Dual Action/Random Orbital's Polishers & Decal/Stickers

[MichaelD]

Has anyone used a Dual Action/Random Orbital polisher such as a Porter Cable 7424 or Meguiars G110v2 on their Nautique with foam pads when waxing & polishing their boat?
Can they be used on top of the decals/stickers/pin-stripe, or do those areas have to be done by hand?

I've been waxing my Nauitique by hand of the past 5 years...done a really good job of maintaining the tops & sides, however I've let the underside slide a bit. I was putting on some Collinite 920/840 fiberglass cleaner this weekend by hand (only did a small portion) while the boat was out of the water and it was evident I need to pay a little better attention to the underside. I'm contemplating purchasing a DA/RO polisher to see if I can make the cleaning process a bit easier/faster, but I'm also a bit worried about how the sticker/decals would deal with a foam pad.

On a prior inboard/outboard I used something on the end of a drill ~10 years ago, and I was wondering if things have improved since then, or if sticker/decal areas still require hand polishing & waxing.

Also, do the pads have to be cleaned while putting on a fiberglass cleaner such as Collinite 920? The rag was getting quite dirty from the muddy water that has attached itself to the bottom side of the boat.

[MikeC]

The polisher won't hurt your decals, but you really don't want the wax on them It's not going to hurt them but it's a pain to remove, especially from the edges, the wax could build up on the edge of the decal. You can either wax up to the edge or tape the area off and wax by hand - I tape over the chromax lettering simply because it's a real pain to get the wax overspray out of the corners.

As far as the pads go, I would buy extra pads if your boat is that dirty, you don't want to wax with a dirty pad. If you go to autogeek.net they have great tutorials and videos on the proper use of RA polishers.

[DanielC]

I have a Porter-Cable orbital polisher, and use it a lot on the gelcoat.
The decals are just an ink printed on vinyl. polish on them enough, you will wear the ink off the decal, or even wear through the decal totally.
Most all cleaners, polishes, and even some waxes have an abrasive in them, some more than others.

I also have a rotary polisher I use, most often with wool pads.
I use separate pads for each polish, or cleaner.

The general steps I take, if I have the time is this.
Wash the boat.
Lightly sand any scratches with the finest grit sand paper that will remove the scratch.
Rotary polish with Meguire's heavy cut or Diamond cut cleaner. Keeping the pad wet with a bit of Dawn mixed into a spray bottle of water will keep the pad clean. If the pad loads up, more Dawn and water, and do not apply as much compound.
Rotary polish again with Meguire's Swirl remover, on a soft wool pad. Again with the Dawn and water. The above Meguire's products are actually automotive products.
Now, I use the orbital polisher, a foam pad, and Meguire's RV/Boat polish, #45. Wipe this product off with a clean towel before it dries.
Finally, I use another orbital wax applicator, actually sold by Turtle Wax, to apply Meguire's Pure Wax, #56. Wipe that off with a microfiber cloth.

If you are in a hurry, you can just use Meguire's Premium Flagship cleaner-wax, after washing the boat.

I store the wool pads and foam pads in baggies to keep them clean, and prevent them from drying out.

[High altitude]

I have the G110v2 and it does a nice job on the decals but...if using the ultra cut compound and the associated pad (red I believe) you can take off part of a decal. (like the lettering on the back). I recommend going around if you can. My boat was badly faded when I bought it last year so I was forced to really go over everything. It's not pefect now but a whole lot better. I lost one part of a "W" on the word "World".

I use three pad and three Megauires product. I use the 105 (ultra-cut compound), 205 (polishing compound) and finishing glaze. I then follow with hand applied carnuba wax.

I have not used the Dawn and water technique but I might try.

Try and minimize the sanding. I had to but it's a pain to get it looking really nice afterwards. The Porter-Cable is more expensive but it might make make the task easier. I went down to a 1000 grit sandpaper and I really worked with the ultra cut compound to remove all the "scratches" that the sandpaper makes.

I still have had problems on some of my deeper scrathes. Even the 1000 doesn't remove them. I really fear going down to 600. Anybody have any experience in this? Thanks. -Marc

[DanielC]

I most places on the hull of a Ski Nautique, the gelcoat is pretty thick. I understand they try to get .030 to .040 of color gelcoat in the mold of the boat, when it is being made. Some areas will be thicker, some thinner.

I have repaired some scratches starting out with 220 grit sandpaper, wet. Then you have to go over the area with 320, then 400, then 500, then 600, and finally 800, all on hard sanding block. then I switch to a sponge pad, and use 1000, 1500, and finally 2500 grit sand paper.

Then I switch to using the rotary buffer, using the steps, and products above.

[High altitude]

Wow. 220 scares me! How did it turn out? I still feel like the Ultra-cut struggles to take out the wetsanding scratches to give it a perfect finish. Maybe it's just my technique. Thanks. -Marc

[CradGen2]

Purchase the FLEX 3404 DA polisher. I've been doing boats for years and this is by far the best. The Porter is very over rated in my opinion. 3M makes a great product for boats, have for years, but I recently switch to Chemical Guys products. There phase five is excellent on fiberglass. THey have all the associated pads and other chemicals you will need.