Porsche Enthusiasts Club Forum

Some of you might have seen the discussion in the "Detailing world" forums (in the 'tools' forum, http://www.detailingworld.co.uk/forum/s ... hp?t=83874) about the Silverline Random Orbital polisher.

I bought one last week from Amazon (£24.99 with free p&p) and have it a try earlier today. I used a Sonus white pad for swirl removal and 3M polishing pads £4.99 each on eBay, free postage) for the Autoglym Super Resin Polish.

I can confirm that:

--It's dead easy to use;
--I did not burn the paint!
--the results are spectacular - mainly because I would have to spend hours hand polishing the paint to get the same results, and I do not have the patience to do it.

I have fancied a Meguiars G220 or a PC/UDM for some time but I could not justify paying 140 quid for a polishing toy. This was at the right price, and at the moment I am very pleased with it.

I still need to do the doors, so when I do them I will try to get some before and after pics.

Managed to take a pic to show the results, although I think the reflections have fooled the camera's autofocus a bit:

That is rather impressive. Might have to get sorted with a polisher once I've got the car up, running and clean

I've had two cheapy ones, the first from France which was good but my cousin rodgered it & he replaced it with another frm Argos which I've only used once but works well. There is a test in one of the mags this month, I'll see which one they thought best!

was looking to buy one of these myself, but have been put off a little by the horror stories i've heard with people polishing thro' the paint, what's the reality of this ?

I've used a pro polisher in the past & these burn paint very easily. However these cheapy ones aren't powerful enough to do this unless you're very heavy handed or stupid. Everyone knocks the cheap ones but they are fine for amateur & occasional use & certainly take the graft out of it!

thanks, i think i might have to invest in one of these, any recommendations ?

With the rotary ones (which lots of professionals use) you need to be very careful not to burn the paint. They rotate at very hight revs and unless you know what you are doing, they are dangerous. There is one or two funny demos on YouTube of a bloke trying to burn the paint on a car with a rotary.

The "dual Action" polishers (or sanders) have a twin motion - they rotate and oscillate at the same time, so they are not likely to burn the paint. They have a variable speed control which, at 30% speed, makes the plate /foam pad oscillate a lot but only turn at about 2 revolutions per second. They are less efficient than the pure rotaries, but almost idiot proof for amateurs!
The well known ones are the Procter Cable and the Meguiars G220 - both over £120.
So, if you want to mack about and do a good polishing job without the elbow grease, the silverline is a good choice.

The link to the Detailing World forums which I posted in my first message has a comparison between 3 cheap ones and the Silverline turns out to be the best. Read it and make your own mind up.

thanks i'll have a look

Dual action tip of the day - you would be surprised how much pressure it is recommended to push down on a DA.

TO get it right put a thick black line on the back (facing up) of the pad holder with a felt pen. Whatever speed you use make sure the black line takes one second to go round - bingo thats the correct push down force.

Nice finish there Stathis - I'm convinced! [reaches for Christmas list]

Good tip that Clive, i will try the black line thing with my Porter Cable, may hit a problem when using my black pad though

Put the line on the backing plate !!

I tend to find that when using a PC do 3 or 4 passes at about speed 3 (move at a rate of 1 inch per second along the panel) Then build up to 5, same again then 6 same again. But I always finish off back at speed 3. Seems to avoid the hologramming effect a little more.

Lovely results!
There is a problem with the link in that even after you join the site you still cannot send a PM to Pit Viper to obtain the test.
I have located the Silverline polisher on e-bay. What polishing attachments do you use?

Stephen