Headlight sealant: spar urethane vs. opti coat 2.0

I have noticed the same thing with my customers. If they take care of them and keep them in a garage or out of direct sunlight often, they last much longer than those which are neglected. Thanks Hot Rod
 
I used varnishes years ago, but now use a headlight specific sealant. Varnishes can last up to one year, then they get dull, darken and wear off. Those providing headlight restoration as a service will need their work to last 2 or more years to have a good reputation in their community and get recommended through referrals.
 
Air said:
I used varnishes years ago, but now use a headlight specific sealant. Varnishes can last up to one year, then they get dull, darken and wear off. Those providing headlight restoration as a service will need their work to last 2 or more years to have a good reputation in their community and get recommended through referrals.
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One of the reasons longivity is hard to nail down is the number of variables involved.

Coating thickness- usually the thicker the coating, the longer the life

Region- South Florida, bad. Portland Oregon, good.

Geometry (exposed surface)- PT Cruiser, bad. Ford F-150, good.

Hours of exposure- facing south, bad. Facing north, good. Garage or carport, better.

Coating type- phenolic resin, good. polyurethane, fair. Wax or polish, slightly better than nothing.

Your best bet if you are restoring for money is to use something with a known track record and is being used everyday by headlight restorers.

Keep in mind that as a headlight manufacturer, your headlight must, pass the "3 year Florida sun test" without deteriorating more than 30%. They all do of course, but some just barely. And these coatings consist of primers and clear coatings applied under strict conditions using spray, dip, electrostatic etc., and cured with UV, IR, etc. so it's no wonder that long term protection performed in the field is difficult.

Ever see a car with 1 light looking better than the other? Might be as simple of where the car is constantly parked and which light got more UV exposure.

If you're doing headlight restoration as a business, I would develop a system using the best coating I could work with. Although some will seem expensive, it might be $1.00/headlight vs. .50 cents for another. Not worth it if your customer will be returning for a do-over in 6 months. This cuswtomer could of been your free salesman.
ray6
 
Im surprised that the Opti Coat side has so much UV degradation. It makes me question its use for cars parked outside 24/7.
 
Air said:
I used varnishes years ago, but now use a headlight specific sealant. Varnishes can last up to one year, then they get dull, darken and wear off. Those providing headlight restoration as a service will need their work to last 2 or more years to have a good reputation in their community and get recommended through referrals.
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Hotrod has already done a spar vs Opticoat test and it appeared that spar won. I wonder what other user-friendly, affordable coatings there are for people who don't work in a shop environment? Especially something that can be guaranteed for 3 years.(without spraying 2 coats of clear)
????
 
ray6 said:
One of the reasons longivity is hard to nail down is the number of variables involved.

Coating thickness- usually the thicker the coating, the longer the life

Region- South Florida, bad. Portland Oregon, good.

Geometry (exposed surface)- PT Cruiser, bad. Ford F-150, good.

Hours of exposure- facing south, bad. Facing north, good. Garage or carport, better.

Coating type- phenolic resin, good. polyurethane, fair. Wax or polish, slightly better than nothing.

Your best bet if you are restoring for money is to use something with a known track record and is being used everyday by headlight restorers.

Keep in mind that as a headlight manufacturer, your headlight must, pass the "3 year Florida sun test" without deteriorating more than 30%. They all do of course, but some just barely. And these coatings consist of primers and clear coatings applied under strict conditions using spray, dip, electrostatic etc., and cured with UV, IR, etc. so it's no wonder that long term protection performed in the field is difficult.

Ever see a car with 1 light looking better than the other? Might be as simple of where the car is constantly parked and which light got more UV exposure.

If you're doing headlight restoration as a business, I would develop a system using the best coating I could work with. Although some will seem expensive, it might be $1.00/headlight vs. .50 cents for another. Not worth it if your customer will be returning for a do-over in 6 months. This cuswtomer could of been your free salesman.
ray6
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Everything ray6 said is true. In my 12+ years of restoring lights, my advise is to use a high quality sealant made specifically for headlights. The best ones will have high scratch resistance that can handle the abuse from automatic car washes without scratching or peeling off. Simply divide the product cost by the number of headlights it will restore to get your cost per headlight. Spending $2-$4 per vehicle is well worth it for your reputation and peace of mind. You do not want to have to be wondering if the sealant will hold up after the customer leaves, nor do you want them calling you up and asking for a redo. "akward!" (not fun using your gas and time to strip the lights all over again and reseal them a second time) Do it right and you will get referals. Do it the low budget way and you won't hear from anybody. (except the redos.)
 
Air said:
Everything ray6 said is true. In my 12+ years of restoring lights, my advise is to use a high quality sealant made specifically for headlights. The best ones will have high scratch resistance that can handle the abuse from automatic car washes without scratching or peeling off. Simply divide the product cost by the number of headlights it will restore to get your cost per headlight. Spending $2-$4 per vehicle is well worth it for your reputation and peace of mind. You do not want to have to be wondering if the sealant will hold up after the customer leaves, nor do you want them calling you up and asking for a redo. "akward!" (not fun using your gas and time to strip the lights all over again and reseal them a second time) Do it right and you will get referals. Do it the low budget way and you won't hear from anybody. (except the redos.)
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Are you talking about a 1-part UV cure sealant, or a 2-part like a 2K clear?
 
Part-timer said:
Will this work on headlights that are 75% clear(because the original coating is still good) but it has peeled off the top 25%? I've tried a few of the stripper type, done in 5 minutes products, and the ones I tried didn't work.
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I don't know what products you have tried, but not ours since it's not available as a DIY product.

We have never recommended or endorsed partial restorations because of the many different coatings used by OEMs. There's always potential problems of one type of coating sticking to another. We do know these coatings will stick to polycarbonate.

Doesn't seem like it would be worth it. Removing some of the old coating or all of it is not much different in time.
rays
 
ray6 said:
I don't know what products you have tried, but not ours since it's not available as a DIY product.

We have never recommended or endorsed partial restorations because of the many different coatings used by OEMs. There's always potential problems of one type of coating sticking to another. We do know these coatings will stick to polycarbonate.

Doesn't seem like it would be worth it. Removing some of the old coating or all of it is not much different in time.
rays
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I don't know what you mean by a partial restoration....? I've been a professional automotive technician for 22 years and for over 2 years now have been doing headlights and minor work for a few small used car dealers on weekends, just for some extra spending money. They get cars in all the time that have the top part of the lens coating worn off (which looks like crap). They want the whole car to look new again. I remove all of the old coating(normally by sanding) and apply a new coating to make the whole lens look like new again.

It seems like we are on different pages here. I have not used your "Brite Lites" product before, there are hundreds of different products on the market now to choose from, which I haven't used. I simply asked about it. I did look at the you tube video links you provided and went to the website to check pricing.
 
Part-timer said:
I don't know what you mean by a partial restoration....? I've been a professional automotive technician for 22 years and for over 2 years now have been doing headlights and minor work for a few small used car dealers on weekends, just for some extra spending money. They get cars in all the time that have the top part of the lens coating worn off (which looks like crap). They want the whole car to look new again. I remove all of the old coating(normally by sanding) and apply a new coating to make the whole lens look like new again.

It seems like we are on different pages here. I have not used your "Brite Lites" product before, there are hundreds of different products on the market now to choose from, which I haven't used. I simply asked about it. I did look at the you tube video links you provided and went to the website to check pricing.
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Not sure what website you saw, since our website isn't operational yet. If you would like more info, please PM me or contact me at [email protected]
ray6
 
Sorry Part-Timer, I misread your post. What I meant by partial restoration is removing the original factory coating on only part of the headlight then either coating the whole headlight or just the removed part.

This is what we don't recommend because there is a potential of the new coating sticking to the original.

Our website- britelites1.com will not be operational for 3 more weeks, so I don't know what website you saw but it wasn't ours. Sorry for the confusion.
ray6
 
That is on plastic...OC is designed to work with your paint to form the hard lasting surface...right?
 
KneeDragr said:
Im surprised that the Opti Coat side has so much UV degradation. It makes me question its use for cars parked outside 24/7.
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Part-timer said:
Hotrod has already done a spar vs Opticoat test and it appeared that spar won. I wonder what other user-friendly, affordable coatings there are for people who don't work in a shop environment? Especially something that can be guaranteed for 3 years.(without spraying 2 coats of clear)
????
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DaveT435 said:
That is on plastic...OC is designed to work with your paint to form the hard lasting surface...right?
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Optimum's current coatings are for paint which already contains high levels of UV protection; so not much additional is needed. Enter clear plastics...you still have a coating that beads and doesn't allow contamination to stick well, but because the plastic has NO UV other than the factory coat that has worn away or you sanded away during the restoration process there isn't a lot of UV protection when applied to a substrate that has NONE of its own.

So, OC is still there and working, just not effectively as you'd like on these surfaces. The urethane has very high levels of UV inhibitors because it was designed to protect wood and such that had no protection, but it can't handle the chemicals than OC can.

We should have a plastic specific coating ready by SEMA that will permenantly prevent UV degradation on lenses...so stay tuned.
 
Chris@Optimum said:
We should have a plastic specific coating ready by SEMA that will permenantly prevent UV degradation on lenses...so stay tuned.
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I am very interested in trying out this product!!!! Hopefully its as easy to apply as opti coat 2.0.

I have recently been experimenting with multiple coats of the 50/50 spar treatment compared to just one coat, and the results are obvious. The multiple coated lens are outlasting the one coated side. And the lens are both in full sunlight every day.

However, I am curious about this XPEL Headlight Protection Kit, Xpel headlight film, x-pel headlight protection film, if it will keep the lights from degrading over its 7 year warranty. If so, it would definitely outlast any "coating" out there that I am aware of. But it might be difficult to apply to certain headlights, and it is much more expensive but might be worthwhile if it outlasts everything else out there on the market. Opinions?
 
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