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1 inch cordless DA polisher - Best bang for buck.

Skylarking

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I have a couple of cheaper Dual Actions, a no name cheapie and a cheap Meguiars G220, both cost around $300 and neither can be used for any serious correction work.

Both overheat after an hour or two and shut down and need to rest for 30 minutes to an hour before they can be used again.

That’s could be one of the reasons the Pros go for the expensive stuff, I can use my Festool for 8 hours without having any down time and for a Pro, downtime equals money.
Duty cycle is a rather important consideration and something often overlooked.

It should be something that’s clearly specified within the specs but often such is not listed. Cheapies wouldn’t sell if a 20% duty cycle was listed (I wouldn’t buy such).
I'm not justifying the money I spent on the more expensive ones as a mid price machine would most likely work just as well, it's the cheapies that struggle.
We don’t have to justify what we choose to spend our money on but it’s great to get some feedback from those that have made the investment on what one gets for their extra spend.

For me, a combo polisher/sander with a 100% duty cycle sounds like the bees knees… It’s a big investment and hard to justify the spend but it becomes easier when you hear of the benefits... So even though I’m an amateur, I vary my time and hate waiting for tools to cool down with a passion. That alone would make the extra spend over the cheapies worth while :cool:
 

TTubrag

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You can't go wrong with Flex. Powerful, light, smooth, quiet. XFE 7-15 is an all-rounder. Buy it once and you won't have to buy another one until you can justify cordless.

 

kleanphil

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Banjo79

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Thanks for that but I have my heart set on a Mint Pro Tools or Rupes nano. I bought some various Rupes pads and polishes for my 150mm cheapie from various sellers to get started on roof and bonnet and a word of warning, Rupes (but not all resellers) measures the lower pad diameter not the upper backing plate diameter. I now have been sent some pads that are too small for my machine and of course they had to be the cutting pads so I'm yet to get started.
 

bradp51

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I had a small cordless DA and there is nothing worse when it starts running slow as the power gives out, never again.

I have a few polishers, a couple over a $1000 and they are great for paint correction but not very versatile when it comes to confined spaces but in truth, polishing in small areas isn't all that necessary unless you're anal like me.

I bought a cheapie on eBay, a SPTA mini Rotary with a whole mess of little attachments for $169.99 free delivery but I can't find the Aussie supplier where I purchased it from.

Here a link to a US supplier to show you what I bought.

SPTA Mini Polishing Machine RO Rotary Polisher Detailing Polishing with 54Pcs... | eBay

I used it today to polish the chrome headlight surrounds on one of my old cars and its little 1/2 inch attachment was perfect for getting in between the headlight and the surround, I used a cone shaped pad.

Here's some photos of mine with some of its attachments, it goes from a 3 inch pad down to a 1/2 inch, it also accepts grinding wheels and has a long flexible shaft for those hard to get at places.

I don't use it much or for heavy jobs but I've had it for a couple of years and its never missed a beat.

It did a great job of restoring an old chrome bumper I had that I thought may need replating.




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Thanks for posting all that detail Panhead. Perfect for small jobs and motorcycles too. Have to get one. :)

I just thought I would add to my post only last week I used a DA polisher for the first time on another car not the commodore. Also first time using clay bar. Anyway the one I purchased was a Mint Pro Tools DA6Pro V2. It came with large and small pads. Here is a link below
I have found it fantastic. It is heavy which I found made it hard on vertical stuff like the doors. But I guess they would all be heavy. The kit was $289 but came with some polish as well. I have achieved a good result with it. I think I will get the small one Panhead has if I can.

mint-protools-ro-polisher-das6-pro-v2-kit-plus.html
 
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panhead

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Thanks for posting all that detail Panhead. Perfect for small jobs and motorcycles too. Have to get one. :)

I just thought I would add to my post only last week I used a DA polisher for the first time on another car not the commodore. Also first time using clay bar. Anyway the one I purchased was a Mint Pro Tools DA6Pro V2. It came with large and small pads. Here is a link below
I have found it fantastic. It is heavy which I found made it hard on vertical stuff like the doors. But I guess they would all be heavy. The kit was $289 but came with some polish as well. I have achieved a good result with it. I think I will get the small one Panhead has if I can.

mint-protools-ro-polisher-das6-pro-v2-kit-plus.html



I’ve not owned a Mint Pro but that DAS6 comes with a good reputation for home use.

All the good machines are noticeably heavy when doing the sides but you get used to it.

The little SPTA machine I have is lighter but its downfall is the pads are a small diameter therefore it takes a lot more time to cover the panel.

I know that Mint Pro makes backing plates that will fit the SPTA so I should look into buying a bigger one.

I do regularly use the Mint pads though and they do a great job plus I have some Mint extension bars and small R/O backing plates that I use with other machines.

The big bonus is the Menzerna polish that came with your kit, it is the best polish on the market for a machine in my opinion, I’ve been using Menzerna for over 15 years and love the shine it creates.






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lmoengnr

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I’ve not owned a Mint Pro but that DAS6 comes with a good reputation for home use.

All the good machines are noticeably heavy when doing the sides but you get used to it.

The little SPTA machine I have is lighter but its downfall is the pads are a small diameter therefore it takes a lot more time to cover the panel.

I know that Mint Pro makes backing plates that will fit the SPTA so I should look into buying a bigger one.

I do regularly use the Mint pads though and they do a great job plus I have some Mint extension bars and small R/O backing plates that I use with other machines.

The big bonus is the Menzerna polish that came with your kit, it is the best polish on the market for a machine in my opinion, I’ve been using Menzerna for over 15 years and love the shine it creates.






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+1 for Menzerna compounds/polishes.
 

losh1971

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Any thoughts on this cheap DA? Or should I just stick with my cheap Ryobi rotary?
 
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