PORTER CABLE RANDOM ORBITAL AND HOW TO USE IT

[c76jon]

hi all

Thought i might try and give some information on the Porter Cable that i have used for about 5 years.
Without doubt the best bit of kit i have ever bought and results that it can achieve with correct attatcments and products are outstanding.
The key to an amazing paint finish without doubt ,no matter what you read on the bottle,lies in the prep of your paint surface.
The more time spent doing this is paid back 10 fold once you apply your chosen topcoat product.
I have been detailing cars for nearly 20 years now as a passion in my spare time.I can assure you i have learnt by my mistakes and been sucked in by manufacturers claims of their wonder product!!!
There is no such wonder product.It is not possible to prep a car to the highest standard using one product in ten minutes.
The public as a whole want everything quickly and thus many marketing claims are how their product is fast and easy to use.
Truth is you only get out of anything what you put in.So if you are prepared to take your time,follow a few guidelines i will try to show you how to obtain a really great finish.

If I had to name a single product that has caused the most excitement for me, it would have to be the Porter Cable 7424 Random-Orbit 6Ԛâ€a Polisher. Its name alone is a huge source of confusion, as it goes by several different titles, including Ԛ“PCԚâ€a (Porter Cable), Ԛ“DA polisherԚâ€a (dual-action polisher), Ԛ“ROBԚâ€a (random orbit buffer), or any of its model variants, including 7334, 7335 or 7336.

The term random orbit defines the action of the toolÔš's head. Unlike a rotary buffer, that spins at variable speed on a stationary spindle, a random orbit machine operates by spinning the head (free-spinning) on a center spindle and running this spindle around an eccentric offset.

The fact that the backing plate spindle is free-spinning is what allows Porter Cable to call their 7424 a random orbit machine. In practical terms, thereÔš's nothing random about the polishing action. At about one pound of constant, even pad pressure, the backing plate spindle of the 7424 stops spinning.

The PC 7424 most closely mimics circular hand polishing. Imagine being able to make 2,500 to 6,000 tight hand circles in a single minute and youÔš'll have a pretty good idea of how the PC 7424 does its job. It works just like your hand, only at super-human speed! To put the beauty of this machine into complete perspective, it works 100 times faster than a buff athlete, but it never gets tired!
As long as IÔš'm comparing the PC 7424 to an athlete, I should mention that itÔš's also adept at more than one game. Given the appropriate athletic gear, the 7424 is a tri-athlete, excelling at polishing, waxing and buffing. With the proper brush attachments, it has also been known to tackle carpets and upholstery.

To operate the machine, follow these simple instructions:

Your car must be freshly washed and dry. Do not buff on a dirty finish.

Work in an area with good lighting. Overhead fluorescent or halogen lighting is best.

Remove all rings, watches, bracelets, belts and other items that will scratch your paint.

Adjust the machine speed to 3 or 4 on the thumbwheel. This is a good starting point.
More pressure applied with greater speed means more abrasive.

With the machine switched off, apply a small amount of polish, cleaner or wax directly to the polishing pad. There are two good methods that seem to work. Squeeze out a complete ring of product about 1 inch in from the outside of the pad, or squeeze out an Ԛ“XԚâ€a of product across the pad.

Dab the pad in 3-4 spots around the area to be polished, cleaned or waxed to distribute the product.

Position the polisher flat on the work surface, get a firm grip and switch it on with your thumb.

Move the polisher back and forth (east/west) in a slow, sweeping motion, overlapping each pass (by 50% of the pad width) with the previous, and then switch your pattern to up and down (north/south). Keep the Porter moving thatway you get into a rythmn and your prep is more even over panel.Work the product until you see it haze.This should take about 4 mins.If it is taking longer then you have used too much product and too much doesnt make it better.When its hazed and kinda begun to disappear from panel then buff off with good quality microfibre .

It is not necessary to apply more than a pound of pad pressure. Allow the polisher to work under its own weight.

Use a clean pad with each product. Do not mix products on a pad. If a pad is not dirty, you may store it in a Ziploc baggie for future use. Be sure to label the baggie or the pad.

If a pad becomes caked with product it is possible to wash product out under a tap and then leave to dry or spin dry for 60 secs on the Porter!!

ItÔš's possible to use a range of backing plates and pads with the Porter Cable 7424. Velcro backing plates are available in sizes ranging from 3 to 7 inches.

For proper and safe operation, the backing plate and pad combination must be balanced to the installed counterweight. The purpose of the counterweight is to dampen harmonic distortions (vibration) caused by the pad whipping around in its tight orbit. If the counterweight was not in place, you would not be able to hang on to the machine for more than a few minutes before your hand went numb.

For our purposes you need to buy a pad kit.
this will consist of a flexible backing plate which is 6"
this will screw into Porter in place of one supplied and is velcro backed so we can interchange pads real quick.

Pad kit will consist of 3 pads
these differ in abrasiveness
first will be a pad that will safely remove oxidised paint and swirl marks
second will be a pad that will move very fine marks and at same time enhance gloss
third will be a pad that is NON abrasive and this is used to apply polish/wax
a bonnet is also supplied with the kit i use that can be used to buff of with

I prefer to remove by hand.No real reason i just do.personal thing


IT IS IMPORTANT TO NOTE THAT YOU SHOULD ALWAYS START WITH LEAST ABRASIVE PADS AND PRODUCTS FIRST

its easy to go more abrasive if defects are not being removed.

So this is kind of the dynamics of how it works.

You develop your own way and its all down to experimentation.
You find what works for you and develop it.

In another post i will list what products i use and when and what works for me and which pads i use when etc if that helps people

Remember the porter is only available in usa and its 110v
you will need a transformer to use here.
one company sells them here but he sells them for 210 quid plus post
can be got for a lot cheaper.

iam happy to answer questions but please only questions regarding paint prep and porter in this thread.
when i have done the other threads covering other topics ill answer questions about them there.
so please keep it on topic and i hope it helps in some way.

john

[nav786]

i think this is a very good idea jon, i have lots of questions so will wait for correct section.

on topic- could you give us a link to where these are available from, and when you same "its available from her (U.K)" do you mean the porter cable or transformer. in all how much should we expect to pay.

also ive always preferred to do things by hand, as i'm quite scared of putting electrical goodies to my paint. just think i'll fook up somewhere. is is a much greater advantage to use a porter cable than some elbow grease, or is it just a time saver?

[c76jon]

you will never and i mean never replicate what the Porter can do by using your hand
the porter enables you to prep the paint surface to the best levels possible

PREP IS THE KEY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

as i keep saying,do not confuse a porter with a mop

push a mop at full speed as hard as you can into your paint surface
it will burn straight thru to metal!!!!

do the same with the porter and after approx 1 pound of pressure it will simply stop
you would have to really really really mess up to get anywhere near damaging your paint

i will sort links out

but remember prep is the key.remove all blemishes before application of polish/wax/sealant

because they do not make them go away they just highlight them

get as near a perfect finish in your prep and your chosen product will then highlight that which is exactly what you want imho zaino does this the best as it is 99.9% optically perfect.

john

[nav786]

aah i see. so the porter cable is used to remove swirls and etc too, so its used in prepping stage and then in applying the polish too.

one question.. could you do a short guide on prepping, e.g what steps to take and what products to use. i take it you must apply some product to paint using the porter cable to prep.

[c76jon]

aah i see. so the porter cable is used to remove swirls and etc too, so its used in prepping stage and then in applying the polish too.

one question.. could you do a short guide on prepping, e.g what steps to take and what products to use. i take it you must apply some product to paint using the porter cable to prep.

if u read above topic i explain how to apply product with porter

i use porter to apply polish just cuz it works for me and i get good results

the porter is primarily for perfecting your paint surface prior to application of polish

it does what you cant do by hand

and if you prep correctly with porter you will see your paint which remember will not have any polish on yet look better than it has ever looked with any polish you have used before

john

[squeal]

how u doin jon?-am i seeing things or are maxtool.co.uk supplying the 7424 for Ԛ£83?

[billgatese30]

and with shipping to mainland uk brings it to Ԛ£111

[c76jon]

hi
they are indeed
but that is an american site pricing in pounds
item will be shipped from states
but i have spoke to them and you must order off of the .co.uk site and it will cost you 83 plus 28 shipping
111 to your door which incl;udes the vat
bargain!!!

john

[squeal]

good stuff!think i will be taking the zaino experience soon.does this include the necessary pads u mention?
a quickquestion also,is there much difference between z6 and z8 wen the process is complete?beaing in mind also that most of the zoners use their cars regularly and are therefore going to pick up dirt and lots of it-do u suggest a pre cleaner equivalent to a tfr?and last but not least-wot products and brush do u use to clean cross-spokes?

[H-M3]

What about a group buy on these? perhaps we could ask if there willing to knock down if we mention that we are from the exclusive E30zone!!!

[nav786]

i think jon looked ito this. the problem was i think they will deliver all to jon as one package, and then jon would send out to us guys. the cost of him doing this would equal the savings you would make, so no point.

Jon- whats the power usage of these in watts. chris said he thinks its 450W, but is unsure. i'm looking for a transformer and need to no max watt power.

[c76jon]

hi
as nav said with the porters but iam looking at another avenue at the moment

iam not sure of wattage
i use mine with a 1.5kv transformer as i had it before porter so i just used it

no problems with that at all

iam going to have to guage interest in a porter group buy and see what interest there is

john

[nav786]

cheers jon, chris was saying something about power being in Kva, so i'll look into it more.

i would definately be up for the group buy. was gonna order from maxtools but i'll wait now.

oh and i got the zaino stuff threw today. cant wait for a few sunny days so i can try it out.

[c76jon]

well done
you wont be disappointed
remember prep is the key

prep prep prep

all microfibre went out saturday morning so u should get that soon

if u need help just shout me

john

[H-M3]

John any news on those porter cable group buy?

[c76jon]

still waiting for some answers
i will get back to you as soon as i know what the deal will be

john

[H-M3]

still waiting for some answers
i will get back to you as soon as i know what the deal will be

john

????

[slab288]

Hi lads,

I'm not sure if it has been mentioned but Screwfix can supply a 0.75kva transformer, Extension and a plug for Ԛ£44 delivered.

Here is the link, just scroll down and you'll come accross all the above: -

http://www.screwfix.com/app/sfd/cat/cat ... 2&ts=06126

Bryan

[squeal]

i'd be up for a porter cable group buy john if its goin

[less2303]

Same Here!

[estee]

Hi Jon, As recommended in another thread I took your advice and bought the zaino kit (very impressed) could you tell me which prodcuts you use with which pad and if you finish of z8 pro by hand ?

Cheers
estee

[c76jon]

hi

please tell me what colour pads you have

thanks

john

[Pad]

John,

I have gone down the rotary route, there are some professionals that swear by it and say it takes a step further than the PC. Do you have any experience of using one and should I stick with mine and just practice (still getting holograms) or do you think I should ditch and go for the PC?

Thanks,
Pad

[c76jon]

pad

let them say what they wish
very very very few will have used a pc .no question

so how can they comment

i have a rotary in my garage

5 years ago is last time she fired up
in fact it was same day i got pc

let me say this as democratically as possible

rotary is good and will give superb results no question but are very difficult to use to get mint results

and they are easy to create massive damage ie burn thru etc

the pc is a walk in the park once grasped and nigh on impossible to cause damage

holograms are because of incorrect pad and product combo along with speed and technique used

i can use a rotary andi ;earnt the hard way i assure you
big heavy horrible things

pc is way to go.no doubt

ask any of the experts whether they would get any better than this

this was pc with zaino zpc and z2 pro with z8


they couldnt.

you will achieve all you want and more with pc and right pads and products

john

[estee]

Hi Jon, As recommended in another thread I took your advice and bought the zaino kit (very impressed) could you tell me which prodcuts you use with which pad and if you finish of z8 pro by hand ?

Cheers
estee