NXT Wax vs. DCS#3 water beading doubts

[sherwin]

Hey guys, I've just picked up a bottle of Tech Wax not too long ago, and applied 2 coats (12 hours apart) on my car.

Before Tech Wax, I was using the Deep Crystal System #3 Carnauba Wax along with the DCS1 & 2.

The gloss and shine given by the NXT is certainly great, but what caught me by suprise is the water beading action of the NXT. I find water doesnt bead as well as it used to on the carnauba wax. In fact, today while giving my car a wash (NXT Wash), I was a little dissappointed to see the water sheeting instead of beading! And this is only about a week and a half since the NXT application. Its as though there is no layer of wax on the car.

Previously with the DCS#3, the water beading action could last well into a month..

Did I miss out something here?

Could it be the hot weather right here in Malaysia sort of dried off the wax?

[ebpcivicsi]

IMO, the qualities in NXT that cause water to bead do not last that long. This is agood thing for as my paint etches very easily. IMO and IME I find that with most sealants, even when they are not beading as tight as when you first applied them, they are still protecting. I tend to use the slickness of the paint as an indication of presense rather than beading. The wash that you use can also effect the water beading post wash.

[gb387]

IMO... I prefer that a wax/sealant sheet rather than bead... as ebpcivicsi my experience as well the water tends to sheet rather than bead but I feel this helps minimize the spots left on the surface and is not an indication of protection.

Check this old post out its rather interesting...

http://meguiarsonline.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=152&highlight=sheeting

I too have used the DC#3 and feel NXT is a far better product... in both ease of use and protection.

[jfelbab]

Re: NXT Wax vs. DCS#3 water beading doubts

Originally posted by sherwin
Hey guys, I've just picked up a bottle of Tech Wax not too long ago, and applied 2 coats (12 hours apart) on my car.

Before Tech Wax, I was using the Deep Crystal System #3 Carnauba Wax along with the DCS1 & 2.

The gloss and shine given by the NXT is certainly great, but what caught me by suprise is the water beading action of the NXT. I find water doesnt bead as well as it used to on the carnauba wax. In fact, today while giving my car a wash (NXT Wash), I was a little dissappointed to see the water sheeting instead of beading! And this is only about a week and a half since the NXT application. Its as though there is no layer of wax on the car.

Previously with the DCS#3, the water beading action could last well into a month..

Did I miss out something here?

Could it be the hot weather right here in Malaysia sort of dried off the wax?

Besides the explanations already given, you stated that when washing your vehicle with NXT Wash, there was little beading. Along with some waxes, most car washes are designed to sheet water and not bead. When you take a hose to the car or it gets rained on does the water bead up? I suspect you will see a lot more beading in that case.

[Boss_429]

I pretty much agree with what's been said here........ don't let the beading/sheeting thing worry you.

If your paint is not beading, doesn't feel slick, and has lost it's "bling".............. then you need to take some action. If it does all three of those things very quickly, then something is wrong.

[Mad iX]

NXT beads nicely for me. I wax once a month so I haven't noticed complete loss of beading, just the bubbles aren't as tight.
If you're worried, you could just put DC#3 on top of the NXT. That might be worth a try.

[sherwin]

The beading action is not there when it gets rained on or when I just hose it down with water.. I'm pretty sure I got all the steps done correctly like letting the wax dry before buffing (15/20mins), thin application, no water/QD/etc. while the polymers setup and the surface was cleaned & polished beforehand.


Now I'm wondering is there any side effects on layering DCS3 on top on NXT, say every month or so. I mean like will the builted-up alternate layers of DCS3 and NXT Wax cause some side effects. (like having a hard time removing all those layers of wax later)

In any case I do a complete clay, surface prep (DCS#1 Paint Cleaner & ScratchX) followed by polish (DCS#2) every quarter, sometimes even once every 2 months.

[jfelbab]

Beading of water is not an accurate indicator of the protection on the surface, If you want beading action I'd suggest topping NXT with #16 which has just been discontinued by Meguiar's due to new EPA VOC requirements. It is still available in the marketplace though if you look for it. I've never seen a carnauba wax that beads water as profusely as #16 does.

I seldom top NXT Tech Wax on my vehicles. Here are a couple of shots of my RX330 showing the water beading action 68 days after application. I had washed, clayed, applied #81 and NXT (x2).

[sherwin]

I just applied another coat of NXT last week and everything seems to be fine now. Must've done something wrong somewhere previously.