Getting started with an inexpensive RO

[bigBADbenny]

I'm new to detailing in general, and of course the forum has been an awesome guide! Thanks!

I have purchased a very basic random orbital polisher and was inquiring about what extra pads, polishes and accessories I need to add to get started.
I understand my results may be limited by the tool itself, I'll eventually upgrade to a forum recommended DA, after I've learned the basics.

As regards products, I have some of the basics including car wash, clay bar kit, detailing spray, a tub of medium compound and some dodo dark wax, along with various general purpose wax polishes.
The polisher has a 240mm/9.5" non-removable foam plate, it also came with white terry and furry bonnets.

Do I just purchase more bonnets for the various paint correction stages and related products, or can I use this type of polisher with special foam pads?

[bass_straitener]

Can I ask which cheap DA polisher you've bought Ben?

[garbo41610]

Go with a kit of foam pads from somewhere like Car Care Products.

You might also look at a polish kit that CCP and other places sell, when I bought my RO it came with a pad kit from light to heavy cutting and a Menzerna polishes kit from heavy to light compounds and a sealant. If you've already got polishes look for a good quality sealant. I've recently bought a DuraGloss 111 sealant and am really happy with the results it gave me on my Sherpa and really looking forward to getting it onto my Liberty. And last of all a good quality wax. P21S Concours I've found to be pretty good bang for buck.

Also, get in touch with Hamish for some tips on the whole process.

One last thing, patience. My god it can be arduous at times but enjoy it, the results will be a hell of a lot more satisfying.

[garbo41610]

Whoops just reread the bit about nonremovable foam pad. Disregard that bit in my reply LOL.

[bigBADbenny]

Can I ask which cheap DA polisher you've bought Ben?

It was $15 on Gumtree 3000RPM, 120Watt. I think its "No Name" brand or similar
But so far it was great on my headlights!

@ Garbo, thanks for the tips!
There's tons of info about removable pads here but not much on using non-removable... Any ideas, just different bonnets, or adapt removable pads?

[garbo41610]

Sorry bud, wouldn't know. I bit the bullet when I decided to get more heavily into the detailing thing and spent about $550 on my RO lol.

However, saying that there are some microfibre bonnets on CCP that I gave a go out of curiousity (on the Sherpa of course), and was pretty surprised at the results. They fit snugly over the 6.5" pads on my RO but you can prob find something similar to suit the pads on you RO. Quick search on eBay found this