How much paint am I removing?

[manueljlg]

How much paint am I removing?


If I could measure my clear coat thickness with a digital gauge before and after using DACP with a PC on a 8006 pad at speed 5, which would be the outcome ? How much clear coat would be removed?

[Setec Astronomy]

Funny, I just did this, sort of...much more agressively than you...might have taken off about half a mil...based on my rough calibration of the eddy current tester I borrowed. I would say one application with your pad would be a tenth of a mil or less...but I'm just guessing...Mike Phillips is prolly the guy who has done this a lot, or Rod Kraft who showed us his tester today at the detailing day.

[manueljlg]

Also, what´s the standar thickness of clear coat in most cars?

[Setec Astronomy]

According to Rod Kraft today, if I remember this correctly, the total film build is usually 4.5 to 5.5 mils, with the clear 2.0-2.5 mils. You are only "allowed" to remove 0.5 mils of the clear. So...I don't think you even would remove 0.1 mils, but that's just my guess.

[Jimmy Buffit]

You are only "allowed" to remove 0.5 mils of the clear

And many paint mfgs say do not remove more than .3 mil .

The thinking is that if you remove any more, the UV protection is compromised, and may lead to clearcoat failure in 6 months or so.

Me? I dunno. But I just received my ETG (Electronic Thickness Guage) last week. It makes me much more aware when going after those DEEP imperfections.

Jim

[manueljlg]

How many times can I use my PC with DACP on my truck ( I plan to keep her a long time ) before removing more than 0.3 mil. ?

[Jimmy Buffit]

This is just my opinion. Once, maybe twice...

ValuGard offers a product (which I THINK is similar to DACP) and their directions clearly state that one pass (buff to dust) will remove .3 mil.

Without the (expensive) ability to measure, we are buffing in the dark! That' why I'm so bothered by folks who think wetsanding is a casual fix for so many problems...

Be careful.

Jim

[Setec Astronomy]

Originally posted by Jimmy Buffit
This is just my opinion. Once, maybe twice...

ValuGard offers a product (which I THINK is similar to DACP) and their directions clearly state that one pass (buff to dust) will remove .3 mil.

Without the (expensive) ability to measure, we are buffing in the dark! That' why I'm so bothered by folks who think wetsanding is a casual fix for so many problems...

Be careful.

Jim

How much have you used that ETG? After seeing Rod Kraft use his the other day (at the Piscataway Detail Day), I borrowed an eddy current tester to see what I did with DACP and scared myself! Until I measured another part of the car where I hadn't used the DACP...so now I think the thin spot where I buffed might be original variation...or weathering. How can YOU tell when presented with a car that you don't know the history of? If it was single stage paint, it would be eaiser, but how confident can you be how much clear is left, when you see all different makes and years? Just asking, not challenging.

[manueljlg]

Mike P. or 2hotford:
Can you please post some comments about this topic ?

[Mike Pennington]

Let me jump in here also...

DACP and a PC will not remove .3 mil with one pass not even close...

Just to give you an idea, we can take our Finishing Papers, wool pad, and Diamond Cut 2.0 and remove less than .5 mil.

With that said, you can use DACP over and over and over with a PC with no problems of removing too much material and causing any type of paint failure.

I hope this clears things up

Mike

[Jose Torres]

Originally posted by manueljlg
Also, what´s the standar thickness of clear coat in most cars?

Single Stage Paint Systems (aka standard finish)

Total Film Build is about 3.5 to 5.0 mils.
(primer, pigmented color)

About 2.0 to 2.5 mils of the TFB is the pigmented color (on top of the primer) .




Clear Coat Paint Systems

Total Film Build is about 4.5 to 6.0 mils
(primer, basecoat, clearcoat)

About 1.5 to 2.0 mils is the clear coat alone, with only .5 mils available for defect removal.

*a standard sheet of paper is about 2.5 mils*

[Jimmy Buffit]

Mike Pennington, nice to hear from you!
My reference to removing .3 was with a rotary and wool pad...
Seems I could be more precise in my posts.

Setec, the ETG only allows us to monitor the amount removed. So, we must take initial/baseline readings, and monitor the changes.

It is not a cure all. For example, if we don't know the history of the vehicle, can we safely assume that it has not been aggressively buffed in the past? Probably, but we just don't know.

Just one more tool.

Jim

[manueljlg]

From what I´m reading, I can safely use # 83 twice a year for the next 10 years ???

[Mike Phillips]

Originally posted by manueljlg
From what I´m reading, I can safely use # 83 twice a year for the next 10 years ???

Yes. #83 is not a very aggressive product, especially applied with using PC and a foam pad.

Mike

[DSG Man]

So am I reading this right that MPPC will, over time, affect the thickness of a clearcoat in good condition? Oops. Wrong thread.