I haven't had any luck getting Pinnacle to answer my questions (disappointed in their customer service to be honest).
You're communicating with customer service rep where customer service means helping you with your order, not breaking down the chemical composition of a product.
I'm posting here in the hopes of getting answers.
"I wanted a bit of technical info that isn’t published on your site related to Pinnacle Black Label Diamond Surface Coating
What material is used in this product and at what percentage? Sio2 perhaps?
I see on painted surfaces you say this will last up to 3 years, under what condition and car do you think it would reach this 3 year mark?
What are the recommended working temperatures?
What is the ph range of chemicals it can resist?
Is it recommended to apply more then one coat? If so how long should one wait between coats?"
Thanks! I have a bottle of this and will be trying it soon.
Paul
Great questions Paul. I can help you with a few....
What material is used in this product and at what percentage? Sio2 perhaps?
I don't know this information and I doubt if I were to ask for it - it would be provided.
I see on painted surfaces you say this will last up to 3 years, under what condition and car do you think it would reach this 3 year mark?
This question about how long ANY type or brand of product will last comes up so often I wrote an article to answer the question and it really comes down to common sense.
How long will a ceramic coating last on my car?
If you click on the above link, you'll see I provided lots of common sense information and I formatted the information in an easy to read manner along with pictures and links to even MORE information.
I also just posted to this
thread on our forum explaining how a forum, (this thin we're all reading on and typing on - excels at sharing information as compared to a Facebook Group.
Facebook Detailing group
But what do I know, everyone tells me
forums are dead. Plus - I'm not a
YouTube Influencer, so take ANYTHING I say with a cyber grain of salt.
But hopefully - you'll find the help I provide here to be as good or better than you received anywhere else.
What are the recommended working temperatures?
The answer to this is the answer to applying any car care product and that is normal or moderate temperatures. This can be a range between 60 degrees to 75 degrees.
When temperatures are on the extreme side of cold or hot then application and removal of ANY product becomes more difficult.
I think I have an article on this topic too.... but... it's not on a Facebook Group, it's on a forum from the year 2012.
What temperature ranges are best for applying compounds, polishes, waxes and paint sealants
This is one year after my first article on applying coatings. So when I wrote the title, I didn't include the word COATINGS because it wasn't fully ingrained in my brain let alone know to the unwashed masses.
Here's my first coating article - dated
September 22nd, 2011
1977 Can Am Corvette - Modeled by Amy and Janna - Pictures and Video!
Probably not the FIRST text and pictures article on coatings
BUT if anyone can find an article that's OLDER - please included it in a reply below.
What is the ph range of chemicals it can resist?
I don't know this answer either but it's a quality product so it's probably in the "average range" for most quality similar products.
If you just do normal things in life, like wash your car and drive it - then it shouldn't be a concern what the pH range is for any thing you apply to your car's exterior.
If you live in a place where some kind of extreme low or extreme high pH contaminant is going to contaminate your car's exterior, then I would be more worried about "living" there then my car.
Is it recommended to apply more then one coat? If so how long should one wait between coats?"
I don't remember if the Pinnacle website or any Pinnacle literature has this recommendation. But I know enough about this topic to be dangerous.
First - I use this product and I really like it. I wish it wasn't so expensive. It makes me NOT want to recommend it because I think the price will turn a lot of people off. But - I'm not a marketing guy, I'm just a how-to guy.
In the history of waxing cars, just like the directions on a bottle of hair shampoo, where the directions tell you,
Wash, rinse repeat
That's to make you use up your hair shampoo faster and then buy another bottle.
In the car wax world, it is true that a lot of the Dinosaur wax companies would give you the same advice, that is apply 2 coats of wax. The idea being, you would use up the product faster but also by applying 2 coats of car wax, you pretty much insure every millimeter of car paint was protected. And this is in part because the average car owner is NOT talented at applying car wax to their car so by applying 2 coats, the person is VERY likely to have done a
Good job
With most product, this includes car waxes, synthetic paint sealants and YES coatings, here's the issue,
The carrying agents, be they a petroleum solvent, water, aerosol, or something else, they are either strong enough to both hold the protection ingredients in an emulsion (so you can use the stuff), and also dissolve themselves with a secondary application.
If the carrying agents are strong enough to dissolve themselves, that is dissolve the application you just applied, this means when you apply a second coat, you don't LAYER a second coat over the first coat, you dissolve the first coat into the second coat and end up with ONE coat and probably a UNIFORM layer over the entire car. (kind of the goal)
Don't even get me going on the topic of layering. I'm a veteran of the
Zaino vs NXT Wax Wars.
Now if the manufacture STATES that their product can be layered, this means one of two things,
1: They're lying.
2: The chemist that created and formulated the product has figure out how to suspend the protection ingredients in an carrying agent that won't dissolve the first coat. This would also mean, (if it's the real deal), that there's a LOT of chemistry behind the formula and the carrying agents are likely the opposite of strong or hot.
I think it's easy for a company to say you can layer a product, I think it's hard for the consumer to know if they really applied a second layer over the top of a SOLIDIFIED first layer without DISRUPTING it.
A note to all companies, as information becomes more accessible to the average person via this wonderful little gem we call the Internet, be very careful about making claims. Practice honesty and your customers will reward you. And if you want to sell a product that truly layers, then simply pony up to the chemistry table and offer a product that truly layers.
Me?
I do a really good job of applying a SINGLE APPLICATION of ANY PRODUCT and call it good. I then move on in life. I enjoy the car. I enjoy how the car looks. I take comfort in that I chose a good product, applied according to the directions and trust it will do what the manufacture claims it will do.
Chances are I'm the kind of person that will "do something" to my car's appearance within a year or so versus the type of person that will try to apply something and then let her go for 3 or 4 year of neglect.
I'm also NOT a fan of multi-year coatings or multi-year anything and I share why here,
The case against multi-year ceramic paint coatings - Road Grime = Surface Staining Daily Drivers by Mike Phillips
Note: There's a LOT of deep info in the article above, it's really not something to scan.
I keep this coating on my wife's Honda HR-V and I use a one-step cleaner/wax on my own SUV. It's faster and easier for me to maintain my SUV than it is my wife's SUV and because it's faster and easier I'm more likely to do it - because it's fast and easy.
Thanks! I have a bottle of this and will be trying it soon.
Well.... I hope I helped at least a little. Let me share this with you to so you'll feel assured.
First - best results with the PBL Surface Coating are the normal steps,
- Wash and dry
- Clay if needed
- Machine polish paint, glass and plastic
- Chemically strip the paint, glass and plastic
- Apply the PBL Surface Coating like I show in the first post of this thread.
Application --> Super Simple and Fast
I take a Forrest Green Edgeless Microfiber Towel and cut a quarter section out of it. I put on my nitrile gloves. I mist a little to one side of the towel and a little onto the surface I'm coating. Spread around, wait for about 15 seconds and wipe the area with a clean microfiber towel
On the topic of step 3 above, machine polishing
If nothing else, use any quality fine cut polish with a foam polishing pad and any orbital polisher. This will remove any light swirls and scratches but also completely strip off any previously applied waxes, sealant and also road film. I talk about road film in the article above on my case against multi-year ceramic coatings. Machine polishing is MACHINE CLEANING. You will insure all surfaces are clean and prepared to accept the coating.
Here's the best things I like about the PBL Surface Coating....
The paint will feel SLIPPERY
Most coatings leave the paint feeling rubbery. I will NOT use coatings that make my car's paint feel rubbery. You'll notice it the first time you try to wipe the paint with ANYTHING. Your towel, be it a microfiber towel or a drying chamois - will stick to the paint. It certainly will not GLIDE over the surface.
and these things too....
It will LOOK GREAT
It will have great gloss and shine.
It will wash and dry fast!
It will dang near wash clean in a hard rain
It will last at least a year as long as you don't do stupid stuff.
That is, wash it like I show here,
How to safely wash a ceramic coated car by Mike Phillips - Traditional Hose & Bucket Approach
Hope the above all helps.... it took me about 35 minutes to type it all out and I could have NEVER shared the above information on a Facebook Group. It just doesn't work for sharing info.
