Chemical guys hex pads?
Discussion
TLDR at bottom.
I received a DA polisher (Das 6 pro+) as a gift for Christmas, the first thing I should say is the results are outstandingly good over what can be done by hand. The machine is brilliant and i'd recommend one to anybody.
For my first go at using the polisher i'd also received two Chemical Guys Hex pads, one in orange for deeper correction and one in white for polishing.
I spent a lot of time watching YouTube videos on how to use the stuff properly, dabbing Meguires ultimate compound on, spreading on speed setting 1 and making 6 or so passes at speed 4.5 using only the weight of the machine as pressure. I tried it on my SEAT first with the orange pad using the logic should I totally fubar it at least I haven’t damaged my BMW. The Seat came out looking brand new. I then cleaned the pad by placing it in a bowl of room temp water and fairy liquid as per the tutorials I viewed. Rinsing it off with cold water so as to not damage the glue, gently pressing the pad to get most of the water out and letting it dry. As far as I know i've done everything right in terms of cleaning the pad off and operating the machine.
Last weekend I tried it out on my BMW, having completed the bonnet, roof, bootlid and entire passenger side I started working the rear quarter and noticed what looked like dust settling on the roof, very quickly I started feeling like pins and needles on my skin and just as I pulled the polisher away from the car to see what the hell was going on the hex pad completely disintegrated and one half flew off with such force it sent an empty petrol can flying across the garage floor. I think i was very lucky to not seriously damage my cars paint.
TLDR: I googled Chemical Guys hex pad disintegrating and there's lots of stuff about this happening, to some people after just 3 minutes. Chemical Guys Ebay feedback although all positive is such a low number that i'm slightly suspicious of them. Are Chemical Guys products a load of crap, have I been unlucky or have I done something wrong?
I received a DA polisher (Das 6 pro+) as a gift for Christmas, the first thing I should say is the results are outstandingly good over what can be done by hand. The machine is brilliant and i'd recommend one to anybody.
For my first go at using the polisher i'd also received two Chemical Guys Hex pads, one in orange for deeper correction and one in white for polishing.
I spent a lot of time watching YouTube videos on how to use the stuff properly, dabbing Meguires ultimate compound on, spreading on speed setting 1 and making 6 or so passes at speed 4.5 using only the weight of the machine as pressure. I tried it on my SEAT first with the orange pad using the logic should I totally fubar it at least I haven’t damaged my BMW. The Seat came out looking brand new. I then cleaned the pad by placing it in a bowl of room temp water and fairy liquid as per the tutorials I viewed. Rinsing it off with cold water so as to not damage the glue, gently pressing the pad to get most of the water out and letting it dry. As far as I know i've done everything right in terms of cleaning the pad off and operating the machine.
Last weekend I tried it out on my BMW, having completed the bonnet, roof, bootlid and entire passenger side I started working the rear quarter and noticed what looked like dust settling on the roof, very quickly I started feeling like pins and needles on my skin and just as I pulled the polisher away from the car to see what the hell was going on the hex pad completely disintegrated and one half flew off with such force it sent an empty petrol can flying across the garage floor. I think i was very lucky to not seriously damage my cars paint.
TLDR: I googled Chemical Guys hex pad disintegrating and there's lots of stuff about this happening, to some people after just 3 minutes. Chemical Guys Ebay feedback although all positive is such a low number that i'm slightly suspicious of them. Are Chemical Guys products a load of crap, have I been unlucky or have I done something wrong?
I've had a couple start to break up in the centres, almost like the outer inch of pad is being torn away from the centre however to be fair that was after prolonged use on a pretty bad car using a heavy cut compound but so there would have been a bit more friction / heat than usual. My technique is probably far from great however and so I perhaps a bit heavy on the pads. Yet to have a pad break away due to the glue failing.
brad93 said:
I’ve never had issues with shed Logic pads. Have heard about them disintergrating though. Usually most of the time it’s because the pad wasn’t primed or has been used for ages without a break and getting too hot.
I think this was my problem, plus It was one of the hottest days of the year!Chemical guys Hex pads are in general very reliable, we sell a good amount of them a week(probably getting on for 50+ in the various sizes and grades if not more) and very rarely have any issues with them so it sounds like you may have been unlucky.
A couple of things i will say though, failures are generally as a result of either overloading the pad with compound or overworking the pad so the heat destroys the pad in the centre leaving only the outer edges trying to support the pad and they dont last long after that, this may not be the case with your pad but they are the most common reasons for them failing that i have seen.
Also, always make sure the pad has stopped before you lift the machine away from the car, or as you have found out the pads or bits there of can go a long way…
A couple of things i will say though, failures are generally as a result of either overloading the pad with compound or overworking the pad so the heat destroys the pad in the centre leaving only the outer edges trying to support the pad and they dont last long after that, this may not be the case with your pad but they are the most common reasons for them failing that i have seen.
Also, always make sure the pad has stopped before you lift the machine away from the car, or as you have found out the pads or bits there of can go a long way…
Hmmm very interesting to hear some people have no issues and some people experience what I had but from fresh pads. I bought another to give it a go as something nice to do for my Mum for this weekend, it worked perfectly.
The trouble is I'm running out of vehicles to use the harder cutting pad on to find out if it will fail in the same way without having aging corrupting the test condition. It feels like the polishing pad will last ages but its use is gentler.
It could easily be that the pad had gotten warm and the glue suffered but odd that when it went, it really went. It felt more like the issue was the pad, the backing section tore the foam rather than come up clean.
The trouble is I'm running out of vehicles to use the harder cutting pad on to find out if it will fail in the same way without having aging corrupting the test condition. It feels like the polishing pad will last ages but its use is gentler.
It could easily be that the pad had gotten warm and the glue suffered but odd that when it went, it really went. It felt more like the issue was the pad, the backing section tore the foam rather than come up clean.
Edited by km666 on Thursday 28th March 20:47
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