All about the Defelsko Paint Thickness Gauge by Mike Phillips

[Mike Phillips]

All about the Defelsko Paint Thickness Gauge by Mike Phillips (http://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/ask-mike-phillips-your-detailing-questions/104055-all-about-defelsko-paint-thickness-gauge-mike-phillips.html)



LOTS of interest in paint thickness gauges! And for good reasons!

PAINT IS THIN!

That's right, the factory clearcoat on a new car is around 2 mils thin. A post-it note is around 3 mills thin. So if you want to get scared... feel a post-it note between your thumb and your forefinger and the thin feeling you feel will be transmitted to your brain and cause you to say...

Wow! that's thin!


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Relax...
If you're working on a brand new car that no one has ever worked on before and you know what you're doing and you only use high quality abrasive technology, then you have nothing to worry about.


Be worried...
If you're working on an older car 2, 3 4 years old or older, and you DON'T know who worked on the car before, how many times it's been buffed and what they used for tools and abrasive technology, then you're treading in uncharted waters or to be more detail specific - you could be buffing on very thin paint.


Paint thinness is just one reason to own a quality paint thickness gauge like the Defelsko PosiTest DFT Combo Electronic Paint Thickness Gauge. This is one of the most accurate paint thickness gauges money can buy PLUS it's incredibly user friendly. These are the two aspects that set it apart from less expensive brands.


Super accurate
The Defelsko PosiTest DFT Combo Electronic Paint Thickness Gauge is what is called a 3% gauge. What this means is that reading is accurate within 3% of the measured film. Less expensive gauges don't offer this type of accuracy and when you're measuring something that's thin to start with it makes a huge difference.

To learn more about all the cool benefits and features about this gauge, click the link below as they are already laid out very clearly on the Autogeek.com website.

Defelsko PosiTest DFT Combo Electronic Paint Thickness Gauge (http://www.autogeek.net/paint-thickness-gauge.html)


This article isn't to try to sell or convince you to invest in a quality tool. Each person can determine this for themselves. This article is for those that have already made the decision to purchase the Defelsko PosiTest DFT Combo Electronic Paint Thickness Gauge and show you how to use correctly.


What's in the case?

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Inside the protective carrying case you'll find,


The Defelsko PosiTest DFT Combo Electronic Paint Thickness Gauge.
Directions for use.
Five plastic shims for measuring and testing accuracy.


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The paper sleeve that hold the plastic shims also includes specific information about the shims. Each shim also has a sticker to identify it.

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The front of the gauge includes the large LCD screen and a serrated grip for your thumb or forefinger.

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The back of the gauge has a removable panel to access and replace the AAA battery. There are also serrations on the bottom backside to enable your thumb or forefinger to grip the gauge.

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There is a spring loaded button at the bottom of both sides of the gauge. These are used to switch between functions, display options and calibration.

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The bottom of the gauge houses the ruby tipped probe. This probe is rounded, not sharp so it won't damage surfaces.

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Factory calibrated

The Defelsko PosiTest DFT Combo Electronic Paint Thickness Gauge is calibrated from the factory and ready to use right out of the case. There's no need for you to do anything. Immediately after removing it from the case you can begin using it.


How to turn the gauge on
There is no on-switch. The gauge turns on automatically when you press the probe against a metal surface.


How to re-calibrate the gaugeI
If for some reason you want to re-calibrate the gauge yourself it's SUPER EASY - simply press the two side buttons at the same time 3 times fast. This will make the gauge do its own self test, calibration and reset. In the two pictures below you can see my thumb and forefinger on the buttons. I press them at the same time- three times fast and then you'll see a set of three lines or dashes flash as they move up and down the display. After the calibration the gauge will read 0.0 - The gauge is now re-calibrated and read to use or if you like, you can test the accuracy of the gauge using the shims.

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Mike's comment...
Because it's fast and easy to re-calibrate the gauge I make it habit to re-calibrate the gauge before using it.



How to check calibration accuracy

If you want to verify the accuracy then here's how to do it.

First, you need a completely flat metal surface. Interestingly enough, the stainless steel bench top you see in the pictures is not perfectly flat. So I can't use it for my control. I found a chunk of aluminum with a smooth surface and my testing shows that it measures to be completely flat. By this I mean, when I measure the surface of the metal I get a 0.0 reading. This is what you need in order measure the shims and verify accuracy.

I checked and double checked the area where I've drawn a box using a Sharpie marker and it consistently reads 0.0

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Here you can see the area I'm measuring is completely flat. This is important when checking for accuracy with the shims.

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Next, place one of the shims on your control area and measure the shim. In the below picture I'm measuring the 9.4 mil shim. The 0.9 reading is within 3% accuracy.

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Next I measure the 2.01 mil shim and the 2.0 mil reading is within 3% accuracy.

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Next I measure the 5.0 mil shim and the 5.1 mil reading again, is within 3% accuracy.

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Up next is the 10.31 mil ship and the 10.0 mil reading is within 3% accuracy.

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And last, the 19.4 mil shim and the reading is 19.4 mil

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How to switch between mils and microns
To switch between mils and microns press the two side buttons and hold them till you see the measurement indicator on the screen change.

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How to flip the screen vertically
To flip the screen to read the opposite direction simply press either of the side buttons one time and you'll see the display flip.

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Flipping the screen can make it easier to read depending on the panel you're measuring.

Measuring a vertical panel

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Measuring a horizontal panel

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Not only is the Defelsko PosiTest DFT Comb Electronic Paint Thickness Gauge accurate right out of the box and easy to calibrate it also retains its accuracy regardless of external temperatures. For example our garage is 78 degrees as I did the testing while the outside temperature is 91 degrees. If I were to do the same test outside I would get the same measurements. That's the kind of quality you get when you purchase a high quality paint thickness gauge.



On Autogeek.com

Defelsko PosiTest DFT Combo Electronic Paint Thickness Gauge (http://www.autogeek.net/paint-thickness-gauge.html)


Remember...

Quality doesn't cost money... it makes money...


:)

[Mike Phillips]

A couple of uses for a paint thickness gauge


I use this as a BIG PICTURE indicator. It shows me panels that are thin and therefor risky so I'm SMART enough to avoid using compounds or any aggressive procedure.

Knowing when paint is thin helps to protect yourself and/or your business by identifying dangerously thin panels before doing any work.


Marketing - Just the simple act of taking a few measurements of a potential customer's car shows them not only do you have the right tools but you also have the knowledge to use them.

Identify panels that have been repainted. Generally speaking, if a panel on a car has been repainted it may be hard to identify by simply looking at the car. A re-painted panel or section of paint will tend to show much thicker measurements than surrounding factory painted panels. This is also something you can share with customers or potential customers that might not be aware their car has been damaged.



:)

[ronkh57]

Will this one work on plastic/carbon fiber panels?

[Mike lambert]

I wouldn't polish a car without one! I have turned down work because other detailers have been over aggressive!

[Mike Phillips]

Hi Ron,

This particular model is for steel and aluminum.


:)

[ronkh57]

Hi Ron,

This particular model is for steel and aluminum.


:)

Thought so.

Thanks Mike

[Mike Phillips]

Just to note...

This article is about the Defelsko Paint Thickness Gauge.

My next article will show you how and why to use it.


:)

[Mike Phillips]

I wouldn't polish a car without one! I have turned down work because other detailers have been over aggressive!




A paint thickness gauge is like a form of insurance. It can insure that you don't have an accident.


:)

[Setec Astronomy]

If you want to verify the accuracy then here's how to do it.

First, you need a completely flat metal surface. Interestingly enough, the stainless steel bench top you see in the pictures is not perfectly flat. So I can't use it for my control. I found a chunk of aluminum with a smooth surface and my testing shows that it measures to be completely flat. By this I mean, when I measure the surface of the metal I get a 0.0 reading. This is what you need in order measure the shims and verify accuracy.

I checked and double checked the area where I've drawn a box using a Sharpie marker and it consistently reads 0.0

http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/watermark.php?file=108101

I notice that the Highline II instrument that Autogeek also carries, which seems to be a less-expensive imitator of the DeFelsko, comes with ferrous and non-ferrous substrate calibration discs to put the cal shims on top of so that you don't have to find a suitable substrate as you had to--does the DeFelsko not come with something like that because of the internal calibration feature, which essentially makes the using the shims/discs unnecessary?

[Chramiji]

Is there anything to look out for if buying second hand, it's out of its 2 year warranty period. One of my friend's buddy is letting his go since he moved away from detailing. So I have a chance of owning a Defelsko for a bit more than the Highline....

[Setec Astronomy]

As Mike noted, the DeFelsko is a quality instrument, and I wouldn't have any hesitation picking that used one up--you might want to do the calibration check that Mike demonstrated above, and I'd probably want to check it on both steel and aluminum substrates.

[LSNAutoDetailing]

High quality tool that every detailer must have if you're doing paint correction on customers vehicles.

[Chramiji]

As Mike noted, the DeFelsko is a quality instrument, and I wouldn't have any hesitation picking that used one up--you might want to do the calibration check that Mike demonstrated above, and I'd probably want to check it on both steel and aluminum substrates.

Thank you, I'll make sure I bring a piece of steel and aluminum chip from work (flat) and test it out to make sure its within the 3%. If this all works out, I can take on more aggressive PC jobs with a little more insurance... assurance? lol

[Mike Phillips]

Is there anything to look out for if buying second hand, it's out of its 2 year warranty period. One of my friend's buddy is letting his go since he moved away from detailing. So I have a chance of owning a Defelsko for a bit more than the Highline....



I would test out the features like I show in the article above and then jump on this deal fast before he changes his mind.

The Defelsko is a super high quality tool that is also incredibly accurate. The copies are just that.... copies and you get what you pay for.


:)

[Dandy98]

Have you recorded roughly the same area after waxing or after buffing then waxing.? I am going to get this gauge soon. Thanks Mike