made a huge mistake today

rodneypierce

rodneypierce

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So, this past week I corrected the entire paint (again) on my 2009 mercedes e550. Then I coated it with Gtechniq Evo2. Man, it looks good, and the water beading/sheeting was amazing. Well today, today I made a big mistake. I took the car to the local DIY car wash like I do weekly. I proceeded to spray the car down with just the standard wash soap and was amazed at how little stuck to the car. Until I went to rinse it. That is when I noticed what appeared to be water spots all over the car. Apparently the wash soap must have etched the coating everywhere that there was a bead. :mad:

It will not come off. The only way I could get the etching to go away was to repolish. Needless to say I have a full polish job coming up again here soon, and will be using a different coating this go round.. something a bit more resistant.
 
rodneypierce said:
So, this past week I corrected the entire paint (again) on my 2009 mercedes e550. Then I coated it with Gtechniq Evo2. Man, it looks good, and the water beading/sheeting was amazing. Well today, today I made a big mistake. I took the car to the local DIY car wash like I do weekly. I proceeded to spray the car down with just the standard wash soap and was amazed at how little stuck to the car. Until I went to rinse it. That is when I noticed what appeared to be water spots all over the car. Apparently the wash soap must have etched the coating everywhere that there was a bead. :mad:

It will not come off. The only way I could get the etching to go away was to repolish. Needless to say I have a full polish job coming up again here soon, and will be using a different coating this go round.. something a bit more resistant.
Click to expand...

Did you try white vinegar?
 
I did not, but tried the gtechniq panel wipe and it didnt touch it. Ill give white vinegar a try here and see if it helps.
 
I can't see that happening on a coated car .Maybe the car was hot and the soap was very high in ph.Did you dry the car immediately after.Those places are are terrible as far as soaps and especially the foaming colored soap.maybe you should have rinsed it first to cool it down then soap.Did they offer a spot free rinse.Hard to say if tat happened there it's to immediate for water spots to be stubborn that you can't wipe off on a freshly coated car.all These coatings are suppose to help with scenarios like that and hear quick failures of elements eating through it.whats the point,get rid of the spots and use 915 collinite and just do that every 3 to 4 months.If I'm gonna do a coating its mckees easy to apply and very affordable.just my take on this.
 
The problem is the high pressure, (if you used the pressure washer) and got up close to the car, you may have blasted through the coating.
Also the detergents in car-washes which cause issues with coatings.

Lessons Learned:
Scenario 1:
I used DLUX on the B-Pillar posts and was great... until I took the car through a touch-less during the winter.
Whatever was in the soap caused the the b-pillers to spot and have cloudiness.

Scenario 2:
Another lesson learned with coatings is they don't like high pressure. My Mustang was coated in pollen, just from sitting out for a few hours.
I rigged up my air-compressor and decided to blow the car off. There must have been moisture (as it was humid) in the air line and when I gave the first blast, it looked like left a 6" blast pattern on the hood.. I realized I had essentially blasted the coating. I used some Crystal Mist to clean it up, then did some re-load.

So, coatings, while they are permanent, I'm starting to see where they require TLC. I think there are pros and cons to each (wax/sealant or coatings).
If you're going to do a coating, regular 2BM washes or NR washes are perfectly fine.

For my daily drivers, they are the test subjects for all other vehicles (garage queen & customers). I love trying different waxes, polishes, etc... So I don't do coatings on the DD's. They usually get wax of the day...
Whatever I feel like.. Which is interesting because last year I purchased 845 and have not even tried it yet.
 
GSKR said:
I can't see that happening on a coated car .Maybe the car was hot and the soap was very high in ph.Did you dry the car immediately after.Those places are are terrible as far as soaps and especially the foaming colored soap.maybe you should have rinsed it first to cool it down then soap.Did they offer a spot free rinse.Hard to say if tat happened there it's to immediate for water spots to be stubborn that you can't wipe off on a freshly coated car.all These coatings are suppose to help with scenarios like that and hear quick failures of elements eating through it.whats the point,get rid of the spots and use 915 collinite and just do that every 3 to 4 months.If I'm gonna do a coating its mckees easy to apply and very affordable.just my take on this.
Click to expand...

It indeed happened with this coating.. I have had no issues in the past with CQUK. Also, the car was not hot, and it was pre rinsed with water, and just used the regular wash soap, then rinsed again, and spotless rinsed. Then dried right there in the bay.

I knew as soon as I started to rinse the car off that it had damaged the coating. I could see the "spots" while I was rinsing the car, then when drying you could see them as you wiped the water away. It was a lesson learned, thats for sure!
 
paul_g said:
The problem is the high pressure, (if you used the pressure washer) and got up close to the car, you may have blasted through the coating.
Also the detergents in car-washes which cause issues with coatings.

Lessons Learned:
Scenario 1:
I used DLUX on the B-Pillar posts and was great... until I took the car through a touch-less during the winter.
Whatever was in the soap caused the the b-pillers to spot and have cloudiness.

Scenario 2:
Another lesson learned with coatings is they don't like high pressure. My Mustang was coated in pollen, just from sitting out for a few hours.
I rigged up my air-compressor and decided to blow the car off. There must have been moisture (as it was humid) in the air line and when I gave the first blast, it looked like left a 6" blast pattern on the hood.. I realized I had essentially blasted the coating. I used some Crystal Mist to clean it up, then did some re-load.

So, coatings, while they are permanent, I'm starting to see where they require TLC. I think there are pros and cons to each (wax/sealant or coatings).
If you're going to do a coating, regular 2BM washes or NR washes are perfectly fine.

For my daily drivers, they are the test subjects for all other vehicles (garage queen & customers). I love trying different waxes, polishes, etc... So I don't do coatings on the DD's. They usually get wax of the day...
Whatever I feel like.. Which is interesting because last year I purchased 845 and have not even tried it yet.
Click to expand...

it wasnt due to the pressure, it was most definitely due to the soap. Ill try and see if I can get a picture of it. Its literally everywhere a bead of soap/water sat on the coating.
 
I run cars coated with PBL and Cquartz through the no-touch car washes all the time with no problems. The one I go through lets me choose whether I want wax or not. I choose the wax less wash and the car comes out spotless. As far as I know any soap should slide off a coated car. I have heard of some spotting right after coating due to improper application or curing, but never heard of problems from washing.
 
rlmccarty2000 said:
I run cars coated with PBL and Cquartz through the no-touch car washes all the time with no problems. The one I go through lets me choose whether I want wax or not. I choose the wax less wash and the car comes out spotless. As far as I know any soap should slide off a coated car. I have heard of some spotting right after coating due to improper application or curing, but never heard of problems from washing.
Click to expand...

Like I said, I have taken the car to this particular car wash a hundred times with the CQUK coating. No issues. Its the EXO V2 coating. Im assuming the soap wasnt a PH neautral soap, and that this coating is not at all chemical resistant.
 
I have never blown a coating or even a sealant off while using a pressure washer. And I get right up to the paint.
 
Was the car recently painted? I had this show up on my rear bumper after a rain. I had painted the bumper about 3 months previous. I didn't do anything and it went away. I checked with my body shop guy and he said it was likely water out gasing even after 90 days.
 
The Sealant (Opti Gloss Coat) was applied about 20-30 days after painting.
 
Its all good, was just a learning experience. I ended up running out of wheel armor, so coated the inside of one wheel barrel with EXO, its doing the same thing, while the other 3 with the wheel armor are in perfect condition still. Im just assuming that the EXO is literally not chemical resistant at all, and the soap isnt Ph neutral. Its the only logical conclusion..
 
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