Paint Thickness Gauge, Cheapo Harbor Freight First Test Results.

[g88]

Re: Paint Thickness Gauge, Cheapo Harbor Freight First Test Results.

nice interested topic we have here.

Mmm..but i have question about PTG. Are these gauge meant to measure clear coat, premier or based coat ?

When we put the device toward the paint surface, how do we know which layer is it actually getting reading from ?

Also What's the average thickness for clean coat, premier (color coat) or based coat ?

Also how this Cheapo Harbor Freight gauge work actually ?

[g88]

Re: Paint Thickness Gauge, Cheapo Harbor Freight First Test Results.

oldman, can you show some photo how the gauge work step by step ??

[RaskyR1]

Re: Paint Thickness Gauge, Cheapo Harbor Freight First Test Results.

I have a high dollar unit (etg-1) I will test against the HF one.

I'd be very interested in the resluts. If the HF one appears to be just as accurate as you etg-1 I will order one ASAP.

[Pats300zx]

Re: Paint Thickness Gauge, Cheapo Harbor Freight First Test Results.

I have used the HF one and it's a great tool for the money. Mine should be in this week. When I ordered it a month ago it was on backorder.

[BlueZero]

Re: Paint Thickness Gauge, Cheapo Harbor Freight First Test Results.

I have a high dollar unit (etg-1) I will test against the HF one.

That's what I wanted to hear! Thanks Joe!

I've been waiting for a while for someone to do a side by side test with a high dollar one. Looking forward to the test results.

[cafemoc]

Re: Paint Thickness Gauge, Cheapo Harbor Freight First Test Results.

wow, great finding.
As long as gauge is accurate enough, I would love to purchase from HF.

[oldmodman]

Re: Paint Thickness Gauge, Cheapo Harbor Freight First Test Results.

As a follow up I will try to answer some more of the questions asked.

As far as I know this meter (and most if not all of the others) are sonic in nature. Like SONAR they bounce a sound pulse off of the metal base layer through all the "soft" paint layers above it. Then it calculates the thickness from the time it measures between the time the sound pulse is emitted and the time it gets it back. The measurement can be affected by temperature, air pressure, etc. that is why the meter should be calibrated with it's known thickness test strip before each days use.

There is no way for it to determine how thick the primer, color base coat, and the final top clearcoat are. The reason for using the meter is to let you know if the paint has been sanded before, or is it the original finish or a repaint etc.

As I posted in my original thread above, I measured the finish before and after sanding, and at each step along the way.

If you read the article that I provided a link to, it explains about the typical factory finish. That the average primer is one percentage of the total, the color base is another, and the final 25% is the top clearcoat. But you have no way of knowing if the finish has been worked on before. A good giveaway would be that the finish is absolutely perfect (showing that it may have been sanded before). So if a customer brought you a car that had perfect paint except for one key scratch you shoud be wary of sanding again. But if the same car was brought to you with tons of orangepeel you could assume that the paint is still at original factory applied thickness and it would be safe to sand out the key scratch.

But every car, case, and finish must be examined as a new case. Don't make any assumptions based on the job before it.

[Hemin8r]

Re: Paint Thickness Gauge, Cheapo Harbor Freight First Test Results.

I just received my paint thickness gauge. Very nice I like the backlight as well. Very clear readings. I callibrated the gauge and measured a couple of my co-workers cars. average reading was about 4.1-4.7 mils. One was as low as 3.1 mils. What would be the lowest reading we can do any polishing on without causing damage to the paint. Below 3mils?

[Renny Doyle]

Re: Paint Thickness Gauge, Cheapo Harbor Freight First Test Results.

Man...I was so pleased to find this gauge...BUT! When I got it back to the show and compared the outcome with a high-end gauge with know accuracy and results...the excitement was replaced by disbelief...all of the units we tested in the $100.00 - $200.00 gave very misleading readings and or were not uniform within the readings provided.

Maybe the unit I purchased was a lemon...well just in case I returned it and repeated our testing with the new unit...same poor results.

I tested four "affordable" gauges and all provided like results...most were not reliable and tested at 1-2 mils off in some cases when compared to gauges that were pinpoint accurate. The gauge within this forum measured at accurate levels on factory finishes at times but on repaints it struggled and was very, very off...in short we found it not to be accurate enough to use within our detailing efforts.

We spent a good amount of money for this level of testing and I hope others will benefit from our efforts.

Here are the units I found to provide the best results

Buyers and users use caution!

[jmakado]

Re: Paint Thickness Gauge, Cheapo Harbor Freight First Test Results.

How do you know they where pin-point accurate? How do you know that the expensive gauge was not off? And as long as the less expensive gauge is reading accurate to itself then it's not that big of a deal. I'm not questioning that the more expensive ones may be better. I'm only questioning the "testing" you linked to looks to be endorsing a specific brand of gauge. Wouldn't be a very good endorsement if you didn't say they where far superior now would it?

[Renny Doyle]

Re: Paint Thickness Gauge, Cheapo Harbor Freight First Test Results.

Jason...it is endorsing a brand or more specific a line that we view as accurate! We did this test at our own cost to find out if the cheap brands are worthy...plus remember, our test was aimed at the professional detailer that should demand and needs pin-point accuracy if one desires to perform at a high level and minimize his/her exposure to damage!

As for how did we know they (All brands) were pin-point accurate? We had "test slides" with known levels of coverage, and all of the gauges were tested at this level to start and then on real world vehicles...the models we endorsed were "pin-point" while the cheaper entry levels were not as I explained within my post.

Furthermore, You state, "And as long as the less expensive gauge is reading accurate to itself then it's not that big of a deal".

I ask you...what is the point of using/owning a paint gauge if its measurements are off at times or provides the user with data that is incorrect?

How do you know they where pin-point accurate? How do you know that the expensive gauge was not off? And as long as the less expensive gauge is reading accurate to itself then it's not that big of a deal. I'm not questioning that the more expensive ones may be better. I'm only questioning the "testing" you linked to looks to be endorsing a specific brand of gauge. Wouldn't be a very good endorsement if you didn't say they where far superior now would it?

[jmakado]

Re: Paint Thickness Gauge, Cheapo Harbor Freight First Test Results.

Nice respose and very good points.

My point on the less expensive gauges being consistent if not accurate was more to the point of seeing how much paint is removed. Did you find the cheap gauges to be cosistent? If they are not consistent then yes, it's a waste of money no matter how cheap it is. If it is at least consistent then it could be useful for seeing how much paint was removed. I do appriciate your reply though. Rules out the HF gauge for me.

[Renny Doyle]

Re: Paint Thickness Gauge, Cheapo Harbor Freight First Test Results.

Jason...great question...they were consistent only when celebrated before nearly each use. Again...for a weekend detailer no big deal, as long as you have the know-how and time. As for those of us who make a living detailing professionally...that time is all to valuable and don't your client deserve a better investment...they are investing within you and in this old detailers mind we should invest in tools that are of the highest abilities.

So, for those using cheaper options, simply do so knowing you should calibrate each time you use the unit and know some cheap units we tested were off even after being celebrated...as much as a mil or more...not a good thing when working on your paint.

For those making a living performing professional detail work...do a little homework and invest a tad more in a professional grade unit would be my advise!

Happy detailing all...again...great thread with many, many great points!

[Woob]

Re: Paint Thickness Gauge, Cheapo Harbor Freight First Test Results.

Renny were you guys able to test the Phase II 3550 or 3500? Looks like the Mini ETG on ProMotorInc site, except with 2 extra buttons.

[Renny Doyle]

Re: Paint Thickness Gauge, Cheapo Harbor Freight First Test Results.

Great question...I have worked with the Phase II gauges in the past and had no issues with there performance but they were not included within these test...they were a little higher end then we desired plus this was an expensive test and we topped out at buying five of the most commonly available gauges in the $200.00 or less category.

We did move up into the $400.00 price area with many performing very well within this price zone. The reason why Pro Car scored so well is their proven performance with us and a few of my detailing buddies that helped me with this test. Pro Cars really stands behind the product...we knocked one of our older units to the ground a few times and they were able to save it from replacement...how many companies do that today?

In reality, we were really trying to see if it paid to go cheap...can't blame us for trying

Personally, I work with both the ETGII and ETG Mini.

Have you used any of the Phase II gauges?? If so, what was your take? Again...was the Phase II involved within this testing...no but on previous detailing projects I have worked on with other leading detailers...I have used the tool and they seemed very solid!

Thanks for the info and post...

Renny were you guys able to test the Phase II 3550 or 3500? Looks like the Mini ETG on ProMotorInc site, except with 2 extra buttons.