Thickness Gauge

[TMQ]

As more cars coming in for me to do, I need to start thinking of getting a thickness gauge for peace of mind.

There are 4 different Defelsko gauges at the store. From 695 onward up to 2 grand. Which one should I get?

I do write detailed reports on each car and having accurate
paint thickness documented in the report would be great thing to add.

Any favs or recommendations...?

Tom

[Rsurfer]

Get one that will read aluminum, as a lot of newer cars come with aluminum hoods.

[parshisa]

As more cars coming in for me to do, I need to start thinking of getting a thickness gauge for peace of mind.

There are 4 different Defelsko gauges at the store. From 695 onward up to 2 grand. Which one should I get?

I do write detailed reports on each car and having accurate
paint thickness documented in the report would be great thing to add.

Any favs or recommendations...?

Tom

I'm not a professional detailer although I own a PTG - highline meter. It does measure both Fe and non-Fe panels. I think it works really well for the price (I paid 150$ plus shipping). I personally don't think that more expensive gauge will do any better job in measuring overall thickness. There always will be the guess game about how much clear coats itself is there. Again, Highline readings are pretty consistent as long as you keep it calibrated and do measurements at similar ambient/panel temperatures. Hope this helps

[Rsurfer]

I'm not a professional detailer although I own a PTG - highline meter. It does measure both Fe and non-Fe panels. I think it works really well for the price (I paid 150$ plus shipping). I personally don't think that more expensive gauge will do any better job in measuring overall thickness. There always will be the guess game about how much clear coats itself is there. Again, Highline readings are pretty consistent as long as you keep it calibrated and do measurements at similar ambient/panel temperatures. Hope this helps

AG won't like your post.

[parshisa]

AG won't like your post.

As long as OP finds my post useful i’m ok with that


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[Rsurfer]

As long as OP finds my post useful i’m ok with that


Sent from my iPhone using Autogeekonline mobile app (http://r.tapatalk.com/byo?rid=87407)

You better read the rules.

[parshisa]

Thanks for the heads up. Although I don't think that I have violated any of them. Regardless, the point of my post was to share my experience with given product readily available at AGO. Not arguing, just saying. Cheers

[TMQ]

Checked the store---yes they have it.

HighLine Meter Paint Thickness Gauge 2nd Generation (https://www.autogeek.net/highline-paint-gauge.html)

Thanks Parshisa.

Tom

[parshisa]

Checked the store---yes they have it.

HighLine Meter Paint Thickness Gauge 2nd Generation (https://www.autogeek.net/highline-paint-gauge.html)

Thanks Parshisa.

Tom

You’re welcome Sir. I’ve recently did compound/polish/coating and had the paint measured before and after. I hardly see any difference in numbers. Gauge is rated for 3% accuracy which is within the tolerance you’d expect to be removed during correcting stage.

Another note on this gauge - it needs to be calibrated with an appropriate shim prior to measuring paint. There’s 98microns one, i’d normally calibrate the gauge with it for both ferrous and non-ferrous surfaces and then go ahead and use it. But again, it’s just my experience with it, perhaps you’ll get a better feel of it since you’ll likely be using it on daily basis. Cheers


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[DBAILEY]

That's the one that have been using for years also. I even hated spending the coin on that one at that price. I could not stomach spending > $700 on a ptg.

[Hammer77]

Tom is this what you got, if so how do you like it?

[itsgn]

I personally don't think that more expensive gauge will do any better job in measuring overall thickness. There always will be the guess game about how much clear coats itself is there.
They do. Especially the $2000+ ones, that can also measure paint thickness over plastic, fiberglass and carbon surfaces - which the cheaper gauges can't. Even though the latter two materials are only used on high-end vehicles, painted plastic elements (like bumpers) are very common nowadays even on mid-range and low-end vehicles.

Also, some of these high-end gauges can also differentiate between clear coat and paint coats, and therefore can yield an actual measurement of the clear coat, and do not leave the task of guessing how much the of the overall paint thickness the clear is, up to you. Which, again, is a great advantage over the cheaper paint gauges.

[Route246]

Checked the store---yes they have it.

HighLine Meter Paint Thickness Gauge 2nd Generation (https://www.autogeek.net/highline-paint-gauge.html)

Thanks Parshisa.

Tom

Did you ever buy this one?