Questions About Ceramic Films Answered

[windowtintee]

it was used in a manny's advertising but I cant remember witch one ...

Solar Gard a lonnnnng time ago. Someone posted a pic of the brochure on this site a couple years back

[V4V]

Terrific! (Thanks!) Here is MA rebate incentives;but you probably already checked them out.

http://www.dsireusa.org/incentives/index.cfm?getRE=1?re=undefined&ee=1&spv=0&st=0&srp=1&state=MA

[EWF]

Of the three main materials, two need dyes in order to filter visible light below 70%

In order for other TiN products to reduce their reflectivity, they need to work around the patents by adding dyes into their construction.

Well, I have been waiting for someone to pick up on this, but nobody has addressed it.

There are in fact several materials and methods for reducing the VLT without the use of dye.

-Howard

[vquestfilms.com]

Of the three main materials, two need dyes in order to filter visible light below 70%

In order for other TiN products to reduce their reflectivity, they need to work around the patents by adding dyes into their construction.

Well, I have been waiting for someone to pick up on this, but nobody has addressed it.

There are in fact several materials and methods for reducing the VLT without the use of dye.

-Howard

Yes, and some of those "methods" are patented.

[EWF]

The ones I am referring to are not protected by any patents.

Edit - Content

[vquestfilms.com]

Of the three main materials, two need dyes in order to filter visible light below 70%

In order for other TiN products to reduce their reflectivity, they need to work around the patents by adding dyes into their construction.

Well, I have been waiting for someone to pick up on this, but nobody has addressed it.

There are in fact several materials and methods for reducing the VLT without the use of dye.

-Howard

Extruded TiN ceramic for instance... TiN particles mixed in with PET chips. Is it dye or pigment free? If so, then how do they make the film darker to regulate VLT?

[EWF]

Even starting with TiN in PET, you can still make it darker without dye or pigment or violating any patents. There are several options. I will let this ride for a bit to see if anyone else cares to weigh in.

-Howard

[F1windowtinting]

I noticed no SPFilms or EastmanPFfilms (Vista) products used in the comparison. Do they not classify as a "ceramic?"

[vquestfilms.com]

I noticed no SPFilms or EastmanPFfilms (Vista) products used in the comparison. Do they not classify as a "ceramic?"

Not publically that I know of. Have you seen anything?

[EWF]

Nobody took a crack at this so far, so here goes.

First, I want to reiterate something Rob said which is that having a dyed layer in any flat glass film does represent a point of vulnerability. I agree. Rob quotes a 2% per year attrition rate. I feel that is probably high if you are working with a quality dyed film (Llumar, Global), but I will readily accept Rob’s 2% for the sake of this discussion. Keep in mind that if you are using just a small amount of dye, which accounts for perhaps only 10-15% of the VLT reduction, then you will lose just 2% of 10-15%, not 2% of your aggregate total. In that case, the fading will be nominal at best.

One benefit of dye is that it is relatively inexpensive, but one additional drawback of dye which was not mentioned is that it works for the most part by absorbing energy. This is true to a degree for the Ceramics as well, but in general it is better to reflect than to absorb (a point which V-Kool emphasizes).

So how do you reduce the VLT below 70% without dye? Here is how:

Dye-in-PET was mentioned here, so let’s start with that. The TiN (which is available in a liquid suspension) can also be added to the laminating adhesive. Many of the ceramics on the market today are 2.0 Mil products, so it is possible to make them as 3-Ply constructions. As such, you can imbed the liquid TiN coating in the laminating adhesive twice and achieve VLTs in the mid-high 50s or low 60s. Of course, neither of these methods is as precise or elegant as sputtering (chalk one up for Huper) but it does get the job done for less money.

You can go darker still…..

The Ceramics probably represent the ultimate in durability (specifically the resistance to oxidation). But Ceramics are not the only very stable materials available. VLT may be reduced by adding metal (think V-Kool). As Huper points out on their website and in their literature, metal films introduce the vulnerability of oxidation and/or corrosion. While this is mostly true, there are exceptions. One such exception would be Aluminum Oxide, which is nearly as stable as TiN at normal atmospheric temperatures and pressures. Including a thin layer of Aluminum Oxide will do a nice job of reducing VLT without dye. (Anyone remember Global’s ALOX?)

There are other methods, but I have confined my post to those I have experience with.

-Howard