Decibel Readings of Various Polishers

As I was getting interested in a new polisher I had kept researching decibel readings as I often try to work at night and in the garage and prefer to avoid annoying neighbors to the best of my ability. Polishing at night is beyond a rare occurrence but I was still intrigued. So when I got the Flex I knew I wanted to make this information known. I can't speak for the accuracy of this test but for reference OSHA recommends a maximum of 85 decibels constant for an 8 hour day. This adjusts for less time as decibels increase. Above that rating long term hearing may be affected. A 10 decibel change is registered as roughly twice or half as loud depending on the rating. So small changes and differences in readings can show noticeable change. This test was done using an iPhone 6 3 ft away from a polisher facing upward with no pad on it. Each polisher was turned on and tested multiple times via a locally sourced app. Here is a photo.

And the data in decibels for each polisher and backing plate combo. There was no difference in sound on the Porter Cable with a 3" backing plate or a 6 " backing plate.

Device	Speed	Decibels
PC 3"	1	81
	2	82
	3	82
	4	84
	5	87
	6	89
Griot's 5"	1	86
	2	86
	3	87
	4	88
	5	91
	6	91
Flex 5.5"	1	85
	2	86
	3	86
	4	86
	5	88
	6	89

And a final photo of the equipment.

2013 VW Jetta Paint Correction and Opti-Coat

Here is a 2013 Tornado Red VW Jetta paint correction and Opti-Coat 2.0 application.  This was my first go at using Opti-coat and application was pretty straight forward and easy.  This car only had 3000 miles on it

Process
Rinseless wash with ONR and APC to strip any previous waxes or sealants applied by the dealer
Nanoskin fine grade clay
FG400 with Meguiar's MF pad after trying Optimum Hyper Polish, HD Polish, and Menz PF2500
Eraser Wipedown
Opti-Coat 2.0 Application

Quite a few scratches and RIDs (Random Isolated Deeper Scratches)

Usual scratches and swirls

 

And of course it wouldn't be complete without lazy dealership detailers putting wax everywhere

50/50 On the Driver's Side Passenger Door

Unpolished

Polished

 After a cross-country roadtrip bug bombs on the headlight

Uncleaned

Cleaned

Pillars Before polishing

After

And done!

Feel free to post up any questions or tips!