Sandalwood

Just got a new bottle of Paint Sealant and it's quite different than my previous bottle.

This one has a consistency almost as thin as water.. where as my last bottle was closer to a toothpaste thickness. Is that about right?

I'm assuming it's been reformulated since, because my old bottle smelled like coconut candy wheres this one smells like a vanilla coconut frosting.

Making sure I have this right..

For trim and headlights you need to use the trim cleaner first and follow up with the surface prep.

And for painted surfaces you would clay/polsih as normal and then finish with only the surface prep?

Whats the process for glass?

Thanks!

In hard to reach areas like lug nuts or behind the wheel, can you spray then wipe with the microfiber sponge?

Many years ago Americana used to be white and came in a bigger 5 inch diameter jar. The cap would get stuck so Adam's changed the packaging to the smaller jar used today. I'm not sure if the chemical makeup/color/scent changed immediately with the jar or if it stuck around for awhile until they turned it blue.. but I loved that old smell! I am curious if there's any way to buy an unused jar of the old stuff?




Thanks!

Is there anyway to buy gallon sizes of the USA DS? It smells really good and I'd love to stock up on the scent.

On 7/4/2020 at 3:04 PM, Rich said:

Fun video!  Looks like you're drinking Detail Spray!  😆

 

Great vid for the 4th. Well done! 

Hey thanks, it tasted about like DS smells like ..

Hope you enjoy!

 

16 minutes ago, Scat Pack Rex said:

I love derailing maybe a little too much 😁

Good problem to have Welcome!

11 hours ago, quebert said:

You can buy extra batteries, just not directly from Adams. I Googled and found them. They're $50 each which is pretty good. IMHO Adam's should sell batteries, just makes sense to me.

 

#1 kind of really sucks, with no trigger that means every time you turn it on it's full blast, does it at least have a gradual start like most other polishers?

 

And #2 made me laugh, I like this machine I don't like that it doesn't have a trigger. Only an on/off switch just seems wrong to me, and your example would be something I'd inevitably do multiple times, probably a few dozen before I would remember lol.

 

 It does have a gradual start up like most polishers.

I just saw the video posted above, and I think Adam's explanation of the lineup is spot on. This was not available when I bought the polisher, so I thought it was something I could do a full correction with.

If you found batteries that work then I think it would be a great polisher to work with once you get enough to flow seamlessly. Working without the cord was a dream compared to latter.

On 11/29/2019 at 5:06 PM, quebert said:

any update OP? I'm pondering between the cordless polisher and the SK Pro. I know they're totally different beasts, but I like the idea of no cord. Don't like this thread's the only thing I can find as far as feedback on it though.

After abut the 4th time running them completely dead I charged one overnight. This finally got a full charge. From then on they were able to reach a full charge in 1-2 hours.

The real drawback was they never lasted more than 30 minutes of polishing. And that was not "under load" it was with breaks in between to wipe, inspect, re-apply polish, or go inside to grab something.

So with no option to purchase more than 2 batteries, and only 30 minutes of work time but needing 1-2 hours between charges.. you're not able to seamlessly switch when one runs dead. 

I guess it could work out if you did one step polish, and then sealed/waxed that panel while waiting for the other battery.. but if you're doing more then one-stage that's not a possibility at first. 

A few other notes:

1. The polisher starts on the highest speed by default, and does not remember your speed setting when it's turned off for more than a few moments.

2. When the battery dies, the pad obviously stops- so it's easy to forget to turn the switch off (it stays locked into position). Once you swap the battery it automatically turns on at full speed and slings polish everywhere.

This bottle was signed by Adam so I wanted a display case to keep it pristine. Thought you guys might appreciate this here :)

4 hours ago, shane@detailedreflections said:

A strip wash won’t remove coating from trim. Coating from trim is difficult to work with honestly. Why are you trying to remove it?  You can scrub with a mildly abrasive sponge and a lot of patience and it’ll come off. But it doesn’t guarantee it doesn’t mar the plastic. 

I tried the wipes and missed some spaces. I thought I might need to remove some areas before or after to deal with overlap.

Do all ceramic coatings eventually wear away on their own or do they just lose their protective qualities and still must be polished away?

I know you have to polish out or use brilliant glaze with ceramic coatings on paint, but that doesn't seem like a good idea for black plastic trim.

How can you remove it from trim?

Does doing a strip wash remove it?

2 hours ago, SgtLip said:

Hmmmm, I'll have to rethink this cordless polisher idea. I hope it is just crappy batteries.

Yes, my hope was to have the second battery charged within a few minutes of the other one dying and be able to continually switch off.

When I tried that alternation this morning, I only got 11 minutes of total charge before it died. Its around 1.5-2 hours of charge time to get ~30 minutes out of them.

Maybe it's my charger? It also has never turned from red to green light. Sometimes it will flash green but go right back to staying on red.

Hopefully an Adam's rep can chime in on if this is all normal or not.

Edit: another thing I noticed is when the battery is dead, the indicator won't turn on at all,, but the second you put it on the charger it shows 2 bars. 

Update:

So I'm on day 2 of polishing, and neither of the batteries fully charged to the 4th bar. I'm not sure if they ever were supposed to or are able to?

The fist battery lasted me 27 minutes TOTAL on the default 3rd level speed, but that was not continuous use of 27 minutes. There was several minutes of downtime between panels/sections etc.  The second battery lasted me 30 minutes total before it died. 

27 and 30 minutes of TOTAL battery charge time before it runs out is a little surprising when the site claims 35-45 of use time "under load".

I feel like I'm only doing about 2/3 of a proper job on a section because I'm racing against the battery clock.

So I'm using my polisher for the first time and the hope was I'd be able to swap pretty seamlessly between batteries throughout the polishing process. However, the charging is not going so smooth..

When my first battery died I switched to the second. I had the first battery plugged in for about 1 hour and it got up to 3 bars. I ran out of the second battery, so I used the first one again anyway and it ran out very quick.

The second battery was charging for 2 hours and never got to the fourth "full charge" bar either. 

I'm now charging the first one again and seeing how it goes..

Has any one else had issues with the batteries?

3 months.

Adam's has recommended 6 months before, if the paint job is done anytime around now, because the weather isn't going to be hot enough to help the curing process along.

As for washing, don't want to touch that paint for a few weeks because the clear coat is soft right now and will swirl very easily. 

I would like to see a Compare Products feature on the website. Or a list of strength and aggressiveness for certain products.

For instance, is one step polish on an MF or orange pad more aggressive than correcting polish on an orange pad? 

Or, is Wash and Wax or H20 G&G  stronger than using Spray Wax or Detail Spray in between waxes?

There are just so many products now compared to just a few yers ago, It's really difficult to decide, and the website descriptions don't detail much in comparing their own products. 

11 minutes ago, RayS said:

The least aggressive would be Revive Hand Polish and I wouldn't rule that out according to the condition of the vehicle.  I had one vehicle come in that was pristine and was absolutely beautiful after using Revive so I didn't touch it with anything else.

Hmm, I have some revive but stopped using it because I didn't really notice a justifiable difference for the elbow grease it was taking.

I figured that even finishing polish with the swirl killer would be less work and better results than Revive while not being too aggressive? Could be way off base though.

6 hours ago, Rich said:

That'll work.   I have a new Equinox (4 months) and I did the Ceramic Spray Coating on it.  Did the full steps including polishing and was really happy with the results. 

Which one? 

Would love to hear your thoughts on what the best bang for your time is as far as noticeable results? 

I like to polish for leisure and to get a bit of pop, but I don't want to be too aggressive on the paint and I'm not concerned with getting every scratch out. 

Which of these three options would you recommend?

1. Correcting and Finishing Polish on color matched foam pads

2. One step polish on microfiber pad

3. One step polish on foam pads 

Thoughts?

I know the go to ratio is 16:1 to make waterless wash, but say you did 8:1, will mixing more Rineless into the water make it any better or worse? 

54 minutes ago, John707 said:

Alright Rich duster is nixed! Lol

 

Since I am storing inside garage would it be safe to just go to town on the polish/sealant on day 2? 

 

Also I was planning on buying the Adam's car shampoo to wash for step 1 but now I am thinking to use the Adams all purpose cleaner. Being a new vehicle I doubt there is anything to strip off the paint but maybe everything will adhere better if I use the APC verses the car shampoo?

You should use waterless wash and a waffle weave microfiber towel to remove the dust. You can use detail spray if you are in a pinch. 

I would advice against that starter kit. I was never a fan of the kits. Most the time it seems like they add stuff you don't need and skimp on the important things. For instance that kit only comes with one bottle of detail spray? That will last you half of your Tahoe. Also, it comes with wheel and fender brushes, but no wheel or all purpose cleaner?  Two wash pads, but one bucket?  

Wash, clay, and seal/wax is your best bang for the time and money... I'd recommend the following:

If you want to clean the wheels, get yourself some All purpose cleaner, tire and rubber cleaner, and the wheel and fender brushes. 

1. Car shampoo, wash pad, and bucket with grit guard. 
2. Clay bar and, get yourself the gallon of detail spray. You'll go through it the fastest. 
3. Hand polish if need be, but you probably won't be able to see a huge difference on a new car for your time and money TBH.
4. Seal with Liquid paint sealant. 

On 9/17/2019 at 11:49 AM, Amiguel6 said:

 

On 9/17/2019 at 10:04 AM, Nickfire20 said: