***Pics*** Thickness Gage/Applying Coating CQF

[IID]

Today I wanted to play with my ETG Electronic Thickness Gage to check how much clear coat is removed whille polishing and then added using CQuartz Finest,on my daily driven 300C SRT Design.

Machine calibrated and I have the unit set in micons:

Readings before polishing

For demostration,i'll be using the front passenger quarter panel:
NOTE:All Readings in Micron's!
122

126

120

120mil


133

117 near the body line transition (this is why it's extreamly important to take cautions when polishing close to these area's)

For the polishing demo,I'm using Menz PF2500/Uber Green Pad/FLEX PE:

For my process,i'll make three to four section passes with the FLEX on speed 3:

after polishing,I do a final wipe down with CarPro Eraser:

Now it's time to take another reading to see how much clear was removed in their respected polished area's:

118 / prior 122

125 / prior 126

119 / prior 120

128 / prior 133

116 / prior 117 (again,near the body line)

Now i'm going to apply the CQF,I will do 2 layers:

One layer:

Two layer:

Knocked down any high spots before the CQF starts to cure/harden:

Ok,now lets check the thickness again after the (2) coats of CQF:
After CQF 127/ After polishing 118 /Original 122

After CQF 130 / After polishing 125 / Original 126

After CQF 120 / After polishing 119 / Original 120

After CQF 135 / After polishing 128 / Original 133

After CQF 123 / After polishing 116 / Original 117

Now I fully understand each location is in the approximent area(s) when taking the measurements but i'm just trying to show you all:
*Amount of clear abraided off each section*
*Amount of coating that adds to each sections thickness*

On a average,the polishing took off an average between the five sections is 2.4
On a average,the CQF coating added 5.8 on each section

Take from this thread what you will but I thought I would have a little fun learning a few things and it was fun doing it :xyxthumbs:

 

[Rsurfer]

Thanks for the review Chris. Don't you mean microns instead of mils.?

 

[IID]

Thanks for the review Chris. Don't you mean microns instead of mils.?

I just got the ETG machine yesterday.
The machine is labeled as decimal(s) reading Microns and non-decimals reading mil.

But I beleive you are correct Ron.

I'll edit the thread/correct made to Microns.

 

[eaglefan]

One of the most useful reviews ever. Great job! Thanks man

 

[IID]

The forum said I timed out to make the changes.
Please understand the readings are in Microns (and not mil's) Thank You Ron!

 

[AutowerxDetailing]

Awesome write up! Very nice work, sir. It is interesting to see how much clear is removed with just a few section passes. I don't have a PTG (yet) so this was especially good information for me. Thank you!

It's nice to see that the CQF coating replaces the lost clear coat from polishing and even adds thickness in some areas.

 

[BobbyG]

Chris, this is a great review showing the before and after AND then the thickness of the protective coating.

Many have wondered what how much finish is removed when polishing. This review also lets everyone know how much a coating adds to the finish... I wonder if your meter can measure the thickness of a layer of sealant or wax?

Great thread!! rops:

 

[DetailedByPrecision]

thank you for taking the time to take pictures for each step to ensure the whole process is well documented prior and after each step.

 

[milky]

Thank you for the review, Chris. It's extremely helpful and informative!

 

[FUNX650]

Ok,now lets check the thickness again after the (2) coats of CQF:

On a average,the CQF coating added 5.8mils on each section

-Since...
"regular CQuartz" claims to add a film(layer)-thickness of: .7-1.5 microns
(I'll assume: 1.5-3.0 microns with two applications/film-layers);

-And...
Opti-Gard/Coat 2.0 claims to add film(layer)-thickness of: 1-2 microns
(I'll assume 2-4 microns with two applications/film-layers);

-Then...
It would appear that CQF, with the addition of a 5.8 microns
film(layer)-thickness, beats them both!!

-I will suppose...
If the usual characterististics (longevity, scratch resistance, hydrophobicy, ease-of-cleaning, slickness, etc.)
that folks look for in: 'Coatings'...is also attributal to CQF...
AVI@CarPro possibly has a winner at hand!


Thanks for this review.

NOTE: Also nice to see the documented usage of an EPTG. rops:




Bob

 

[Avi@CarPro]

Thank you Bob.

IID, finely someone put facts and numbers behind words!
this is what we believe in !
in all our videos we try to show figures , real time proofs.

thank you for your test.

Avi

 

[kmsdetailing]

A very helpful post.

Thanks

 

[Rsurfer]

Again thanks for the time and effort to do this thread. I'm really surprised at how many mics (5.8) was added after two coats of CQF.

 

[CEE DOG]

Nicely done Chris!! I very much enjoyed the read and the documented photos. Thank you!

 

[Perfections]

Chris, great review and I found like you it seems to be thicker then the claims, almost like your wiping on gloss, it's really weird and awesome at the same time.

 

[rwright]

Sweet write up! Now what I'm interested in is some sort of documentation of how much the thickness changes as the coating degrades over time. Since CQF has a guarantee of 2 years and OG pretty much has a life of 10 years, I can only assume that as CQF reaches the end of it's advertised life cycle that the total thickness will drop off while OG retains most thickness depending on care. If this holds true then OG is more cost effective in the long run since you will need to apply CQF 5 times to reach the same life cycle of OG.

 

[Flash Gordon]

Nice write up Chris! Who would've imagined coatings ad that much to the final readings

 

[IID]

Thank you to ALL that replied :dblthumb2:

 

[ArkayoDeetayo]

Great review/write up Chris!

1) Clear your inbox please I seriously wish we can have more than 50 messages (received/sent combined)

2) If you measure one area and it says 126, and then you measure the same area again, would it be very accurate and say 126? or jump +/- 3 or something?

3) How much does that thickness gauge you bought cost?

4) *this is kind of a duhhh question but I will ask anyways* if it reads 5 microns or something, does that mean it is close to burning through the clear and getting into the color paint?

5) What happens if you measure a single-stage paint, what readings would show? and what happens if you measure a clear-coat failure area or area with no clear coat, would it measure 0 microns?

6) You said you did 2 layers of CQF to get 5 microns. Have you tried just doing one layer and seeing if it adds ~2.5ish microns? or would you think one layer still adds ~5.0 microns and 2 layer was just for even coverage?

7) Since you detail cars for a living, would you be able to measure a customers car with no wax, measure it again with one coat of wax, and then measure it again with 2, and maybe 3, to see if the coats of wax actually layer? I know a lot of people including myself like to put two coat of wax for even coverage, but wanted to know if it also adds extra thickness to the coat of protection, even if it was minimal, even nano in size like Bob explained to me

Thanks for reading and answering

 

[CEE DOG]

Sweet write up! Now what I'm interested in is some sort of documentation of how much the thickness changes as the coating degrades over time. Since CQF has a guarantee of 2 years and OG pretty much has a life of 10 years, I can only assume that as CQF reaches the end of it's advertised life cycle that the total thickness will drop off while OG retains most thickness depending on care. If this holds true then OG is more cost effective in the long run since you will need to apply CQF 5 times to reach the same life cycle of OG.

Richard, Finest isnt really pushing the same market as OG but of course there is overlap. To your point... it's my opinion that around that two year mark (if not before) a lot of people will polish there vehicle anyway.

I think both are excellent products with their own strengths.