Universal Clear, Ultraviolet Protection, and Buffing

crashtech

Combo Man & Mod
I have an Axalta rep who always rags on me about how I'm killing the durability of my paint jobs because I often like to give top surfaces a bit of a light sand and polish. Most of the time it's to remove small defects caused by dust, but the panels will get an all-over light sanding with 3000 to help blend in where the defects have been repaired, light as in just knocking the tops of the orange peel off. He says the UV additives float to the top, and that they are therefore removed by polishing. I'm thinking they can't all be floating up, there are two wet coats on my average repair job. Horizontal surfaces in particular see pretty good mil thickness. I've never felt that the jobs were at risk at all, but is he right? About how much durability is taken away by a light sand and polish?
 
Could it be that Axalta clears don't have enough UV protection to begin with?

If what he says were true I don't see how any restoration job would stand a chance against UV damage. Some ppl start at 600/800 grit for cutting and buffing, that would surely wipe off anything that floats to the top.
 
Well. I've been hearing that about urethane clears since the eighties, but I still have no idea how much truth it holds. I'm sure there is no way to put an exact number on it, but was wondering if it was like 1% degradation or 10%.
 
Hey Crash I have been light sanding my clears for over 20 years and they have held up fine. Big family so I see a lot of these cars for years! Barry help
 
Barry is more helpful than any other, but since the figure is subject to so many variables, it's like nobody can or will say much about it. I trust SPI more than any promise from the majors, but still, I'd like to have something to say when this jerk stoops to visiting my little caveman shop out in the sticks.
 
Stuff like this is closely held secrets I would guess. Since competition is what it is if I owned a paint company I wouldnt want my ratios out there for someone to copy. I know of a car with SPI Universal clear sprayed in August of 2007. It still looks as good now as it did then. I helped them on the build and was amazed at the clarity of the clear. That's when I started using it myself. I used to detail cars at a collision shop and one day the painter asked the new paint rep questions they didn't know the answer to. It was funny.
 
Had a chevy pickup that I shot with Omni bccc cut and buffed, never waxed, looked brand new 7 years later. It was always kept outside too. The guy I sold it to rolled it.
 
And then there was the PPG DC3000 on the hood of my wife's old minivan that died after about 4 years, come to think of it, that was never even buffed!
 
since every part and piece that has come out of my shop in the past 15 years has been sanded and buffed universal clear, I call bs. almost all of it has candy on it which is prone to fading and i have seen very little fading even on bikes i painted 13 years ago.
 
really weird,, I have nason cheapo clear on the side of the car. Its been on there for 7 years now. I sanded and buffed it.. and Ive been waiting for it to fail. Im giving the car to my oldest and told him we would repaint it. I've just been waiting for a reason, lol
 
Do you buy from the Axalta rep?
Not directly, but my paint system is mostly Standox. He mocks me for using off brand clear also. I think next time he comes by I'll tell him he doesn't really need to grace me with his presence any more, he's never done anything for me except insult me and talk about all the cool stuff the big boys are doing.
 
since every part and piece that has come out of my shop in the past 15 years has been sanded and buffed universal clear, I call bs. almost all of it has candy on it which is prone to fading and i have seen very little fading even on bikes i painted 13 years ago.
Jim, I'm sure you put more than two coats of clear, do you sand and flow coat as well? I think jobs with lots of clear aren't in any danger, but with everyday stuff getting two coats, it just made me wonder if I needed to start putting three coats on hoods in particular. I've always felt that Universal had plenty of protection and mil thickness at two coats even when lightly sanded and buffed, I've literally never buffed through on anything painted with UC.
 
"""Certain""""" uvs will float a little over "TIME" but has nothing to do with a new paint job cutting and buffing as a bunch of people pointed out.

If a job comes in to you say done 8 years ago and thin buffing could cause the job to go south from either lack of mils to protect itself or perhaps way it was formulated and some of the UVs floated to top over the years.

Proper formulating and blending solves a lot of this where this was more true in 80"s, unless using a low grade brand and then we can only guess how it was done.
 
I think I should clarify myself. The truck I posted about was very seldom driven and not exposed to salt or other harmful chemicals that daily driven vehicles would be. It did sit outside everyday though. Even with the limited miles the little flares on the rear fender wells (square body chevy) were peppered with tiny rock chips. I wouldn't use Omni again.
 
"""Certain""""" uvs will float a little over "TIME" but has nothing to do with a new paint job cutting and buffing as a bunch of people pointed out.

If a job comes in to you say done 8 years ago and thin buffing could cause the job to go south from either lack of mils to protect itself or perhaps way it was formulated and some of the UVs floated to top over the years.

Proper formulating and blending solves a lot of this where this was more true in 80"s, unless using a low grade brand and then we can only guess how it was done.
So I can tell this yahoo that in my (SPI) clear, the UV additive does NOT float while it's being applied?
 
Wow, that is a double question with two answers.
Guess like rest of solvents it may be floating or in suspension??? while wet?
 
Well he says it goes to the top and is the first thing to go when buffing. I have a hard time with that.
 
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