Rupes LHR12E

This is a game changer. Started off with a 70$ DA polisher as a beginner. After a few cars under my belt, I decided that I need to get more power to eliminate the time I spend on a car. Long story short? This thing is what you call a scalpel of all DA polishers.

Polisher was easy to use and gave great results.

Item arrived... clearly it was previously used. The box was beat up and torn. The polisher arrived with buffing compound on it. For $300... I'm pretty disappointed. A USED polisher isn't worth $300.

What a great, heavy duty polisher! It will serve me for many many years to come I am completely confident!

I am so glad I bought this unit. Worth the money!

I have used the RUPES one time and then the machine oil come out and electric Shock happened !!!

Best orbital polisher out there

The Rupes LHR12E polisher is extremely smooth and while pros might go for bigger machines to speed up their work, but for a DIY detail work this kit is perfect. I might want to stress that this machine also does wet-sanding to smooth out orange peel. However, I wouldn't advice wet-sanding your car without some practice. There are 2 kinds of pads provided for wet-sanding. A 2000 grit and a 3000 grit. Wash your car thoroughly. Start with the 2000 grit and spray both the pad and the paint panel before starting. Just let the machine do its work. Keep the pads flat on the surface and use very light pressure. All you want is to let the pad and machine do its work. Go slow and easy and don't let the machine stay put in one place. Keep it moving and soon you see a haze developing on the surface. This is what you have removed from the clear coat, leveling the high spots. Wipe the surface dry with MF towel (I like to use a squeegee to wipe the crud away). Be very patient while you wet-sand and don't get carried away. Because once you overdo it, you're at a point of no return once the clear-coat is gone. The key is to remove just enough of the clear coat to level the high spots. Next use the 3000-grit to buff out the haze. The majority of the haze would be polished out in the 3000-grit sanding. Then move on using the blue foam pad with the Rupes Zephir Gloss Coarse Gel compound to do the polishing. Right after the polishing, even though there are other steps to go through, you'll be surprised how all the haze are taken out and the glossy shine appearing. Now use the yellow pad and the Rupes Keramik Gloss Fine Gel to completely eliminate all the swirls and fine scratches. After this stage you will be left with a surface smooth as glass without any spider webs or fine scratches. Then you can either use a sealant or wax to preserve and protect the surface.Although, the LHR12E is smaller than the bigger polishers, but for the nooks and crannies, the 5 1/2" pads are still too big when you want better control around curvatures. The ideal solution is to get the Rupes LHR75E with their 3" pads for a complete system. However, being a DIY person, that is not an option in buying more equipment while only using it rarely. Although the LHR12R and the LHE75E are identical in every way, from the motor assembly to the body and everything else, except the assembly for the 3" backing plate, unfortunately Rupes does not sell the assembly parts that fits the 3" backing plate onto the LHR12E body. If you want the 3" pads, you are forced to buy another polisher.However, there is a solution. Examine this link that a Japanese company made a high--quality 3" backing plate just for the LHR12E. It is a little bit pricey, but it converts your LHR12E machine to accept 3" pads and allow you complete control over your polishing job. 3M also supplies 3" wet-sanding grits if you want to wet-sand with the 3" pads.http://www.esotericcarcare.com/kamikaze-beast-3-backing-plate/This is what I bought for my LHR12E and swapping the backing plate now is a breeze, allowing me absolute control over the entire polishing process. Now I have one system that will do all the multi-tasking from wet-sanding, polishing to fine and smaller detailing work. I'm extremely satisfied with this kit and the additional 3" accessories.