My experience w BF Ceramic Pro Black Edition

[Andre]

Andre: Just a thought.

If the recommendation is to use the MF applicator pads, you might want to change how the kits are sold for the BF coatings. Both the Black Edition Pro Coating (BLACKFIRE Pro Ceramic Coating BLACK EDITION Application Kit) and the Pro Coating (BLACKFIRE Pro Ceramic Coating Kit) come with the suede cloths and applicator pad like other coatings.

Yes I have brought this up to the web team, I will try and get them to update it for the Black Edition coating (works great for the original Blackfire coating still). And once again, Black Edition can still be done with the suedes and some still prefer that method, just have to use it like a normal coating at that point. Really personal preference at the end of the day.

[ntwillie1]

It's interesting that in cool humid conditions it flashes so much quicker than what is provided in the product instructions. From my experience with CQuartz UK, both v2 and v3 flashing slowed in cool damp conditions, especially v3.0.

I've not used the Blackfire coating, but I'd be hesitant to leave any coating sit for 3~5 minutes unless I was very familiar with the product and it's behavior in the environment. Because lighting conditions, paint color, and climate are all major factors in the application experience, I tend to use the wipe-off behavior as my guide. Lighting/paint color may make flashing behavior impossible to see. Climate may take you way outside the removal time window recommended by the manufacturer. However, if you test a few small areas, you should be able to lock in a rough time frame where removal of the coating is easy and clean and doesn't smear. If you find it's smearing on removal, wait a touch longer. If it's hard to remove, remove a little earlier.

I’ve had the same experience as you w UK 3.0 and other coatings. They have flashed slower in cooler temps. The 1 min or less was not what I expected.

Also, the reason I left it on for 5 minutes is because thats how long it took to start sweating. On subsequent panels i didn’t allow it to sweat and just removed after about a min and although it was still sticky I was able to remove.

I will call autogeek and maybe they can do something to help me out. I may try another panel w a foam applicator and see if that behaves differently.

Let me also thank you all for chiming in. Initially I was worried about posting not so gleaming comments about Blackfire knowing it is an in-house brand. I thought people would either bash me or not say anything at all. This is probably the 20th or so, maybe more, car that I have coated so I have a good handle on it. I simply followed the instructions on the bottle and it didnt work out so well for me.


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[ntwillie1]

Well said Kirby!

I personally find applying the BLACKFIRE Black Edition with a suede cloth makes it harder to use if you're looking for more working time (sweating). Because the suede cloth spreads the coating out SO THIN, it actually "rainbow flashes" and behaves like a normal coating. If applying it with this type of applicator, let it sit for 30-60 seconds and wipe off.

I typically use the Blue Microfiber Coating Applicators that we sell to apply that coating - Blue Microfiber Coating Applicator. I find these to spread the coating out in a thicker layer. When applied thicker, it allows it to form sweating more from what I have seen personally. It actually flashes like a normal coating for the first 30 seconds or so but then dissipates and the sweating feature kicks in.

In our air conditioned garage, I have applied the coating and let it sit for different increments of time just to see how the wipe off would be. I did 5 minutes, 10 minutes, 20 minutes, and even 40 minutes before wiping off. After 5 minutes it does become sticky to remove but can still be wiped off with a tight napped towel. Around 10 minutes it took a lot of rubbing but was still able to get a good bit off. After 10 minutes, it wasn't wiping off. In Kirby's class we let it sit for around 40 minutes and they ended up having to use a Griots Garage G8, Buff and Shine Uro-Tech Maroon cutting pad, and Griots Garage Fast Correcting Creme and many passes to get it off. That was just after only 40 minutes! INSANE, imagine a 24 hour cure time, really shows how durable this coating really is!

However, anything before 5 minutes seemed to wipe off no problem for me. I find this coating unique because you wipe it off "wet" essentially which is kind of nice because you can really see what area you're wiping off easily. Other coatings flash and the layer is so thin, sometimes it's hard to tell if you missed a spot and need a good light to really double check your wipe off.

The coating itself will be more of a "rubbery" feel to it after wipe off but that is just the nature of this high solids coating that is really designed for the ultimate durability. It won't feel as slippery feeling as like Pinnacle Black Label Diamond Surface Coating but will certainly outlast it! I found the hydrophobic properties extremely amazing with this coating as well. You can use products such as SiO2 Spray Sealants over the coating and they will help with making it more slick.

I will have them update our directions and copy about the rainbow flash and also about the flash time. When working with this coating in air conditioning, I truly believe you have an "up to" a 5 minute working time from the testing that I've done. I even recorded a video of wipe off round a 5 minute time frame to show people how easy it still wipes off and how the sweating looks. BUT when working in high humidity/heat, definitely would cut down on the flash time and treat it like a normal coating: 30-60 second flash time.

Only thing I can think of for the coating to be acting up as it did was these: the coating used 6 months prior was not fully compounded/removed off. Or possibly the temperature may have been just a tad "too cold" possibly if it was in the low 60's (have not seen how this coating reacts in colder climates). We usually have the AC around 72 in our garage. It could possibly have been a bad bottle but have not heard of this ourselves at this time. If you call me at 772-247-3502, I can send you some of the microfiber applicators I talked about and a new bottle and you can give it another go if you'd like.

Thanks Andre. I really appreciate the offer. I will call you tomorrow for sure.

Also, I believe I removed the previous coating completely. I iron x’d it, washed w clean slate, clayed, rewashed, and noticed water still beading up. The claying didn’t really affect the Cquartz uk which was a pleasant surprise. I then polished w total swirl remover and several microfiber pads and then washed again w clean slate. This time water just pooled on the surfaces. I then went around the car twice w blackfire paint prep. By the time I was done I had no swirls which indicates I made it through the old coating assuming the swirls were in the coating an not the paint. And if they were in the paint I got them out .

You did bring up one point that I had forgotten to mention. The kit comes w plush micro fiber towels. I noticed that the coating was so sticky that the towels were leaving a lot of lint behind. I switched over to tighter nap microfiber towels and that did aid w the removal of the coating.

I would say that for my application experience, letting it cure for 1 min or less and using a less plush microfiber towel helped a lot.


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[ntwillie1]

I’d just like to say that Andre at Autogeek stepped up and sent me a brand new bottle of Blackfire Ceramic Pro Black Edition along with replacement microfiber towels and foam applicators. Not a lot of companies would do that and would instead blame it on user error. He also spent about 20 minutes on the phone with me discussing the process of applying this specific coating and making suggestions to help me achieve more success next go around.

Gestures like this are the reason I have and will continue to purchase my detailing supplies from Autogeek. They are truly committed to customer satisfaction.


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