Dvelup's Sealer Thicken'g

[harrellbenjamin]

Thats fair Develup is a company that sells a product like any they dont want mistaken use of thier name I have a friend owns a small company that makes a protection product unfortunatly everyone refers to all products like his as Mace His is the only one but everytime someone gets hit with pepperspray they got Mace'd
I have not used the develup system and I am sure it works fine and of course they will have some explanation as to why thier system works better we see that here everyday with WR systems they are all the best and thier system works better for some technical reason its the same in every buisness be it Autos or Mac and Cheese
I go with what works for me and tell people what it is. Take it for what it is a guy who earns his living with the product not a guy who earns his living selling you the product Works for me

Well from this point forward I will not use the "D" co. name in any more posts.They have a very good product and I made very good money using their system but I feel that I have done a little home work too and the difference in price of a well thought out off the shelf product compared to a packaged system just to me is not worth the expence.Like you said believe the man who use it everyday or the people that sell it.I would continue to buy all of my product from them except that in my opinion the price difference is just too great for any difference (if any)in performance.I too have several test sets of lens setting in direct sunlight on my deck and and after 13 months see no difference in performance using "other products".JMHO and please dont base your decisions for use based on my personal experience.Also the statement about the effects of WD-40 on polycarbonate is taken out of context as the WD-40 is only used as a lubricant during sanding and is removed by the mineral spirits(also a part 1 of the 2-part D system sealer).If you also let yellow-x stay on paint and trim it will etch and ruin it.WD-40 has no such issues.

[Brent Deines]

I think the point was that your testing is real world, which is very important, and certainly not to be discounted, but most technicians do not have the time, money, or resources, to laboratory test products, or do years of research before trying a product in the field, or perform accelerated aging tests, or perform chemical analysis, or have hundreds or maybe even thousands of customers that use the product to provide feedback.

Now that is not to say that what you are using does not work, but just that it is a bit risky to ignore all the testing that others have done before you and start experimenting on customers vehicles. I would be much more comfortable as a consumer knowing that the person working on my car was using products that were specifically formulated for the task at hand.

I've told the story before here on the windshield repair forum in the past so I won't go into all the details again, but we once had to recall a great deal of resin due to the fact that problems began to surface years after we began selling it, and after years of preliminary testing.

I'm not saying that it will happen, but how do you know for sure that you can remove all traces of the WD-40 by simply wiping the surface with mineral spirits? Because it looks like it did? If that were good enough then we would have to assume you could also fill a bullseye with WD-40 and call it a good windshield repair because it looks good when you are finished.

I don't mean to turn this into a big controversy, but frankly I am glad Dvelup finally spoke up. I have seen way to many people go out of business because they took short cuts or wasted dollars trying to save pennies.

As a technician you can do, try, or say anything, but a manufacturer has to be able to back up their claims and think years ahead in order to survive in this or any other industry.

I think the other point that Mini was making was to say that what you are buying off the shelf is not the same product that they sell, and you should not be saying that it is.

I happen to agree with that. You can say that in your opinion it works as well or better, but to say it is the same thing is probably not too wise unless you have proof to back up your claim.

I would also urge new technicians to be very cautious about trying products that were not formulated specifically for the task at hand. If you buy your products from a reputable manufacturer you can come back to them if something doesn't work as advertised, but if you are experimenting with things that "seem" to work, or you think might work, you may be asking for trouble.

I don't expect to change the minds of any of you that are having good luck with your own formulas, and I sincerely hope you never have to find out the hard way that sometimes the manufacturers actually know what they are talking about, but I do hope that you will be respectful of Dvelup and other manufacturers that have poured a lot of time and effort into developing industry specific products.

[harrellbenjamin]

You might just be right about the WD-40 causing a problem.I had a 03 Jeep G/Cherokee today that gave me a hard time after using WD-40 as a sanding aid.I had a hard time getting the lens to clear and it looked like it may have absorbed some of the WD-40 as I had to use a pretty good bit to cut this set of lens.I final coated and it still was not to my liking so I stripped sealer of with a mineral spirits wipe and then started over with the Yello-X solution and then re-sanded using only water.I then had to compound the lens and then reseal and they looked pretty good.I think that its very possible that because the polycarbonate is so porous that it could trap some of the WD-40.The jury is still out at this point.........

[t4k]

I worked on a Sebring's headlights on Thursday. I sanded with water then tried to apply the Ben's special 1:1 formula and it would not soak into the lens, it just sat on top of the lens and bubbled up. I removed it with mineral spirits and tried again.....same results. On the third try I wipped the lens down with the degreaser prior to applying the coating and still bad results. I finally just had to do a super buff on the lens and let it go with no top coat.

I have had the best results with the UV coating on BMW's. Their lenses seem to absorb the coating better than any I've seen. Any thoughts on this problem?

[harrellbenjamin]

I worked on a Sebring's headlights on Thursday. I sanded with water then tried to apply the Ben's special 1:1 formula and it would not soak into the lens, it just sat on top of the lens and bubbled up. I removed it with mineral spirits and tried again.....same results. On the third try I wipped the lens down with the degreaser prior to applying the coating and still bad results. I finally just had to do a super buff on the lens and let it go with no top coat.

I have had the best results with the UV coating on BMW's. Their lenses seem to absorb the coating better than any I've seen. Any thoughts on this problem?

I have done 100's of lens and have never seen the problem you have described.Remember ,my 1-1 mixture is not my formula but what many of the kits on the market have used for years with great results.I just try to keep from buying it at high repackaged prices.Here is a method that will not fail.Apply yellow-x (Dvelup)and scrub with a gray 3M pad and rinse ,, repeat.Sand with 5-600 grit until ALL of the old UV coating is removed.Continue sanding with 1000-1500 until completely sanded smooth and glossy.Apply a good grade fine (3M perfectit compound is good) to a buff pad and polish out the lens until nice and clear/shiney.Reclean with yellow-x ,rinse and wipe with alcohol to remove any residue.Mix top coat sealer(DVelup)1-1 and apply with a folded Scotch towel .The only way you would have the problem you described is a contaminated surface or using the wrong materials.If you are having a problem using any of the techniques here I would recommend the purchase of the Dvelup System as its a good way for beginners or old hands to get a high quality finished product.Its fool proof and works great.Just polishing a set of lens is just that .A polish job is just a band aid and the polycarbonate that is now exposed to the elements because you removed the UV coat will return to a very bad condition in just a short period of time.Hope this helps you get started in the right direction.The problem you had was not following the necessary steps for a proper job.

[t4k]

Thanks Ben for your words of wisdom. One point I forgot to mention in my previous post was that the lenses had been sprayed with a clear coat previously. I could tell they had been sprayed because of their appearance and the familiar smell of clear was present while I was sanding. Do you think this had an effect on the poor results I was experiencing?

[harrellbenjamin]

That's the contamination I was describing.The clear had sealed the lens and kept any sealer from binding with the lens.Thats the bubbling and poor finish you saw.If you find that you are redoing a lens that was clear coated you must remove the C/C.I would 1st. sand the lens aggressively with 220 then 400-600 and then 1200--polish- seal etc..You would have to cut /sand a lens more to get rid of the C/C layer as it is a lacquer based high solvent material that will penetrate the lens.Just a couple of extra steps but sometimes we have to go a little further to "UNDO "a bad job.Unlike a bad w/shield repair a bad headlight repair can be redone to a very satisfactory condition.It just takes a little extra labor.Thats why its important to have a good 3" electric or Air sander.It makes it so much easier and productive.

I must back up on some of the elation I had on the WD-40 sanding aid.It works great on some of the heavier material lens(older camry/Mustangs etc.) and seem to be fast.But I have now experienced several cases of it appearing to be absorbed to a minor part in the thinner /newer lens (Jeep Products and Nissan)that are much larger and thinner material then some of the older lens.It looks like the trend is for a thinner(cheaper) material lens on the more recent models.My feeling are now that if its a REtail Customer and they are paying my standard rate $79.90 I will play it safe and use the Dvelup type system as its a proven winner.For my w/sale dealer accounts that care about price 1st. I will continue to experiment with the WD-40 type system to see how it pans out.

[t4k]

Thank you very much for information Ben. You are a gentleman and a scholar.

[jac59]

This past thurday a guy came by and thought i was the same guy that worked on his headlights about 1 1/2 year ago but he saw me and then knew it was not me.
Well the coating that someone put on it faded and started peeling it was brown i mean looks like maple syurp.
i told him it was a mess and it would be better to replace them. I didnt want to do them and later turns out the same with the 1/1 mix cause its light brown color and sure think its the same that was on his lights.
Right now just and and buff with polish and spray plexus and tell them polish every 2 to 3 months and tell them the breakdown of uv coating on their headlights. Going to look for something more clear.

[GlassStarz]

If it peels they didnt clean thing well enough and who knows what was on the outside?