First DA orbital polisher

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18ram18

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Im going to go with the gariots g9. Price and quality seem hard to beat. So now what pads / bonnets to get??
I will be using the system on my 2018 ram with only 8K, and a soon to purchased new rx350 for the wife. Dont need to do correction....just polishing and buffing.
Do all 6 in pads fit the g9?
 

michael harpe

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Im going to go with the gariots g9. Price and quality seem hard to beat. So now what pads / bonnets to get??
I will be using the system on my 2018 ram with only 8K, and a soon to purchased new rx350 for the wife. Dont need to do correction....just polishing and buffing.
Do all 6 in pads fit the g9?
Check this out from their latest catalog. Each kit comes with everything seen.c67e94901a2622b5bbefc7c08366c382.jpg697dc34477edbe8add7d111e6a71a781.jpg

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DraKhen99

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I'll pile on with my experience. My wife bought me a Griot's Garage DA unit with the longer cord and all the polishes and pads back in 2012 or 2013. It's worked fantastically, and I've used the orange pads to do polishing and light paint correction, and the red ones for buffing. I use it to wax all of our vehicles, and it's great. GG really has a nice ecosystem of products that work well together and are reasonably priced for a DIYer.

-John
 

LarryA

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Same as DraKhen99, I use the orange pad for polishing/correcting and red for wax application - no heavy pressure needed, let the tool do the work. So far been very happy. I also did the wife's X3 last summer. Washed, then clay, skipped polish and went right to wax. Need to do hers before it gets too cold up here.
 

chrisbh17

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I just did a full detail on the exterior of my G37 with my Harbor Freight DA (5.5" pads) and my original Porter Cable 7335 (3" pads). In preparation for coating with 22PLE High Performance Coating.

Did it come out great? Of course. Could it have been done faster with a newer/better machine? Absolutely.

I really do want a new polisher, but all 3 of our vehicles now have a "fresh" coating on them, so they are good for potentially 3 to 4 years. Buying a polisher now would be dumb since it would no longer be under warranty by then, UNLESS I get a Griots.....
 

Todd C

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Does anyone have experience with both the G9 and the PC? I would be curious if one out performs the other?

I believe that DA's are inherently intended for the DIY'er. You basically can't damage your paint with one unless you turned it around and started beating your paint with it. With that being case, it takes longer to get results as @chrisbh17 pointed out above. Is the G9 more "aggressive" than the porter cable (and thus getting faster results)? And if they are essentially the same, why would you buy a tool from a company that doesn't make tools for more money than a product from a tool company that has been the de-facto benchmark in DIY DA's forever? Not giving anyone a hard time, I haven't had any experience with the G9, so just curious.

What about the "long throw oribitals"? Are these as safe as a DA? or a step somewhere between a DA and a full rotary?
 

chrisbh17

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While it depends on exactly what PC you are talking about, the G9 is more powerful than the iterations of the actual Porter Cable DA that I know of. I think the latest PC is 7424XP which is old by now, the one I have is even older. Do they last forever? Yes. Are they the best option even for just a DIY-er? Probably not.

The G9 is getting rave reviews, some people are even comparing it to just about as good as Griot's 15mm long throw (BOSS 15). It probably doesn't correct as fast as the BOSS 15 or other long throws, but the power is ridiculous....some people going as far as leaning on it and it didnt stop the rotation. The price point and lifetime warranty put it out there almost as a "must buy".

I think the ideal setup would be a PC (new or old, real PC or clone) for 3" pads, the G9 for 5.5" pads (although there is enough power it should be able to use 6" without issue) and maybe a long throw (15mm or 21mm) if you work with big vehicles.
 

michael harpe

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The g9 has a 1000 watt motor and can be spun like a lasso from its cord lol. I wouldn't do that but the son did to make sure the detachable cord was worthy.

The porter cable has a 540 watt motor. (4.5 amp motor) it's also 120 on amazon amd has a 3 year warranty.

For the extra cost I'd rather have a lifetime warranty and when you count up buying the compounds and pads, you may end up at the griots kit price.

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Todd C

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While it depends on exactly what PC you are talking about, the G9 is more powerful than the iterations of the actual Porter Cable DA that I know of. I think the latest PC is 7424XP which is old by now, the one I have is even older. Do they last forever? Yes. Are they the best option even for just a DIY-er? Probably not.

The G9 is getting rave reviews, some people are even comparing it to just about as good as Griot's 15mm long throw (BOSS 15). It probably doesn't correct as fast as the BOSS 15 or other long throws, but the power is ridiculous....some people going as far as leaning on it and it didnt stop the rotation. The price point and lifetime warranty put it out there almost as a "must buy".

I think the ideal setup would be a PC (new or old, real PC or clone) for 3" pads, the G9 for 5.5" pads (although there is enough power it should be able to use 6" without issue) and maybe a long throw (15mm or 21mm) if you work with big vehicles.

The PC 7424XP is what I am referring to as the PC. So you say that the G9 is more powerful/aggressive (faster results) than the PC?
 

chrisbh17

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The PC 7424XP is what I am referring to as the PC. So you say that the G9 is more powerful/aggressive (faster results) than the PC?

4.5 amp (~500W) vs 8.5 amp (~1000W)

The G9 is bound to do more work, faster, than the 7424XP.

It should be able to spin bigger, heavier pads....you might not even need to go down to the thin-is-in pads, thicker pads will correct better and faster and hold more product before needing cleaning or changing out. But if you are starting from scratch just buy a bunch of thin pads so you have extras and you should be fine.

I would imagine you could even successfully use thicker microfiber pads on the G9 as well, mf pads correct much faster than foam, but care should be taken as not to leave micro-marring. Or expect some slight micro-marring and switch to a foam pad for finishing off.
 

Todd C

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Thanks for the info. Certainly having twice the amps makes sense for better results. I have been a longtime user of the PC but have at times been frustrated at how slow it is to garner any real results. Sounds like the G9 is a good step toward something more aggressive.
 
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