Mothers Powerball - Anyone have experience?

[Rich Stidger]

I picked up a red Mothers Powerball and it appears to be the same as the "Marine" version. In fact the Mothers site says that it is identical.

I will post results after I use it, but I'm wondering if anyone here has already used it and has any opinion on it's performance.

I plan to use it in the cockpit where there are lots of small corners and also on the non-skid areas for cleaning.

The picture below is from the Mothers website.

 

[Ross]

And the purpose of this is? Does it clean? replace a tooth brush?

 

[Rich Stidger]

Oh, sorry. It is used in a electric drill for polishing. It can be used on metal, fiberglas, or paint with the appropriate cleaner.

The manufacturer claims that it is designed to polish in tight spaces or corners and that it will also clean and polish rough surfaces like diamond metal (truck running boards).

I thought it might be good for the hard-to-do areas in the cockpit and on the non-skid surfaces- just for cleaning, not wax of course.

 

[Manny]

Rich, please post your results. I've been thinking of buying one of those for exactly the same reasons, the cockpit and the other difficult places.

Manny

 

[caguy]

Oh, sorry. It is used in a electric drill for polishing. It can be used on metal, fiberglas, or paint with the appropriate cleaner.

The manufacturer claims that it is designed to polish in tight spaces or corners and that it will also clean and polish rough surfaces like diamond metal (truck running boards).

I thought it might be good for the hard-to-do areas in the cockpit and on the non-skid surfaces- just for cleaning, not wax of course.

Why not wax?

 

[txtowman]

I wasted my money on one. My 18 volt 3 speed drill either has enough power to turn it with pressure and its too slow, or turned it fast without enough torque. I was trying to clean my mirror finish alum wheels on the peterbilt. finally through it down and used a rag. JMHO. YMMV. sid

 

[Rich Stidger]

Why not wax?

Why not wax?

Two reasons- first you don't want to apply wax to a non-skid area because you don't want it slippery.

Second, I never apply or take off wax with a buffing pad of any type because the wax will fill-up the pad and render it useless. To the best of my knowledge there is no way to remove built-up wax from a buffing pad. Once it is filled with wax, you have to toss it. So for wax removal and final buffing I use terry or microfiber cloths. I only use buffing pads to remove compound cleaners or polish. When I use a cleaner-wax or a pure wax product, I don't use a buffing pad.

 

[Ron20324]

It looks like a Tribble on a stick. Glad to see they were good for something. Capt kirk would be so happy

 

[RichH]

I use them on my vintage sports car - mostly in the engine compartment but useful in the exterior 'nooks and crannies'. You dont want to apply a lot of pressure but rather let the (slow) speed of the drill, etc. be the 'factor' for the polishing (compounds). You can get varying sizes in automotive supply shops.

 

[48dodge]

I bought a mini powerball to use on my dodge and it worked great before it exploded. I guess I forced it into too small a spot on my grill (stainless steel) and an edge snagged one of the little poofs . I was able to salvage enough of it to put it back together, but it only has about half the material left. The 1/2 of the grill that I was able to do looked good. I do plan on getting another one, just haven't done it yet. Oh yeah, I used it on some headlights to try to spruce them up. It didn't seem to have the oomph to remove all of the oxidation, but it did help.

 

[caguy]

Two reasons- first you don't want to apply wax to a non-skid area because you don't want it slippery.

Second, I never apply or take off wax with a buffing pad of any type because the wax will fill-up the pad and render it useless. To the best of my knowledge there is no way to remove built-up wax from a buffing pad. Once it is filled with wax, you have to toss it. So for wax removal and final buffing I use terry or microfiber cloths. I only use buffing pads to remove compound cleaners or polish. When I use a cleaner-wax or a pure wax product, I don't use a buffing pad.

I thought Woody Wax was ok to use on decks. For what they charge for the wax it better work as advertised. The Power Ball looks promising. I as well only use the machine for application, that's the hard part. Buffing by hand is easy and gratifying. Getting into all those nooks and crannies is rough on the fingers. Sounds like a corded drill is the way to go.