I'm Looking for a Cheap Paint Thickness Gauge

Davey, with that price listed, I thought, "you get what you pay for"

that seems awfully cheap for such an instrument.

Here's the one I bought. With nothing to compare it to, all I can say is that it seems to be working fine with decent accuracy. My roof is peeling on my daily driver, and the readings are pretty consistent on the clear coat portions vs the just-paint surfaces.

google this: DBPower® CEM DT-156
 
I think you need to be careful with that instrument, Davey. It has a display resolution of 0.02mm/1mil. That's a very poor resolution. On the other hand, the CM8801FN shown by Evan (I have this one too), has a display resolution of 1micron +/- 3%. That's a big difference in accuracy. 0.02mm is 20 microns!

I purchased a cheap unit like the one you are looking at and did a comparison. These cheap ones with poor resolution/accuracy can lead to quite a number of erroneous readings.

http://www.autogeekonline.net/forum...tle-ptgs-nicety-cm8801fn-v-agptek-em2271.html
 
My take on paint correction with out a paint gauge..
I have read so many show and shine posts that even when the paint readings are thin people polish them up any way.
If you get the newest polishes with the most tech packed into that polish
You will get great results.. I am thinking paint gauges are a thing of the past.
 
mbkite said:
My take on paint correction with out a paint gauge..
I have read so many show and shine posts that even when the paint readings are thin people polish them up any way.
If you get the newest polishes with the most tech packed into that polish
You will get great results.. I am thinking paint gauges are a thing of the past.
Click to expand...

Not at all true... a ptg will allow you to more accurately asses the current condition and history of the paint. For instance, even if a vehicle consistently reads thin, it is no big deal if you're doing a basic correction... however, if the paint is averaging around 110 microns, and then you hit a spot that is consistently below 60 microns, you know you should be very cautious in that area because it has clearly been worked on (likely heavy sanding or similar)... or vice versa, if a car is continuously reading around 110 microns and then you come across a panel or a spot that is significantly higher, you can assume it was repaired/repainted.

The more info you can get about a car before you work on it the better, so IMO, a paint gauge is a must have for a professional. Is it something that will make or break you? No... but if you're making good money correcting paint, it is a tool that is worth having.

I did a review on an inexpensive gauge a while ago... I used it for a couple years and it did just fine, though I have upgraded to a higher end brand since then.

http://www.autogeekonline.net/forum...aint-thickness-gauge-affordable-everyone.html

Just my thoughts
 
zmcgovern45 said:
Not at all true... a ptg will allow you to more accurately asses the current condition and history of the paint. For instance, even if a vehicle consistently reads thin, it is no big deal if you're doing a basic correction... however, if the paint is averaging around 110 microns, and then you hit a spot that is consistently below 60 microns, you know you should be very cautious in that area because it has clearly been worked on (likely heavy sanding or similar)... or vice versa, if a car is continuously reading around 110 microns and then you come across a panel or a spot that is significantly higher, you can assume it was repaired/repainted.

The more info you can get about a car before you work on it the better, so IMO, a paint gauge is a must have for a professional. Is it something that will make or break you? No... but if you're making good money correcting paint, it is a tool that is worth having.

I did a review on an inexpensive gauge a while ago... I used it for a couple years and it did just fine, though I have upgraded to a higher end brand since then.

http://www.autogeekonline.net/forum...aint-thickness-gauge-affordable-everyone.html

Just my thoughts
Click to expand...
:iagree: I would not start compounding a car without some readings.:props:
 
Thanks for the replies everyone.

I checked out the CM8801FN and the DBPower® CEM DT-156 and I can get them here for $175 and $149 respectively. They look like good tools and I can see the value in them.

However, for someone that will hardly use it, and has the option to borrow one, I can't justify spending that much.

So that cheap one in my OP is no good at all? I mean, will it give me a rough idea of which sections of paint are thin and which aren't?
 
Let's put it this way. How long do you want to gamble when compounding or polishing until something happens? ie: burn through. Then how much will a repaint cost? Bet it will be more expensive than the ptg. At the end of the day, it's your call.
 
My PTG has saved me plenty of times.....


$150 or a price of a repaint........

I'll spent the $150
 
Davey, I don't think it's good at all. The margin of error is 20 microns. You can burn through 19 microns (simplifying margin of errors and standard deviations of course) of clearcoat before the PTG even budges. That might be ok if your paint is 150 microns thick, but if you hit a section where it is 60 microns thick, you've just burned 1/3 of the thickness and will be into the base coat before your PTG makes a change. Also, its margin of error makes judging thickness difficult. Let's say it says 3 mil thickness. Is that 4 mil, 2 mil or something in between?

As Evan said: what's $150 when compared to the cost of a repaint?
 
Here's my take on paint thickness gauges. While they do give you information that you can use, a little common sense goes a long way, and the paint thickness gauge is not an absolute necessity.

Anyone who has been doing paint corrections and polishing for a while can look at a defect, or defects, and have a pretty good idea if they can be removed or not. Then on the other hand, someone who is inexperienced probably won't benefit from the gauge very much anyways.

Even with the gauge you need to rely on some assumptions... How thick is the primer coat? The base coat? The clear coat? The only measurement that really matters is the clear coat and the paint thickness gauge won't give you that information.

If you or a customer has a severe defect that is borderline on being repairable, then you (or the customer) simply make the choice before attempting to remove it... Live with it, or assume the risk that you may sand/buff through trying to remove it, in which case the only repair is to repaint.

All that said, precision measuring equipment, and paint thickness gauges fit that category, is no place to skimp on quality. Get a good one or none at all.
 
Zac is deffiantly right but he is a pro and dose awsome work..
Me I am just a hobbyist and do my car and kids cars all live out side.
Truth I would like a paint gauge but would rather have an extractor or stem unit first..
 
2black1s said:
Here's my take on paint thickness gauges. While they do give you information that you can use, a little common sense goes a long way, and the paint thickness gauge is not an absolute necessity.

Anyone who has been doing paint corrections and polishing for a while can look at a defect, or defects, and have a pretty good idea if they can be removed or not. Then on the other hand, someone who is inexperienced probably won't benefit from the gauge very much anyways.

Even with the gauge you need to rely on some assumptions... How thick is the primer coat? The base coat? The clear coat? The only measurement that really matters is the clear coat and the paint thickness gauge won't give you that information.

If you or a customer has a severe defect that is borderline on being repairable, then you (or the customer) simply make the choice before attempting to remove it... Live with it, or assume the risk that you may sand/buff through trying to remove it, in which case the only repair is to repaint.

All that said, precision measuring equipment, and paint thickness gauges fit that category, is no place to skimp on quality. Get a good one or none at all.
Click to expand...

I hear what you're saying.

The reason why I want the PTG is because I've recently purchased a new addition to my garage. It certainly does not have any severe defects (just light swirls) but it is 13 years old and I don't know the history of the paint (even though it looks very good).

So being unsure of how thin the paint is, I thought it would be prudent to measure it. Although the defects are very light, I'd hate to burn through. I guess you could say it's a low risk, but a high consequence...
 
I'll probably end up borrowing a PTG from a friend, but he lives on the other side of town, and it's a pain to get to....
 
2black1s said:
While they do give you information that you can use, a little common sense goes a long way, and the paint thickness gauge is not an absolute necessity.

Anyone who has been doing paint corrections and polishing for a while can look at a defect, or defects, and have a pretty good idea if they can be removed or not.




I don't agree...it's not a matter if the defect can be removed, it's about how much paint you have to work with. There is no way you can tell if a hack with a rotary and a wool pad took off a lot of clear coat by looking at the paint.
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Rsurfer said:
2black1s said:
While they do give you information that you can use, a little common sense goes a long way, and the paint thickness gauge is not an absolute necessity.

Anyone who has been doing paint corrections and polishing for a while can look at a defect, or defects, and have a pretty good idea if they can be removed or not.




I don't agree...it's not a matter if the defect can be removed, it's about how much paint you have to work with. There is no way you can tell if a hack with a rotary and a wool pad took off a lot of clear coat by looking at the paint.
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If, as you say a hack, took off a lot of clear with a wool pad and rotary you should be able to see that in the paint finish. The texture of the paint would be different in the "hacked" areas. Same goes for repainted panels. In the vast majority of cases the texture of the repainted panel will not match the texture of the factory original panels. This is where the common sense comes into play... If you see variations in the paint finish then you need to assess the probable cause and proceed accordingly.

Don't get me wrong. I'm not by any means saying that a paint thickness gauge is useless, I'm just saying that it's not absolutely necessary. There are other indicators and that's what a paint thickness gauge is - an indicator.
Click to expand...
 
Like many instruments, the PTG can offer guidance and insight, but ultimately experience and common sense will be the deciding factor.
 
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