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Help with Wax+Sealant
Old 05-16-2014, 07:18 AM   #1
bud659
 
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Default Help with Wax+Sealant

Hi, I am having a tough time applying the Wax+Sealant on a 33' searay. I just finished the Color restorer followed by FS Polish and the product is not applying to gel coat. customer service told me to use a Black Pad and with my Flex 3401 I applied the product to the pad but nothing was applying to the boat. For troubleshooting, I tried applying more product and different speeds from 3, tried 4 and 5 and nothing was working. I reverted back to my Orange pad, which was working a little but not enough to apply to the boat. It applied very streaky and did not haze correctly. I don't know what caused this. the product may be too thin. I tried different pads, different speeds, lots of product, little product, different swipe directions and just wasn't working. I used 1/2 of a 32 oz bottle just for 1/2 of One side of the hull. The color restorer and FSP I had no problems with.
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Old 05-17-2014, 08:49 AM   #2
Mike Phillips
 
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Default Re: Help with Wax+Sealant

Did you try applying just by hand? As a way of troubleshooting?

This is a pure wax/sealant, by "pure" I mean there are no cleaners or abrasives, no harsh solvents. It should only be applied to a finish that is new, like new or as in your example, to a surface that has been compounded and polished to be like new.

When applying to a clean smooth surface by hand or machine, the goal then is to apply a thin layer. You do this my running a soft foam pad with the product on it to lay down a thin layer and this can be done with one or two passes over the area.

Once you have thin layer on the surface you move on to new territory.

You let the wax dry to a haze, about 15 minutes give or take a few minutes based on temp and humidity.

Then wipe it off to leave a slick, shiny surface.

The above will work by hand or machine.


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Old 05-17-2014, 08:57 AM   #3
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Default Re: Help with Wax+Sealant

We recently buffed out a Shearwater and after removing the oxidation we machine waxed it only using Porter Cable polishers. Same idea as a Flex 3401 just less power.

Here's some pictures with some info from that project.

Sealing the Gel-Coat

After polishing the hull the next step was to seal the hull. For this we're going to machine apply the Marine 31 Gel Coat Carnauba Wax + Sealant.


Craig
Here's Craig pouring some wax directly onto the face of a soft, blue foam waxing pad attached to a 5" DA Backing Plate on a Porter Cable 7424XP.






Speed Setting
For machine applying a non-cleaning finishing wax, you don't need nor want the fast speed setting but instead just enough speed to maintain light pad rotating and that's just to make it easier to move the pad over the surface. For the Porter Cable this would be the 4-5 speed setting.






Mark you backing plate
Always mark your backing plate to make it easy for your eyes to verify that it's rotating. This is more important when compounding, polishing and using a one-step cleaner/wax than it is when using a finishing wax like we're using for this project.





John's turn...
Hey when you fly all the way from India and show up at Autogeek's Show Car Garage I'm going to put you to work.







First a quick lesson on correct machine waxing technique...





Your turn!




Wax on - Wax off!
After letting the wax fully dry it's time to carefully wipe it off....










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Old 05-20-2014, 09:00 AM   #4
bud659
 
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Default Re: Help with Wax+Sealant

Thanks for all the photos. You have motivated me to try the product again. And, I think I found the issue. I would apply a bead of Wax+Sealant to my black CCS on my Flex3401 speed 3. Once I made the 1st overlapping row in a 2x2 section, the flex would remove the wax. The wax was being applied ultra-ultra thin and when it got removed it made the wax inconsistent.




For troubleshooting, I lowered the speed from 3 to 2, and this helped a lot. Further, I also made the bead of wax much thicker than normal. Guess what? This did the trick too. I also made the working area smaller to a 1x2 section and each one of these steps made a difference.



Here is what I was putting on for wax when I had the issues. I don't have any photos of when I was applying a thicker bead of wax.






Here are some photos of applying with the thicker bead of wax. Mike, is this too thick? Do the photos tell good enough if its too much wax being applied? I may have went to the other extreme with too much , however, much better than with the normal bead cause that was too thin






Here are some other photos. half the photo is the wax and the other shiny section is just the restorer+FSP. I don't have any photos of after the wax.













When applying the wax on a cool day, I just waited about 5 minutes. It was a light haze. It wasn't streaky when removing with a spot test, it was a light haze and not super dry. is this OK? Is it possible wax can dry too long? I'd rather be safe than sorry. I can always to a 3rd coat.





Thanks for all comments and the help
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Old 05-22-2014, 10:54 AM   #5
Mike Phillips
 
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Default Re: Help with Wax+Sealant

Quote:
Originally Posted by bud659 View Post

Thanks for all the photos. You have motivated me to try the product again. And, I think I found the issue. I would apply a bead of Wax+Sealant to my black CCS on my Flex3401 speed 3.

Once I made the 1st overlapping row in a 2x2 section, the flex would remove the wax. The wax was being applied ultra-ultra thin and when it got removed it made the wax inconsistent.


For troubleshooting, I lowered the speed from 3 to 2, and this helped a lot.

Further, I also made the bead of wax much thicker than normal. Guess what? This did the trick too. I also made the working area smaller to a 1x2 section and each one of these steps made a difference.
All of the above sounds right. Using more wax and lower speed.

Also, I'm sure you noticed this, after your pad breaks in, that is goes from dry to wet with the wax, you should find the fresh wax you apply to the pad to go further since the pad is now wet with the wax. (fully lubricated instead of dry).




Quote:
Originally Posted by bud659 View Post

Here is what I was putting on for wax when I had the issues. I don't have any photos of when I was applying a thicker bead of wax.



That doesn't look too wrong to me? but temperature, humidity and size of work area could make a difference.




Quote:
Originally Posted by bud659 View Post
Here are some photos of applying with the thicker bead of wax.

Mike, is this too thick? Do the photos tell good enough if its too much wax being applied? I may have went to the other extreme with too much , however, much better than with the normal bead cause that was too thin



Well I wouldn't go any thicker.... wish you could attend my next boat detailing class.



Quote:
Originally Posted by bud659 View Post

When applying the wax on a cool day, I just waited about 5 minutes. It was a light haze. It wasn't streaky when removing with a spot test, it was a light haze and not super dry. is this OK? Is it possible wax can dry too long? I'd rather be safe than sorry. I can always to a 3rd coat.

This is a wax you want to lay down using a thin coat and then let it fully dry.

If you lay down a thick coat and let it fully dry it will be a tick harder to remove than a thin coat but this wax already wipes off very easy when applied to a clean and polished surface.

Thick coats that are not fully dried can be smeary to wipe off because as you agitate the wet film of wax to wipe it off it's kind of the same as when you were applying it, that is because it's wet its more prone to spread out onto the surface then to come off of the surface. If that makes sense.

One thing for sure, practice makes perfect. White boats are a challenge too just because it's harder to see any film on white, be it a compound film, polish film or wax film.

Looking good though!


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