Chadg

If you click on your username in the upper right corner of the forum (along the black bar), there will be a link in the drop-down menu called "Content I Follow" which will show you everything you are subscribed to.

AWESOME!!!  So easy . . . I feel like a nub!  Much appreciated!

So I'm obviously fresh off the short bus on this one . . . but is there no longer a way to subscribe to threads easily?  I can "follow this thread" but when I come to the forum I haven't found an easy way to navigate directly back to the thread I selected to follow . . . I had a nice selection of subscriptions on the old forum and have been avoiding the new forum because I haven't wanted to try to find them over again.

I'd appreciate any help, thanks guys!

The site does look slick though . . . 

Adam's Polishes is an excellent example of good people surrounding themselves with good people . . . it's the recipe for success that so many companies don't understand.  EVERY dealing I've had with this company has been fantastic, although Dylan is so busy now he doesn't get to hang out on the Camaro forum as much as he used to . . . 

I think the new forums look nice, and I like how it's integrated into the main Adam's site . . . but what happened to my subscribed threads?  There were a couple of threads I would keep track of daily via subscribing.

Blargh! Can we work something out in the Bay Area someday!?!?! I've been dying to attend one of these, let me know what I can do to help make this happen!

Rest in peace and thank you for your service to your Country, Jim. Every time I've worked with the Canadian Armed Forces it was always a pleasure, they among the best and most professional in the world.

I LOVE that matte black Trans-Am conversion . . . was that blue LED lighting around the screaming chicken or was that just really good airbrush work?

Also, is it bad that I look at so many of these AMAZING cars and see swirls? What is wrong with me!?!? Hahaha!!

Ok good, just wanted to make sure - the two different applicators make it easier to keep from mixing them.

When the foam or the velcro begin to deteriorate.

OK looks like I have a lot of life left in these pads, then.

I bought Brilliant Glaze a year and a half or so ago with the yellow hex pad to apply it. I use the red and blue Americana applicator to apply Quick Sealant, should I also be using that now for Brilliant Glaze?

What's the difference between the yellow hex grip and Americana applicators, besides their obvious color schemes.

Will using Brilliant Glaze on top of a sealant reduce its longevity?

Yeah I don't want to open it up because the written warranty says repairs that have been made or attempted by others is not covered and I don't want to give Porter Cable a reason to deny my warranty.

I am with Bruce, wait until you need them. The big plus is they work with PC & Flex, but they work the same as the Gen 3 pads.

Ok, I wasn't sure if the new design was more effective than the gen 3 pads - but the dual PC/Flex use makes sense. How exactly do you tell when your pad needs to be replaced? Mine all seem to be doing well.

Trust me, deal with Adam's direct.

Bruce

Good advice Bruce, I'll probably hear back from them tomorrow.

I just spent a lot of time with my Adam's 2nd and 3rd gen pads these last few weeks and I wanted to ask if the 4th gen pads are worth the upgrade? I've got two of each kind of pad, so I don't NEED new pads . . .

Adams will most likely send you a new one.

 

Did you check the outlet, fuse panel and extension cord?

Yeah I brought it in the house and plugged it in to several outlets, it's just dead. It kind of flaked out on my a couple of times and randomly cut off before it died - I thought maybe I accidentally hit the power switch but turned out it was just in its death throws.

Well I did find a Porter Cable service center about 40 minutes from my house, but yeah I would much rather deal with Adam's - I've never seen a company with better customer service.

Camaro5 Fest is going on right now, and I am pretty sure most of them are out there so I doubt I will hear back until Monday.

My porter cable just bit the dust about 75% of the way through a paint restoration of my wife's car.

I bought my Porter Cable from Adam's back in May 2010 and know it has a three year manufacturer's warranty - I'm guessing I'm going to have to deal with Porter Cable directly to get it replaced. Have any of you guys dealt with them, have any tips/suggestions?

I have been using it with the exact same extension cord for over two years now, and the PC never even got warm while operating so I know I didn't overheat it. It seems like the on/off switch is faulty and shorted out but I'm not sure.

I emailed Ashley but I know they're out at Camaro5 Fest so I am hoping to get some friendly advice from my fellow Adam's buddies because I really don't want to be without a PC for months waiting on it to get warrantied.

Thanks!

Chad

Experiment complete:

I just worked for 20 hours over two days detailing the Camaro (and I'm still not completely satisfied with my results) and didn't have time to take pictures so you will have to take my word at the moment.

Waterless wash towels: There was no discernible difference between the steamed and regularly washed waterless wash towels. I used them for an isopropyl alcohol wipe-down, detail spray, and sealant removal. Both towels felt and performed identically. This at least proves there is no benefit to steam washing vs washing on delicate cycle with cold water.

Double-Soft Microfiber towels: I used these towels for both polish and sealant removal. As stated earlier, all towels were exhibiting linting issues and were boiled prior to the experiment. All towels continued to exhibit linting issues for both polish and sealant removal, and the steam washed towel did not seem to lint any more or less than the regularly washed towels even though it did feel slightly less soft.

Overall I think it was easily shown that there is no direct benefit to steam washing your microfiber towels, and over time will most likely damage the towel. Steam cleaning will not magically solve any linting issues, nor will it get your towels noticeably cleaner than spot treating with APC and washing normally on Delicate cycle with cold water.

If you have any questions or comments - or would like to see something specific tested please reply or PM me to let me know.

The Great White Drying towel experiment results are in!

As you will be able to see in the first two pictures both sides of the hood of my wife's car were equally wet after rinsing.

In picture three you will see that I have the Great White Drying towel that was steamed on the driver's side of the hood (right side of the picture with the bag marked "S") and the regularly washed towel on the passenger's side of the hood.

I then slowly drug each towel across the hood to the front of the vehicle to test drying performance - no detail spray was used.

As you should be able to see in the fourth and fifth pictures, the drying performance of the steamed towel was noticeably less than that of the regularly washed towel (if you can't see it, blame my photography skills) even though the texture, softness and appearance of both of the towels was identical.

In conclusion I DO NOT recommend steam washing your drying towels for any reason. If heavily soiled treat spots with APC and wash in a delicate cycle with AT MOST warm water using Dreft/Woolite/Microfiber Revitalizer.

The verdict is still out on the waterless wash and double-plush towels - I will use them this weekend on my Camaro.

As noted before the steamed double-plush towel felt noticeably stiffer and less soft than the regularly washed one. There appeared to be no difference between the steamed and regularly washed waterless wash towels but as demonstrated with the Great White Drying towels it may not necessarily correlate to their performance. More to follow next week after my Camaro is done!

Strangely enough I'm getting some reports that QS is standing up to APC washes, so maybe it didn't. Hard to say.

 

I was fairly confident that an APC wash removed it from my wifes ride, but other people are telling me that they've dawn and APC washed only to have the water still bead just fine like the QS just shrugged it off.

Interesting, that could very well be the case - I had two coats of Quick Sealant on her. Good stuff!

Generally thats a sign of too much product being used, so you may want to try using less product, maybe even doing a pass with nothing more than adding detail spray to 'wake up' the dry product in the pad.

 

The other potential cause of pad clogging is not stripping old waxes from the finish. As you abrade the paint the pad grabs that old coating and holds onto it, clogging the pores, and giving the polish no were to go.

Yeah I did a wash with APC added to strip the coats of Quick Sealant on the paint, so I don't think that was my issue. I only used 3 pea sized drops of product on a 3 x 3 ft area, and would wipe the area off between spritzes of detail spray and going at it again - I think 5 hours of polishing may just be the limit for a pad with my current technique and level of skill? I never thought I would need 2 green pads since I only planned to use it on rather major spot corrections - but then my father-in-law decided to wipe my wife's car down with a bath towel and a hose . . . .

Is there anything that can be done to fight clogging of the pad? I was using a pad brush regularly but after about 5 hours of use it seemed like the pad would clog back up instantly.

I've been wondering about this as well. I only have one green SSHR pad and unfortunately have to do my wife's entire car with SSHR and a green pad because my father-in-law decided to remove bird droppings with nothing but water and a bath towel. Then after he cleaned the initial spot he decided to go ahead and wipe the entire car down like that . . .

So I got about 1/2 done with the car yesterday with the green pad (about 5 hours of polishing the hood, roof and trunk - it's an SLK so it's a small car) and my pad just started clogging too badly even with using a pad brush repeatedly. I decided to quit for the day, clean the pad with APC and let it dry to fight another day.

I never thought I'd have to do an entire car with the green pad because I would never let my paint get that bad so I only have one of them (whereas I have 2 orange pads, 2 white pads and 2 black pads, but sometimes things are out of your control . . . so I was thinking maybe a microfiber pad may last longer for bigger jobs like that.

I'm definitely curious to hear more thoughts on how

Did you use the Adam's Microfiber Revitalizer when you did this?

To me, they all look like mine always do no matter how I wash them. If it took you 2.5 hours to steam them...................then you have waaaayyy too much time on your hands. I don't. I'm with Teresa. I'll just keep on washing them my usual way and using the Revitalizer. I like the results I get using that stuff.

I've done this as well. 2.5 hours - put them the washer when you finish up (usually around 10PM for me), set the timer on the washer so that it starts in 5 hours and will finish up at 5:30 AM. No time wasted at all.

When you run it overnight and let it continue to tumble the towels (the "Wrinkle Guard" feature on Kenmores) you don't waste any time and won't harm the towels by letting them sit in the washer overnight. It's not like I start the wash and then stare through the window for 2.5 hours!