Use electric polisher on body?

[Gonzo42]

After waxing my RV, the polishing part is labor intensive. Takes a lot of effort and time.

Is the use of an electric polisher going to do a good job, or will it actually damage the paint or anything else. I'm sure that the decals need special care, but what else?

[fourmat]

Cobra21 wrote:
The 10" polisher does a good job and won't burn anything. Get several different
bonnets for it. Nor does it leave swirl marks. Made for waxing.
Brian

And you use a lot less product applying it with the orbital polisher I use 2 of them my son applies and I follow up and buff can do the entire coach in 2 hours, and not have your arm in a sling when done

[doc_brown]

Been doing it for 13 years. It's on a low setting (3 out of 10), use little pressure and move it gradually not letting it sit in one place. I love a shiny coach! I do it myself, takes 5 hours on my 40ft Country Coach. I polish it every 3 months, yes pretty anal but what the hell, a man needs something to do.

[Cobra21]

The 10" polisher does a good job and won't burn anything. Get several different
bonnets for it. Nor does it leave swirl marks. Made for waxing.
Brian

[Cobra21]

The 10" polisher does a good job and won't burn anything. Get several different
bonnets for it. Nor does it leave swirl marks. Made for waxing.
Brian

[hilldude]

The Harbor Freight buffer does a good job on my car,about $16.00.

[Clay_L]

As stated above an orbital buffer works fine. I bought a small one - 5 inch - because holding a bigger one up high while on a ladder was hard for me.

[Gjac]

To me it would depend on how bad the gel coat is oxidized. If highly oxidized a buffer and polishing compound is a good way to restore the shine, if the surface will still take a take a shine by hand and you just want to save some time I would use an orbital polisher, you won't risk burning through the gelcoat or paint like an electric buffer especially if you never used one before. I used an electric buffer on my boat and as Ron eluded to, on external radii it is easy to put a lot of pressure and remove too much material.

[rgatijnet1]

As long as the electric polisher is used at a slow speed without too much pressure it should be OK. On any edges, do them by hand and only use the electric polisher for the large flat areas.

[10forty2]

Used correctly, an orbital polisher will give a great shine.....used incorrectly, it will burn the paint and take vinyl stickers/decals off in short order. It's really only best used as a buffer AFTER you hand remove wax with a rag. The key to using one is to not apply TOO much pressure and to keep it moving side to side so it doesn't heat the paint too much in one spot. Oh, and you'll want to make sure the buffing pad stays clean and free of debris so it's not force-scratching the paint with sand/grit.

[harold1946]

A random orbital works very well for both applying and buffing.

[LVJ58]

I have a mobile service person do mine. Washes roof and washes and waxes coach for $300 well worth it to me as I getting too old for that stuff. I'll Defer to others to give advice on electric polisher use.

Best of luck and Safe travels...