[FONT="]Okay so I had my truck coated with Ceramic Pro 9H while I was out of town for 3 days. Its a DD and sits outside, no way to not be exposed to the elements. It did get about 48 hours cure time in a climate controlled garage and 4 more days outside. Well this is my first winter with a ceramic coated truck and wondering how to address salt / brime during the recommend 2 week cure time. First snow is coming tomorrow, do I not wash it as recommended even with the salt/brime or do I wash it and what process? Would running a pressure washer just to rinse the salt off be the best route? I got a super vague response from CP America. Probably the last time I go with this coating but got a good deal from my detailer (2 layers of 9H, paint correction and 1 layer of light for $950). Thanks ladies and gents![/FONT]
Ceramic Pro Cure Time and Salt / Brime
- Thread starter zachmat
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rlmccarty2000
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- Dec 23, 2013
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Are you saying the installer told you there was a 2 week cure time? Call them back and ask them again. 24 hours is the norm. If you are really worried buy a bottle of IGL Premier and apply it over the coating to avoid possible waterspots.
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- #3
Nope they told me 24 hours, which it had, it sat in the climate controlled garage for about 48 before I picked it up. Ceramic Pro says not to wash it for 2 weeks, in AZ no big deal when I did my last truck but in IL we have salt already on the roads, not sure if I let it be with the salt on it for that 2 weeks or if I should try to rinse it off and then dry it.
rlmccarty2000
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- Dec 23, 2013
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I’m assuming they don’t want any water on the coating to keep it from getting water spots. The salt should not effect the coating. If they say 2 weeks then I would wait two weeks. I would get some CarPro Reset to wash it with as a maintenance wash (after the 2 weeks). To be on the safe side give the installer a call, but most coatings are ready to be washed after 24 hours.
Welcome to Autogeek!
Welcome to Autogeek!
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- #5
Agreed, I think its okay, we had a day of heavy rain before this sleet / ice / snow event and didnt notice any waterspots, not sure why CP says 2 weeks when most coatings like you mentioned all say 24-48 hours, I think some are even 1-2 hours now. I was just wondering if I should just let the salt be for a week before I do my first maintenance wash, and yep I have CP's version of reload which boosts the hydrophobic properties between washes. Really miss the ability to wash myself every 2 weeks in AZ, just not feasible in IL without a garage and temps below freezing. Thanks!
The Guz
Well-known member
- Jun 17, 2013
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See my previous response.
See my previous response.
The road salt and brine will not harm the coating. It's just the visual of it. As others had said a week and it's fine to be doing a contact wash. Carpro Reset car soap is awesome to keep your coating deep cleaned. Personally I would skip just a rinse with the PW. Maybe if you have a good blowdryer of some kind go dry your truck with it's not a problem. If you use the PW to clean with as in holding it a half of a foot or a foot away depending on the power from the PW. And hit every part of the truck with the water pressure from the PW. You can do a rinseless wash or waterless wash with McKees 37 N-914 rinseless wash or Carpro EcH2O. If you have a foamcannon and a good prewash foam or even a weak degreaser/APC that's easy rinsed off and foam or spray on the truck. If the truck is big split it up in 2 application of the prewash so it's not drying on you. Then the same with useing the water pressure from the PW to clean with. And you get it a little more cleaner than just a PW clean rinsing it. Gtechnic W4 Citrus Foam and Griots Garage BOSS Foaming Surface Wash and Gyeon Foam is some great prewash foams. 3D Citrus Degreaser 88 in 1:10-1:20 and spray on the side panels and the back of the car under the windows and down as a traffic film remover. Here are usually the most of the heavy road salt and road film build up. PW clean rinsing it off and wash or blowdry. In the beginning of the coating life it's going to be very easy to wash it and many times just a great prewash foam and PW clean rinsing it off and blowdry it is enough for a couple of weeks. Before you do a contact wash with Reset car soap.
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- #8
Thanks man, ya I dont mind the appearance of it and with temps below freezing I was more concerned about the salt being on the coating. I always do two bucket wash, and include a hydrophobic booster such as reload between washes on my coated vehicles. I rarely use a PW as its a) not really necessary b) does more harm than good often, but when temps are too cold and little time after a snow / salt storm I'll take it to the quarter touchless and use their pressure hoses to knock off the salt from undercarriage, etc. Im not looking for it to be perfect I just want to preserve the coating and of course the vehicle and first winter with a ceramic coating.
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- #9
Thanks bud, ya I always 2 bucket garden hose wash as the PW isnt really necessary with a coating, but have to use the touchless PW place up the street sometimes when temps are still just at freezing so wasnt sure the best route and my first winter with a coating just wanted to do right by the coating and vehicle and was concerned about salt impact.
Do the coin-op has DI water rinse option? If so it's a good way to rinse with as the last thing you do. Or actually maybe this is crazy but if you do the PW rinse off at the coin-op while it's raining or snowing with not so much under the freezing point. You can drive from there without any drying LOL.
Depending on your budget you could get a cordless blowdryer or leafblower. Flex Cordless Blowdryer seems great and the battery would fit the bigger cordless polishers if you go with and of them in the future. I think that they that do the Flex batteries is called EGO. They have a high performance cordless leafblower on 56v batteries that seems very effective for being a cordless one. With a ceramic coating on it gets very easy to drying the truck.
FLEX BW-18 Cordless Blower Complete Set
I always use a PW when washing my car and have been doing for many years now. Have used industrial 400v PW on cars without any problems. Use some common sense and hold the PW nozzle tip at a distance that suits it's power and you will not hurt anything. If you where to use 0 degree nozzle tip or turbo nozzle tip at 3"-4" away from the paint and you can hurt it. Also if you already have a damaged paint that's flakes then you can damage it more if you go closely over those parts of the flakes. I have not damaged anything yet with a PW. But I'm maybe very anal about getting the paint as clean as possible before I touch wash it. The benefit is that you have less risk of wash indused swirls and scratches when you get the paint as clean as possible before you touch it. At the last 3 years almost I have had my Kärcher K7 electric PW and it's a 230v as we have it as standard here in Sweden. It's around 2300psi and 2.6gpm from it and it goes on the highest psi even if it's easly lowered on the spray gun handle wireless set. Speeded up the prewash for me a lot than with the old Nilfisk PW at 1500psi and 1.2gpm I had before this. But the coin-op wash bays PW usually has a great gpm from the PW which gets you an effective and faster prerinse. I often do just a prewash foam and PW clean rinsing it off as a touchless wash at home during the summer months. Then blowdry the car or when I'm real lazy I drive it dry LOL. With a fresh and high water behavior LSP it's about 15 minutes from start to finish and a 90%-95% or more cleaned car. Then if we have some rain or just it's been over a month then it's needed to be doing a contact wash so the performance from the LSP don't drop.
There are many ways to maintain your vehicals this is just how I do it. Just do what works for you or try something else out that may suit your way of doing it. For an example I have never done a waterless wash or rinseless wash on the whole car LOL. Have been testing on a hood a couple of times with a WW and the door jambs and other jambs. But it's something that makes me cringe with it. And I usually wash more far between than I should be doing. So the prewash step and I'm already have it setup for a doing a bucket wash with multible wash mitts and mf wash pads. I have not been doing any of them. So we do what suits us and that's fine too.
What did you have for the protection before you got it coated with CP? And do you get any better self cleaning ability from the CP now?
I have been thinking on applying a ceramic coating on my own for a long while now. But have been waiting on it since I have been thinking on trading in my car for as long LOL. So have just used many different kind of SiO2 based topper kind of products and especially the spray on rinse off products as they are so easy to use. Thinking it's not been worth to invest in a ceramic coating. But it would have been it since I like a lot to test out products LOL. Looking for a used car that has a great condition on the paint as mine is pretty bad already when I bought it. With dings and deeper scratches and other defects sadly.