DA polisher safe to use over stone chips?

[JAM35F]

Am looking in to getting a dual action rotary polisher, probably the meguiars one, to try and remove some fine scratches and swirling that have accumulated on my car over the years and are highlighted by the high gloss black paintwork.

I've obviously got the odd stone chip on the bonnet where if you look closely the lacquer is cracked, nothing major and very small. But is it safe to use the da polisher over these or should I go round them and avoid these areas?

Also on the roof I have a mark where birds mess was left and the previous owner used a touch up pen (!) to try and improve it. Again it's small and not noticeable really but should I avoid this area with the da polisher?

 

[EnzoS4]

I use the meguiars and I have a few stone chips on the front (who hasn't) and never had an issues, but I don't put any presure on, let the machine do the work.. however if your using a hard pad and full cutting compound I would be careful around stone chips.

if your looking at at rotary machine, this maybe a different story, I haven't moved up to one of these yet. the guys from PolishedBliss should be able to confirm if the rotary machines are OK.

 

[JAM35F]

Thanks Enzo, it's a dual action machine I plan to get (the safer option over rotary I believe) and the car is in great condition so won't need much of a cut. I'll let polished bliss advice me further when I purchase.

Glad to hear it'll be ok with standard stone chips. Roll on the next bank holiday weekend!

 

[JAM35F]

Out of interest Enzo, how do u find the Meguiars machine? Worth using for the money? Any tips?

 

[jr001]

Yeh, DA or rotary should be okay around chips. Like all areas of the paintwork though, it is always wise to keep a close eye on what you're doing. At the end of the day, the machine and polish should be flattening some of the roughness around the chip edges which generally isn't a bad thing when it comes to cleansing the paint and applying wax or sealant products at the end of the whole process. Certainly never had any issues myself, maybe others have - I don't know?

Happy machining!:icon_thumright:

 

[JAM35F]

Thanks JR, good to hear it may help the finish around the chips. They are no more than everyone has on their cars but thought I'd check. Looks to be all go on my da polishing mission in a few weeks.

 

[WX51TXR]

All types of machine will run over stone chips without causing problems, but do note that this does tend to fill up fresh chips with polish residue, which can be a pain to remove afterwards (and looks bad on dark coloured cars!). If the chips have already been touched in, then the machine may flatten the head of the fill slightly, which is no bad thing.