Got a PC for Christmas - used it for the first time this past weekend. It seems that the slightest pressure against the pad stops the pad from spinning and instead leads to it simply vibrating without actually spinning. For example, if I turn the machine on at a speed of 4, hold it in my left hand, and press lightly against the pad with palm of my right hand, the pad stops spinning and merely vibrates. Is this normal? I was under the impression that it would take a good amount of pressure to make it stop spinning. It seemed like not only could I not apply any pressure to the pad/car, but I actually had to try and hold the machine so that the pad was barely touching the car, which to me would seem really ineffective and product application/paint correction.
Any thoughts/opinions/ideas? Thanks.

 

When you are buffing the car the pad isn't going to spin in a full circle. It is going to spin in an orbital motion, basically it is going to move back and forth. Now when it is off the car it will spin in a circle.

What you are talking about is completely normal.

 

ahh...thanks Justin. That's the answer I was hoping for. I did get good results (using your light polish, wet glaze, and wet wax) so it seemed like it was doing something. I guess I was just expecting it to spin the entire way around similar to a rotary buffer. So you're saying it moves back and forth in like a 10 o'clock to 2 o'clock position really fast?

 

Yeah it moves back and forth, it spins a lot different than a rotary. The back and forth motion is what makes it so much safer than a rotary.