# MF Pads Confusion



## Christian6984 (Dec 20, 2007)

Hi, 

Thinking about in the future possibly using some MF pads. I've had a research into what is out there and see there are both Cutting and Finishing pads. Had a look at a few brands that do them... Meguiars, Flexipads, CG, Lake Country and Shinemate. They seem to come in a variety of sizes depending on brand (3/4/5/5.5/6/6.5"). 

I have two machines, one is Meguiars G220 and have a small DA backing plate just under 3" in size, so no problems here for use of a smaller pad its gonna be the 3" pads as will have a small part of overlap which is something over the years i know is good practice. 

Now for where i'm getting slightly lost . The other machine is the Flex 3401 and with the backing plate system i measured the backing plates i have. They appear to be 4", 5.5" and 6".

What size pads would be ok to use. The 5.5 and 6" would have no overlap i take it?

I know its another stupid question but you wouldn't use a 5" pad on a 4" backing having half inch overlap i take it. When i looked on Polished bliss the measurements of flexipads are in mm and when i convert them to inches they seem to measure slightly under the nearest size backing plate.

Thanks in advance for any help you can provide


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## Christian6984 (Dec 20, 2007)

:wave: Bump


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## wish wash (Aug 25, 2011)

What size is the backing plate on the flex. If its a 115mm backing plate you would use 5'' pads and if the plates 140mm you would use the larger 6'' pads

So take for example flexipads microfiber pads - 125mm on the 115mm plate
150mm on the 140mm plate


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## Christian6984 (Dec 20, 2007)

wish wash said:


> What size is the backing plate on the flex. If its a 115mm backing plate you would use 5'' pads and if the plates 140mm you would use the larger 6'' pads
> 
> So take for example flexipads microfiber pads - 125mm on the 115mm plate
> 150mm on the 140mm plate


i have the following backing plates....

100mm - 3.94"
140mm - 5.51"
150mm - 5.91"


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## stangalang (Nov 27, 2009)

I wouldn't use mf pads on the 3401, it truly doesn't like them. Wool runs a lot smoother and the pads last longer


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## fatdazza (Dec 29, 2010)

stangalang said:


> I wouldn't use mf pads on the 3401, it truly doesn't like them. Wool runs a lot smoother and the pads last longer


Which wool pads would you recommend Matt?


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## stangalang (Nov 27, 2009)

fatdazza said:


> Which wool pads would you recommend Matt?


Purple foamed wool (the thicker of the set) and the uro wool pads both work brilliantly on it I find


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## fatdazza (Dec 29, 2010)

Thanks Matt - bit confused about which are the thick ones (assuming they are the lake country ones) - cannot find reference from car pro or Elite?

Who do you get yours from?


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## Christian6984 (Dec 20, 2007)

stangalang said:


> I wouldn't use mf pads on the 3401, it truly doesn't like them. Wool runs a lot smoother and the pads last longer


are there none that work well? I had a look around and it appears the Megs one don't seem to like it because of the thin nature of the pad. Is it any better with such pads as Chemical Guys Black Optics with a thicker foam backing behind the fibres? My initial thoughts on the thicker pile was that they would probably be worse to clean on the go?


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## stangalang (Nov 27, 2009)

fatdazza said:


> Thanks Matt - bit confused about which are the thick ones (assuming they are the lake country ones) - cannot find reference from car pro or Elite?
> 
> Who do you get yours from?


You will have to ask the retailers as lake country seem to do 2 or 3 different styles of the same pad. One I lovely and thick, thats the one that works well



Christian6984 said:


> are there none that work well? I had a look around and it appears the Megs one don't seem to like it because of the thin nature of the pad. Is it any better with such pads as Chemical Guys Black Optics with a thicker foam backing behind the fibres? My initial thoughts on the thicker pile was that they would probably be worse to clean on the go?


It has nothing to do with the thickness, its the pad style. Microfibre is made to work with long throw machines that technically have no torque. The 3401 is a sledgehammer and it ruins those pads quickly. Wool is designed to run on a rotary, under load, so the torque doesn't damage them nearly as much

Its not about how much it cuts, its about how it cuts


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## Christian6984 (Dec 20, 2007)

stangalang said:


> It has nothing to do with the thickness, its the pad style. Microfibre is made to work with long throw machines that technically have no torque. The 3401 is a sledgehammer and it ruins those pads quickly. Wool is designed to run on a rotary, under load, so the torque doesn't damage them nearly as much
> 
> Its not about how much it cuts, its about how it cuts


Yeah i see what you mean, I had a play this afternoon as i have a test panel (fiesta door) same shape as mine but its silver not red. I bought the other week a used Meguiars G220v2 to compliment the Flex as i have an old backing plate (from when i had the PC7424) just under 3" which will be handy for spot pads.

The machine was good value and came with some new and used pads (these used ones will go in the bin as i don't know the history). The panel is reasonably covered in swirls and tested with 2 pads, the compound was the same Scholl S17. The Megs microfiber is the cutting one but used so wary of how clean it might be (but i wanted to see how it felt and being a test panel there is nothing really to lose). The machine seemed to have a mind of its own every now and then and didn't really see much improvement to be honest. Followed this up with the same process but using a Sonus SFX foam pad which left all but some deeper marks but generally a better finish.

now i guess this throws another spanner in the future of what is a better option to go for. The flex with foam pads or the Megs G220 with MF pads


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