So I finally gave in to all the hype around the Rupes polisher and listed my Flex on ebay in anticipation of my purchase from Phil. I am likely going with the LHR15, since it is more than sufficient for a hobbyist such as myself. 2 Questions. 1. I used 6.5 DD pads on the Flex. Will those work with the LHR15? Should I suck it up and go to the LHR21? 2. Has anyone used the Rupes pads? Is there a noticeable difference between them and DD on the machine? Any pad recs? I attribute most of this decision to the praise from the pros on this forum. I hope I am making the right move. There was some discouraging post on detailingworlduk which held the flex as the winner. I think for my light correction needs this should yield the shiniest results. Some reasurance would be welcome from those who have made the switch.
I have the 21 (the 15 was not available at that time) and absolutely love this machine. I had to really get used to not applying much pressure to it when guiding it along my passes compared to the Flex. You will be able to tell if you are applying to much as the machine bogs down. Once you get your technique down you'll be good to go. As for pads I am primarily using the Uber 6.25" microfiber pads along with the yellow, green and blue pads from Uber and love them (with Menzerna FG400 and SF4000). I recently found the Uber MF pads were coming apart really fast between the microfiber and foam area. So I was recently turned on to the Buff & Shine MF cutting and finishing pads and found them to be excellent. As for the Rupes pads, I haven't received too much "good" feedback with them so I've stayed away. Others have informed me the Meg MF pads do well too but I haven't used them myself. Good luck with your new Rupes. You'll be happy with it
Thank you for sharing your experience! From what I have been reading the LHR 15 is good for side panels and curvy cars, while the LHR 21 is better for large flat panels. In my case the 15 seems like it would be better? Meaning no more 6.5 pads? None of the cars in my family have any heavy defects, so I am more interested in getting the best finish as easy as possible, and it sounds like the rupes is the machine for that. It is nice to know that microfiber will work well with this machine incase I need to do some heavy cutting. I also like the idea of not spending crazy amounts of money on rupes pads if they are not mind blowingly good. More opinions positive or negative welcome!
