Measuring a vehicle&#;s paint thickness, on every available panel, is the best practice for detailing paint correction services. This allows auto detailing businesses the ability to accurately understand each vehicle&#;s starting condition before services.
Accurate clear coat measurements, from consistent and thorough PTG measuring procedures, reveal the overall amount of material is present on vehicle surfaces.
Once vehicle paint thickness levels are known, detailing businesses must then weigh this information against the type, amount, and severity of defects. This method enables detailers to find appropriate paint correction service levels, allowing for safe and maximum defect removal for each panel.
The best auto detailing businesses incorporate an overall context for paint correction services aligning with each owner&#;s vehicle goals. A complete context includes the owner&#;s aesthetic, functional, and long-term vehicle objectives.
To close, let&#;s the review concept of paint preservation. This was originally covered in greater depth as the final topic of the OCDCarCare Los Angeles article explaining the 5 thin automotive paint layers relating to detailing paint correction.
Detailing businesses are expected to improve owner vehicles, not damage them. If unnecessarily aggressive paint correction removes excess clear coat, paint&#;s protective layer, then damage occurs. While not visible, this damage may potentially jeopardize the long-term integrity of the vehicle&#;s paint system.
Therefore, all auto detailers and detailing businesses, should approach all paint correction projects with the philosophy of paint preservation. Under this mantra, the lowest amount of clear coat is removed, according to the service dictated by client preferences.
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The paint correction preservation mindset and method is best for both the vehicle and the owner.
And the only way to know if it&#;s safe to meet the client&#;s desired result, for their unique vehicle, is to measure the paint accurately and thoroughly with an automotive paint thickness gauge (PTG).
Therefore, for successful and profitable auto detailing businesses, its absolutely vital to use an automotive paint thickness gauge (paint meter) to test all vehicle panels before all paint correction services. This truth is strengthened as modern factory paint systems continuously evolve and become thinner over time.
All coating thickness gages are influenced to some degree by substrate roughness, as shown in the below image. It is generally accepted that paint thickness should be measured from the highest &#;peaks&#; in the rough surface thus ensuring they are covered by the protective coating. However, coating thickness gages will instead measure the coating thickness from the &#;effective magnetic plane&#;, which is located somewhere between the highest peaks and deepest valleys of the profile.
ASTM D, ISO , and SSPC-PA 2 propose several similar solutions depending upon the instrument type and the particular situation. One option is to verify the paint meter reads zero on the uncoated steel substrate, and adjust to zero if necessary. This is a popular solution when the metal surface is smooth.
Since it is difficult to ensure that the probe tip is sitting on the highest peaks of the surface profile, the preferred option is to place a plastic shim of a known thickness that is close to the expected thickness of the applied coating between the probe and substrate and adjust to the stated thickness of the shim- referred to as a 1-point adjustment. The plastic shim sits on the peaks of the surface profile over a greater area than the probe tip, ensuring that the adjustment is being taken &#;over the peaks&#;. This best simulates a coating covering the peaks of the surface profile.
If access to the bare substrate is not possible, another option is to use the PosiTector Zero Offset feature in accordance with ISO . The Zero Offset adjustment is useful when measuring paint and coating thickness over rough or blasted substrates without access to the uncoated representative substrate. Predefined Zero Offset values can be selected according to the blast profile height. Alternatively, a custom Zero Offset can be entered.
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