How to Use a Dual Action Polisher - Teaching a NOVICE the BASICS! 

Welcome! Thanks for the support :)

This is not an easy answer. Ideally you only want to polish once, set up the car and then protect and have a good wash system. This preserve the paint in the best possible way. It also depends on how aggressive you are with paint correction. Or if you're giving the surface an enhancement polish. Enhancement polishes could be done once a year. with the right Polish. It also depends on the harness and depth of paint you have. This is why pro detailers will measure the depth of paint so they know how much they have to work with. This is why it's can be better to give a light gentle polish because most of the marring will get removed, but will clean the deeper scratches and make them less visible. Not a direct answer this but it does depend on many factors. Like I said at the start it's best to do it once and then look after the paint with a good wash routine.

Are you referring to the panel wipe?

Normally you start with setting 1 or 2 to spread the compound. You then move the speed up. The speed I would move up to will depend on the paint work. Harder paint work I would move to 6, softer paint I would stick between 3 and 4 and only move up if I had a lot of paint correction to achieve. I'm not sure what RPM speed the machine goes too. I can check on the DA manual if wanted.

@@TheValetPRO that's helpful thanks