Windshield coating - skipping wipers (new car)

Those sales are few and far between. They had the house brands (Pinnacle, Blackfire, etc.) 40% off on March 25. Also regularly check the sites for those manufacturers (for example Pinnaclewax.com) as they have their own sales and sometimes will have pretty good sales.
 
Pinnaclewax.com is running a 30% off sale for Memorial Day.
 
Operation glass stripping done. Product with applicator was easy to use. Noticed water sheets off now. No beading. Used wipers to see any difference. Flooded with water and did not notice any more dragging. Next rain will be the test.
 
Guys and maybe especially to @Mike Phillips - issue is not going away :(
I did a really nice wash recently , then we had a heavy rain that got us on the motorway.
Yes, coating works nice to repel water, but in heavy weather conditions you still need the wipers.
I can hear them chatter and skip and it annoyed me so much that I used them only once when I could barely see.

Detailer is of course feeling bad about all this and offered me several options:

1) Apply coating on the wipers again
2) Change wipers as the rubber on the OEM ones might be just bad. I just don't really like that option, aesthetically they have the MB star on them, it just looks better. Call it vanity or stupidity, but after all it's brand new. Maybe I can change just the rubber and keep the MB caps?
3) Remove the coating from the windshield.

I am thinking to try 1) first. Just wanted to check with you if removing the coating might do any harm - I guess same method and machine as applying the coat would be used,but now it would be to remove it.

I am a bit concerned and definitely didn't expect such turn of events. He said it has never happened on any other car and I truly believe him, еspecially when I read all the MB forum threads on chattering wipers. Not sure if I should give them a few more months to settle in and a few more washes? I did wash only once after applying the coating.

You can clearly see on 0:10 the chatter

 
UPDATE. The stripping of the coating did indeed vastly improve the operation of the wipers. The product i used is also in store now.

Stoner Glass Stripper

But being a detailer, i wanted to try just a glass cleaner with repellant added. I had the Pinnacle on hand. This also worked really well. Light rain yesterday. And i noticed no chatter with just the Pinnacle. So no more glass coatings for me.

Pinnacle Crystal Clear Glass Cleaner with Water Repellent (autogeek.net)
 
SalmonPride said:
Guys and maybe especially to @Mike Phillips -

issue is not going away :(
Click to expand...


I feel your pain -Bill Clinton


I feel your paint -Mike Phillips :D


And "yes" that is my quote and parody of Bill Clinton. :)


Seriously. I'm going to stick with what I've already posted. The product I have had the best luck with for zero wiper chatter is the PBL Surface Coating. I use it on my own cars with success. I use it on my customer's cars with success.

And - I always machine polish the glass and then clean with a glass cleaner before application.

When I notice the water beading and water flying off the windshield diminishing - I simply apply some more.


:)
 
Mike Phillips said:
I feel your pain -Bill Clinton


I feel your paint -Mike Phillips :D


And "yes" that is my quote and parody of Bill Clinton. :)


Seriously. I'm going to stick with what I've already posted. The product I have had the best luck with for zero wiper chatter is the PBL Surface Coating. I use it on my own cars with success. I use it on my customer's cars with success.

And - I always machine polish the glass and then clean with a glass cleaner before application.

When I notice the water beading and water flying off the windshield diminishing - I simply apply some more.


:)
Click to expand...

Mike,

Curious why you don't use this Pinnacle Black Label Diamond Glass Coating on the glass, instead of PBL Surface Coating?
 
bob m said:
Mike,

Curious why you don't use this Pinnacle Black Label Diamond Glass Coating on the glass, instead of PBL Surface Coating?
Click to expand...

Don't have much or any experience using it. I do have lots of experience using the All Surface Coating as I use it on paint, plastic (headlights and tail lights), and glass.

You see, this comes back to

A: Liking a product. I like the PBL Surface Coating.

B: It's multi surface and I like this attribute.

C: It makes the surface you apply it to slick and slippery - most coatings of ANY brand make the surface feel rubbery or tacky. I HATE rubbery and tacky when it comes to the surfaces on my cars.

D: It's fast and easy. I'm naturally lazy so I like fast and easy.


It might work, but I simply don't have any drive-time with it.



:)
 
Mike Phillips said:
I feel your pain -Bill Clinton


I feel your paint -Mike Phillips :D


And "yes" that is my quote and parody of Bill Clinton. :)


Seriously. I'm going to stick with what I've already posted. The product I have had the best luck with for zero wiper chatter is the PBL Surface Coating. I use it on my own cars with success. I use it on my customer's cars with success.

And - I always machine polish the glass and then clean with a glass cleaner before application.

When I notice the water beading and water flying off the windshield diminishing - I simply apply some more.


:)
Click to expand...

Thanks Mike!
Yep, the guy did all the polish with a machine and cleaned with G4 Glass cleaner before applying anything.
It seems like it is a common issue with the stock wipers, looking at all MBworld threads with similar complaints I guess he is correct. But for now I don't want to get anything aftermarket.

Anyway over the weekend I am going for reapplication on the wipers and see what will happen. If that doesn't fix it - remove the coating it is, he agreed.

Just a few questions Mike:

1) how long does the sealant you suggest lasts? Just roughly ?
2) for the side and rear windows ( rear if there is no wiper) - is it safe to put a ceramic glass coating or you would still use only a glass sealant ?

Just thinking if we ever go this way again , we would definitely skip windshield , but probably sides and rear can be coated with ceramic? After all there is nothing to chatter there and I think it definitely improves side visibility? Or just play it safe with all the glass and stick to the sealant every now and then ? What do you think? :)

Thanks!
 
SalmonPride said:
Just a few questions Mike:

1) how long does the sealant you suggest lasts? Just roughly ?
Click to expand...

Just depends on how much you use the wipers.

The problem with glass coatings on the windshield unlike any coating on any other surface is you have this rubber blade dragging and even RUBBING over the coating and this MICRO-ABRADES the coating off.

This is why I choose to use a product that is fast and easy to apply and then apply it as needed. It rains a lot here in Florida but instead of going by a TIMELINE - after I wash and dry my car, I simply mist a little of the PBL Surface Coating onto the windshield, spread until it disapears, (this happens fast), and move on in life.

What I don't want to use is a product that is complicated, time consuming and requires multiple steps.

I kind of share this in my first post in this thread,



Mike Phillips said:
For what it's worth, I find most glass coatings do or can make wipers chatter.

I always use Pinnacle Black Label Surface Coating. Works great, no chatter. After 30 mph water flies off the windshield.


The other thing I do and educate others on is when it comes to the windshield, because a RUBBER wiper is going to drag over the glass, it's going to micro-abrade anything you put on it off. It's reality. So instead of looking for a one-and-done or set-it-and-forget-it type product, I look for a product that quick and easy to re-apply.


I already know whatever I put on it is going to wear-off, so I find something that's quick and easy to re-apply.


Make sense?


Then after washing and drying my car, because the Surface Coating is quick and easy to apply - I simply re-apply. It only takes a few mists of product and it spread out and disappears as you wipe it.

Truly a versatile product. I also mist it over all the cars I detail after the initial coating install. It makes rubbery coatings feel slick, smooth and slippery. The stuff is bubba-proof.



FWIW and YMMV


:)
Click to expand...


So my answer to your above question is basically a re-wording of what I already wrote. :cheers:



SalmonPride said:
2) for the side and rear windows ( rear if there is no wiper) - is it safe to put a ceramic glass coating or you would still use only a glass sealant ?
Click to expand...

I put the PBL Surface Coating on ALL the glass including side mirrors and sunroof glass.



SalmonPride said:
Just thinking if we ever go this way again , we would definitely skip windshield , but probably sides and rear can be coated with ceramic? After all there is nothing to chatter there and I think it definitely improves side visibility? Or just play it safe with all the glass and stick to the sealant every now and then ?

What do you think? :)

Thanks!
Click to expand...

What I think is also what I do and share with others and what I do is I use what works for me and "to date" it's the PBL Surface Coating.

Some people think it's expensive at $130.00 for an 8 ounce bottle and that is a tick spendy. But tiny bottles of ceramic and graphene coatings cost more and you get a LOT less. So in context, it's a better price per ounce than most if not all tiny glass bottles of coatings.



In the past, I've created threads on this forum where there's HUGE sales and then in the thread included my favorite products so my forum friends can get the best deal possible. I could never really tell if it did any good?

So my advice to anyone reading this is to join the Autogeek newsletter. Each time you get one in your inbox - open it and read it. If you don't like what you see delete it. I do this with a LOT of the newsletters I get.

If you see something you like - then take advantage of the sale.


Hope this helps...


:cheers:
 
SalmonPride said:
2) for the side and rear windows ( rear if there is no wiper) - is it safe to put a ceramic glass coating or you would still use only a glass sealant ?
Click to expand...


Like I answered previously, I use the PBL Surface Coating on ALL the glass. As a part of any of my detail work I machine polish the glass before washing the car, or if not washing with the traditional water hose and bucket method, then I machine polish after doing a rinseless or waterless wash.

Point being - I ALWAYS machine polish all the glass. Take my word for it - if a car is a daily driver, parked outside and driven outside, (duh), then it gets a film on the glass.

After machine polishing all the glass then at the END Of the job, I apply the PBS Surface Coating to all the glass including - Sunroof Glass.




I took this picture a few days ago in the morning after it rained all night. This is the glass sunroof of our Infinity.


PBL_Surface_Coating_Sunroof.JPG




See how the water beads and runs off? That is the PBL Surface Coating. It's also on the paint.



:)
 
Thanks Mike!
I truly believe it is wipers problem and not the way the glass was polished or the coating that was put.

So my update is that we removed the graphite coating on the wipers completely with ethanol. Applied again G1 on the wipers, this time it seems like it was good, waited to dry, and result is unfortunately worse :)

I will be buying new non-OEM wipers , just to see if not applying anything to them might fix it. This might be another part of the problem - that we didn't need to apply anything to the wipers initially. If that doesn't fix it - we will just remove the coating and that's it. It would be easier than finding quick-fix solutions.
 
Mike Phillips said:
Like I answered previously, I use the PBL Surface Coating on ALL the glass.
:)
Click to expand...

Hey Mike, one more thing I didn't actually ask about :D
What about the two side view mirrors? I guess it's also nice to put something to repel water there and it's not gonna harm ?
 
If I remember, I'll give the wiper blades a quick alcohol wipe when I wash the car. It removes the grime and oxidized junk from the blades. No streaks and they last longer.
 
SalmonPride said:
Hey Mike, one more thing I didn't actually ask about :D

What about the two side view mirrors? I guess it's also nice to put something to repel water there and it's not gonna harm ?
Click to expand...


I normally polish the side mirror glass, especially if the pad on the polisher I'm using can contact the glass.

And "yes" - I always give the side mirror glass a wipe of the PBL Surface Coating.


:)
 
Mike Phillips said:
I normally polish the side mirror glass, especially if the pad on the polisher I'm using can contact the glass.

And "yes" - I always give the side mirror glass a wipe of the PBL Surface Coating.


:)
Click to expand...

Even newer cars? I know many use plastic instead of glass on side mirrors and with abrasion the part that makes it a mirror gets damaged and you can end up having to replace it.

I never do anything to side mirrors other than cleaning them. Never even coated them just in case it becomes an issue.
 
Bruno Soares said:
Even newer cars? I know many use plastic instead of glass on side mirrors and with abrasion the part that makes it a mirror gets damaged and you can end up having to replace it.

I never do anything to side mirrors other than cleaning them. Never even coated them just in case it becomes an issue.
Click to expand...


No, not new cars, just older stuff that uses glass mirrors.

New cars usually don't need the side mirror buffed as in most cases they are somewhat sheltered from the world.

I'm trying to think of he last new cars I've detailed, like a C8 Corvette, a couple of Mercedes-Benz... I don't remember them having plastic for mirrors?

There's a brand new 2021 C8 Corvette in the garage as I type, I'll go take a look. I'll look at Yancy's brand new 2021 Dodge Challenger Redeye, see what it has.

:dblthumb2:
 
They look about the same as glass but I think plastic is used to help with the heating element behind it, I think it’s easier to get plastic warm than glass. I remember someone saying they used 0000 steel wool trying to clean it like glass and scratched the film/coat that make the plastic give you a mirror image.
 
Mike Phillips said:
No, not new cars, just older stuff that uses glass mirrors.

New cars usually don't need the side mirror buffed as in most cases they are somewhat sheltered from the world.
Click to expand...

Thanks Mike, so for side mirrors of new cars - no buff, but a wipe of PBL coating is fine?
 
Guys, some updates. So I just threw the OEM wipers in the trash as we put another layer of coating on them and it didn’t help, even made things worse. So I was on a waste money spree I guess but I bought another pair of OEM wipers just to try how it would work without coating, I wasn’t able to find aftermarket(price was similar) , didn’t want to wait and definitely didn’t want to order from Ali Express.

What happened - no issues at all on dry windshield and when using constant setting 1 or 2 ( only two constant on my glc and two rain sensing). But when I simulated rain - poured a bit of water on the sensor - first few strokes great, but after a while chatter started. So it seems like something messing with the rain sensor. What I mean is that when there is less water like rain drops the friction between the coating and wiper blades is just not good enough, not enough lube to glide smoothly. I guess water beads/sheets way too fast due to the coating. So it has to be either completely smooth - dry or there needs to be more fluid - like spraying a windshield washer fluid.


I really like the coating benefits. It was amazing in pouring rain on the highway last week, but I live in a big city , and with all the traffic jams and speed limit I cannot really see any benefit overall of the glass coating in town. I would need to use my wipers on rain sensor in case of rain/snow ( no intermittent function on the GLC ) and that chatter would only drive me mad.

So I saw some suggestions for wiper arm adjustment , but if it’s working fine on dry glass and constant motion I guess that’s not the problem. Seems like my only solution would be to remove the coating and hope bare glass would work just fine. Not sure I would go and use any other glass product at all if I manage to fix it, I’d rather enjoy my new car and protect only the paint - after all I’m not in the tropic, we do have rains, but as I said - it’s daily city driving mostly and the benefit of no chatter would be greater than water sheeting at high speeds.

Just so strange that only rain sensor function causes this... would be happy to hear your thoughts , but I guess I can only remove and see how it goes.
 
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