OptiCoat 2.0 Failure

T

The Critic

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Guys,

I coated a vehicle with OC 2.0 back on 10/23/13.

This particular vehicle, a 350z, sits outside 24/7. During today's wash, I noticed that water was no longer sheeting from certain sections of the hood and trunk lid. The vertical sections are still decent, but not as strong as I expected.

I tried to clay the vehicle using the Nanoskin mitt, but this only provided a slight improvement.

The prep process for this vehicle 350z is as follows: 1) final polish using HD Polish, 2) vehicle was sprayed down with Optimum Power Clean 1:1, then agitated/rinsed, 3) IPA wipe.

My only finding so far that may have contributed to the failure, is that I wiped the high-spots after 1-2 minutes. On my personal car, which I followed the exact same prep process, I allowed the coating to sit for 4-5 minutes before leveling the high spots. The beading on personal car is still very strong after 4 months.

So, I am inclined to believe that wiping the high spots before the 5 min mark may have an adverse effect on the success of the coating.

Does anyone have any other experiences they can share? Thanks.
 
I have some experience with OC failure & OC success. What I've found is it's best to use Optimum polishes and an IPA wipe down. That is what Optimum recommends. I've also found it's a good idea to apply the OC, and then once it flashes and looks good - to apply another coat for complete coverage. Don't try to be the guy who coats his whole car with 3cc - apply it as liberally as possible without getting high spots, then gently buff down any high spots.

I think the best applicator is the Optimum Dual Pro applicator. It absorbs very little of the coating, so it all ends up on the paint - not in the sponge.

The beading should remain quite intense. If the beading goes limp, something isn't right. I coated this in August and it's still going strong.

ute3e6a9.jpg
 
On the Optimum forum they discuss the polishing process before coating and claim that no IPA wipe down is needed when using only their products. A new Primer is offered for the OCP now.On my Optimum coatings both OC 2.0 and Pro , I have used Eraser with no customer complaints. On cars sitting outside 24/7 I have had customers return questioning the loss of beading but after a maintenance wash of Power Clean the beading returned.
 
i am having the same problem with one of my cars that had opti coat put on in june. The beading is pretty much gone and when rinsed it reacts like a car with nothing on it, i was reading about it online and was thinking about using IRONX Soap followed by iron x to try to "rejuvenate" it. Any feedback on that idea? What did you dilute the power clean to? In a foam cannon?

2old2change said:
On the Optimum forum they discuss the polishing process before coating and claim that no IPA wipe down is needed when using only their products. A new Primer is offered for the OCP now.On my Optimum coatings both OC 2.0 and Pro , I have used Eraser with no customer complaints. On cars sitting outside 24/7 I have had customers return questioning the loss of beading but after a maintenance wash of Power Clean the beading returned.
Click to expand...
 
I have Iron-X but have never tried Iron-X soap. Iron-x will not harm the coating but I have found the Opt PC to do the trick for me.I use a trigger sprayer on the Power Clean at 4:1.
 
Try IronX, a Dawn Wash, a spray car wax, or a quick detailer.
 
2old2change said:
On the Optimum forum they discuss the polishing process before coating and claim that no IPA wipe down is needed when using only their products. A new Primer is offered for the OCP now.On my Optimum coatings both OC 2.0 and Pro , I have used Eraser with no customer complaints. On cars sitting outside 24/7 I have had customers return questioning the loss of beading but after a maintenance wash of Power Clean the beading returned.
Click to expand...





From Optimum's site:

a9ujeju8.jpg
 
why not just do a coat of reload or Hydro 2 on top? Those were made to help solve this problem
 
If the coating truly is failing, reload or Hydro aren't going to actually fix the problem. They are just going to coat the surface.

There is a possibility that the coating has failed in some locations. Especially if you have already done all of the possible cleaning tricks.
 
swanicyouth said:
From Optimum's site:

a9ujeju8.jpg
Click to expand...
Posted 14 November 2013 - 09:20 AM
Time to update and clarify this post. With Opti-coat pro, it now comes with a dedicatd primer polish, and all that should be done is to remove the polish residue and apply, or ONR wash if you wish. When using the primer polish an IPA wipedown is actually counter productive. The Primer polish leaves behind a residue that acts as a catylist for OCpro. If you are using 2.0 the prefered method is to polish with Hyper polish, dry or ONR wipe and apply. Both the Hyper polish and OCP Primer polish clean teh paint of oils etc left behind from previous opperations.

Also fro the Optimum forum.
 
Basically Dr.G claims if only Optimum products are used , no wipe down is required. As for the OP's question of coating failure , after a deep cleaning it can be seen if it is a failure or not. I can only speak from my own experience but have not had any failures due to wiping off after only about four minutes if it has flashed. Temp and humidity seems to play a factor on this process.
 
We don't have OC Pro or the primer polish - I only have OptiCoat Amateur. So, people like me have to go by what the website says. If they are saying something different on the forum, you would think they would update their website.

I do know there is polymers in ONR and also in Optimum's standard polishes. I believe there is some solvent or something in OC that can move through those polymers.

But, since OC failure is an obvious reality, I would think the best method is the method that is described on Optimum's website - remove the polymers first with IPA.
 
Most of the time, failure can be attributed to one of two factors.
1. the surface was not prepped properly and something was left on the paint. Therefore, when that contaminant wore away...so did the OC that was attached to it. Most often, this occurs from fillers/oil in the polish that are not fully removed by a wipedown. This can be avoided by using Optimum Polishes.

2. Too much handling or wiping. Opti-coat is not a product that needs to be "worked". It merely needs to be "wiped on". Many times excessive wiping or spreading will actually blemish or even remove the coating while it is drying. Your best practice is to prim the applicator well, wipe it onto a section and do not touch it until 90% has flashed to clear. Then you can buff away any areas that have not flashed (excess product)...but, you still don't need to use force or pressure on the section.
 
Chris Thomas said:
Most of the time, failure can be attributed to one of two factors.
1. the surface was not prepped properly and something was left on the paint. Therefore, when that contaminant wore away...so did the OC that was attached to it. Most often, this occurs from fillers/oil in the polish that are not fully removed by a wipedown. This can be avoided by using Optimum Polishes.

2. Too much handling or wiping. Opti-coat is not a product that needs to be "worked". It merely needs to be "wiped on". Many times excessive wiping or spreading will actually blemish or even remove the coating while it is drying. Your best practice is to prim the applicator well, wipe it onto a section and do not touch it until 90% has flashed to clear. Then you can buff away any areas that have not flashed (excess product)...but, you still don't need to use force or pressure on the section.
Click to expand...

Based on my observation of how OCP reacts versus 2.0, I think I've discovered one possible explanation as to why "over handling" is a real issue with 2.0.

With OCP, the stuff will flashes fairly quickly and from what I observed, the excess (high spot) is wipes away cleanly because it has completely flashed away. With 2.0, sometimes, even after 5 minutes, the excess (high spot) is still not completely dry; so when one goes to level off the high spot, you will get some smearing….and that's when people start to wipe harder and cause issues.

Anyway, I will try Power Clean on this car as a last resort. This car does not get washed frequently, but I thought that the Nanoskin mitt would remove away any embedded dirt.
 
The Critic said:
Based on my observation of how OCP reacts versus 2.0, I think I've discovered one possible explanation as to why "over handling" is a real issue with 2.0.

With OCP, the stuff will flashes fairly quickly and from what I observed, the excess (high spot) is wipes away cleanly because it has completely flashed away. With 2.0, sometimes, even after 5 minutes, the excess (high spot) is still not completely dry; so when one goes to level off the high spot, you will get some smearing….and that's when people start to wipe harder and cause issues.

Anyway, I will try Power Clean on this car as a last resort. This car does not get washed frequently, but I thought that the Nanoskin mitt would remove away any embedded dirt.
Click to expand...

So if using 2.0 and after 5 minutes there is high spots not completely dry, what do you do? Let it dry some more or buff it off? If the former, how do you tell when it's completely dry? Sorry for my ignorance, but it want to learn as much as possible before trying the non pro version on my cars.
 
The best practice when your conditions make Opti Coat flash slowly is to force flashing by moving air over the panel. You can use and air gun (compressor), a blower, or even a hair drier.
 
If u used 2.0 and wiped 2 minutes later, that is your issue - you need to follow directions. You don't need any special polish, just make sure to clean the paint well before applying OC 2.0 after polishing.
 
Chris Thomas said:
The best practice when your conditions make Opti Coat flash slowly is to force flashing by moving air over the panel. You can use and air gun (compressor), a blower, or even a hair drier.
Click to expand...

THIS^^

...

I applied OC2.0 to this '07 Impreza on the 17th of last week (just before noon) in low ~50 degree temps and it flashed very slow. Started using a heat gun to help it flash but it didn't move enough air, so I switched over to a hairdryer and application couldn't have been easier.

1-Step Polish
(2) IPA Wipedown
Applied via Carpro suede and block

Post application:



I think people scare themselves so much about high-spots and the permanency of this coating before they try it, that during application they wipe too aggressively and/or sooner than what is needed. IMO... The Coating itself has not failed, the user and their prep/application was the failure by not allowing the Coating to bond if oils have interfered, or being wiped completely off before the Coating has had time to bond. Makes perfect sense.

Application of OC varies greatly on the ambient temp/humidity as well as surface temps IME. All people have to do is pay attention to the product and know what to look for and it'll talk to you. ;)


Here are some photos of OC beading water for the first time since application... The car sits outside 24/7 and has not seen water or any other products until about 15 mins ago when I took these pics:


Opti-Lens on headlights using same method


Beading looks great even under a full 5-day layer of dust!




-Beach
 
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