpm range. Plus, you can catch one on sale for $29.99.

 

Haha, ok good. That's exactly what I bought. As long as it doesn't screw my paint job up. I don't plan on using this thing on any curved surfaces. I just want to get rid of swirling on my roof and trunk/spoiler, nothing intensive.

Thanks, fellas.

 

Also, peep this: http://www.vectormfg.com/catalog/vec...her-p-358.html

 

Cool. I'll look into it if this doesn't satisfy me.

 

arnold, i have one of those but a smaller version, also vector, i used it twice on my car and a few times on friends cars, NO HARM AT ALL to the paint even after pressing and holding for a while on one spot. works excellent!!!

 

Arnold, i have this buffer at home....got it from Pepboys and looks exactly like that...comes in a Black/Yellow box right? Anyway its pretty damn powerful and only 1 speed...I was kinda scared to use it at first, but after 3 successful wax jobs on 2 different cars...it seems to work great & not damage paint at all

 

That's the thing, with that random orbital, you will NOT remove any imperfections. I was told a while ago that you'd get better results doing it by hand. That machine will not have the power to break down many of the polishes, if any, that will remove your swirling. After two generic and cheap random orbitals, I finally stepped up to a Porter Cable, and have not looked back. If you're serious about removing imperfections, then sooner or later, you will find yourself wanting another machine. This will dissappoint you if you want to remove swirling - however it is good for wax on/off applications.

 

BigLou93SE is absolutely right. The only thing that buffer is good for is removing wax. If you have swirls, holograms, micromarring, or scratches, you will not and cannot fix anything. If you want to get into a Dual Action polisher, like the Porter Cable Polisher then you can start to actually fix and improve your paint. I love this thing, and use it every time I detail. In my opinion, you cannot do a proper detail without it. This gives me a crystal clear, deep deep reflection in my clear coat, that turns heads every time!!

 

bump so that the original poster can see the two previous posts...I sent you a pm to remind you to look...

 

He's right.