Opti-coat 2.0 first time

[TANTO]

First while i'm not a pro, it am pretty experienced, retired OCD engineer, i think i read almost all of the posts on this product, and had all my ducks in a row. And i do understand it's a difficult to use product. But this product is so difficult i've got to wonder if anyone could do a perfect job with this stuff without a supernatural dose of good luck. The vehicle was 91 Toy Previa w/near perfect paint met red. Polished with 85RD and did two PrepSol wipes. I started on the large top of the van to get my technique down. First issue is it took a good 4-6 oz to get the pad primed. And my excellent finish soaked this stuff up like crazy. If i put in on thin, it would flash before i could even do a second stroke so i had to add say 3-4 drops per area. IF i followed instructions and let it sit, it evaporated and left rainbows, if i quickly went back over these with the pad as the instructions state, you still will get some rainbows no matter how thin the product. So as another poster stated to do, i started letting in get 80% evaporated and then wiipe it with a dry MF similar to what one would do with tradional products, it did work. But did that remove too much product? Maybe. So now i need more product and i have several areas that need to be polished out. I don't actually have the rainbows, but i have several areas at mid panel application boundaries where shading shows. Temp 82 humid 43%. Question - how long to i wait to use the yet to be ordered Poli-Seal to save this job? To repeat, if you use the product very thin, you couldn't cover a panel any larger than 16' sq without it flashing and streaking RIGHT NOW under ideal temp/humid. Do you guys follow instructions? or do you wipe it lightly before it drys and simply hope you didn't remove too much. TIA

[Old Tiger]

I always chase with an MF pad. I do a second coat on the horizontal surfaces at a minimum. I always dispense at least 7 mil into a pump mister. I do a second pass until I use it all. I am told CQ is easier for a first timer. Sorry for your difficulty. I screwed my first attempt up too! You used too much product but I think it will protect way better than a sealant.

[Twister]

The first time I used OC I didn't have any issues. I applied it pretty thin and then went back shortly after to make sure I had eve coverage. I didn't have any high spots but I did gently glide a towel across just to be sure (don't rub or buff)

I don't think it's a hard product to use but a lot of people feel its difficult because of the "permanent" nature of the product. Just hand apply some finish polish to the high spots if you find any once its cured to knock them down and you're good to go.

[embolism]

I think your issue is you want to see something left on the paint or you think you haven't put enough on. This led you to use too much product which over saturated your applicator and in turn, made the knocking down of high spots difficult (b/c every time you went over a high spot, you left more OC in that area instead of knocking it down)

As long as you are working out of the sun on cool panels, and you stick to working one panel at a time, this means for eg. you do half the roof, then quickly move to the other side and do the other half, then you shouldn't have that hard a time, especially if you are using the consumer version opticoat instead of optiguard. Four to five drops over the applicator should be sufficient to do a 2' by 2' area. By all means, expand the area a bit if you can't seem to knock down high spots b/c there is still too much OC left on the applicator (or just feather with a mf until they flash)

I can get 3-4 cars out of 20cc of OC depending on their size. What I've been using of late is the Carpro foam block and their microsuede cloths. I find it doesn't absorb much product at all and the suedes can be reused as long as they get soaked in APC immediately after you finish using it.

Watch some more videos and maybe even experiment with something like optiseal to get the hang of applying something so thin that you hardly have to wipe it off.

Don't give up on it. It's a great product. Happy detailing!

[TANTO]

I always chase with an MF pad. I do a second coat on the horizontal surfaces at a minimum. I always dispense at least 7 mil into a pump mister. I do a second pass until I use it all. I am told CQ is easier for a first timer. Sorry for your difficulty. I screwed my first attempt up too! You used too much product but I think it will protect way better than a sealant.

Old Tiger- So you spray it on, then you spread with the foam pad? and then go over the whole area with a MF pad? Wet or dry?

I know everyone has said they went too heavy the first time, so i did try very thin, then thin, then medium. Spreading this thin caused it to flash too fast affording lousy coverage, and what i would call "dry streaks". Maybe this old van paint absorbed too much. I hope they will send me a sample so i can finish the car. Thanks guys!

[Chris Thomas]

First while i'm not a pro, it am pretty experienced, retired OCD engineer, i think i read almost all of the posts on this product, and had all my ducks in a row. And i do understand it's a difficult to use product. But this product is so difficult i've got to wonder if anyone could do a perfect job with this stuff without a supernatural dose of good luck.

Actually, it's very easy but because it different from waxes and sealants, there's a new technique to learn. If I were able to meet you and show you in person it would only take 5 minutes to have you applying it like a pro.

The vehicle was 91 Toy Previa w/near perfect paint met red. Polished with 85RD and did two PrepSol wipes. I started on the large top of the van to get my technique down. First issue is it took a good 4-6 oz to get the pad primed.

Theres less than 1oz in the 20cc syringe so im assuming you used 4-6cc to prime the pad. 4-6cc will coat a small Honda so putting that much on the pad would certainly cause issue. This product really goes a loooong way so with that much on the pad it would apply it too thick and most likely streak.

And my excellent finish soaked this stuff up like crazy.

This time of year, the product will flash faster than usual, but that doesn't mean that it's being absorbed. We use a fast flashing solvent deliberately for better results...less streaking.

If i put in on thin, it would flash before i could even do a second stroke so i had to add say 3-4 drops per area.

This is actually a good thing. Visually keep up with how far you've spread it and just overlap your next pass/section a bit. Thin and even is the goal. When the product flashes fast, you only need to make an adjustment to the size of the section you are applying it to and you will still have good results. A good technique I use when I can't spread it out far before it flashes is to start in the center of the section and work the coating outward (opposed to linear).

IF i followed instructions and let it sit, it evaporated and left rainbows, if i quickly went back over these with the pad as the instructions state, you still will get some rainbows no matter how thin the product.

Those are areas of over application, probably from the pad being too wet. When applied as intended, it will disappear like you mentioned earlier. This is where it's different from other products. Typical sealants are applied to entire panels and then allowed to haze and then you can buff off a visual residue. Opti-Coat is more like our wipe on walk away sealant Opti-Seal. Both Opti-Seal and Opti-Coat wipe on and disappear unless too much product is applied and then you will see streaking. So the new technique consists of watching carefully how far you've spread the product so you'll know where to start the next section, and trusting the product to do what we say even so thin that you don't have that visual feedback.

So as another poster stated to do, i started letting in get 80% evaporated and then wipe it with a dry MF similar to what one would do with tradional products, it did work. But did that remove too much product? Maybe.

I wrote those instructions as a modification for those having over application spots. When 80-90% has flashed the whole section has the proper amount of product already bonded to the surface. By lightly going over the spots that you can still see, you are only removing the excess. Now, if you keep rubbing or continue to go over the section as if remove residue, you may be removing some coating, but quickly knocking down the places you see is perfect.

So now i need more product and i have several areas that need to be polished out. I don't actually have the rainbows, but i have several areas at mid panel application boundaries where shading shows.

Those are either spots that were rubbed too much or where excess product wasn't wiped away. Either way it's an easy fix and will not require reapplication if you only polish enough to restore clarity.

Temp 82 humid 43%. Question - how long to i wait to use the yet to be ordered Poli-Seal to save this job? To repeat, if you use the product very thin, you couldn't cover a panel any larger than 16' sq without it flashing and streaking RIGHT NOW under ideal temp/humid. Do you guys follow instructions? or do you wipe it lightly before it drys and simply hope you didn't remove too much. TIA

I think you did fine, but weren't fully aware of what to watch for or what adjustment to make. You saw that an adjustment needed to be made and that's a really good thing! I hope my explainations will help and you can email me if you have more questions.