New tint yesterday, one window has a bunch of tiny "bubbles"

August 9, 2013

Hello. This past week I had two cars tinted at the same shop, 20% tint all around with nothing on the windshield.

On the second car which was done yesterday morning, today I notice that on the driver's side rear window there are a bunch of teeny-tiny bubbles with what looks to be a "spec" in them. But, it might not be a spec....it COULD be water. I can feel these bubbles on the inside of the window with my finger nail. If I push on them or "squeegee" them with the tip of my finger nail, the spec seems to almost disappear but the bubble remains.

I honestly swear that they weren't there yesterday. I'm pretty observant and a bit picky and absolutely went over all of the windows with a "fine tooth comb" before leaving the shop. But, today I notice them. There are plenty of dots in this one window and I'm definitely sure I would have noticed them yesterday.

I know it's just about 24 hours post-tint completion and I will wait at least a week before bringing it back to the shop - but, there are absolutely no tiny bubbles in the tint of the other car I had tinted earlier in the week.

I'm including a picture. It's not that great, but if you look closely you can see the bubbles on the outside of the window.

I know what a water bubble looks like, usually it's a larger bubble that will make your vision a bit "distorted" if you look through it. I can't necessarily say that these are the same. These also look different from the outside.

PS - As a favor to the tint guys, I always remove the third-brake light in the rear window and clean the glass myself the night before taking the cars in. Unfortunately I used a cheap paper towel that left some lint on the windows, but I wiped this off with a microfiber cloth to the best of my ability. This was the same on both vehicles. I also assume that they cleaned the glass once or twice more before applying the tint themselves.

And like I said, on no other windows or the other car are any of these dots present either....so I doubt my window cleaning methods or cheap paper towels are to blame.

As they say, no tint job is 100% perfect. I fully understand that, but these dots stick out because of how many there are. If there were just one or a couple, or a small scratch or something from a dull squeegee I could live with that. So perhaps I am not as much of a perfectionist as I think I am, but I definitely went over everything with a fine tooth comb before I left the shop.

http://i20.photobuck...08-09114629.jpg

kats2112 · August 9, 2013

One of 2 things. Dirt contaminated that one during install. Maybe a gust of breeze blew in at a bad time.

or

The glass has "pits". These could have been there all along or could be the result of wind damage.

Wind damage sounds crazy, I know, but sometimes wind strong enough to do that damage can happen

to just one door opened at just the right time. Again, that would have happened long before it came to the tint shop.

These pits are fairly common and the installer should remember it, because they basically destroy a razor blade

when prepping for film install. So yes, go back and inquire. Don't offer the suggestion of pits because that gives

an immediate excuse to blame it on that. Dirt is the most likely suspect. It happens to all of us from time to time.

You didn't notice it at first because they were surrounded by water. As the water dries from around the spec, air fills

that void, making it more noticeable the next day.

Oh, and we all appreciate your attempts to make it easier on the installer by removing brake light and cleaning before bringing it in. No effect on outcome because we clean thoroughly as part of the process, but appreciated none the less.

TTS · August 9, 2013

Looks like something is going on in that window... Take is back and ask the installer about it.... it may be dirt carried in by a breeze.... a bad section of film.. or even grinder slag from previous body work... hard to tell..

Most places will be honest with you and if it looks fixable and you are nice about it they will make it right... :thumb

August 10, 2013

I don't think there are any pits. Car has less than 50,000 miles on it, garage kept every night since new. No accidents or bumps in the glass....the glass on this car is the smoothest and most "like new" of my cars.

The other car came out immaculate. Sure, every once and awhile there is a fuzz or something.....everyone elses tint is just about the same way when I look closely.

But this car literally has the rear two windows "peppered". Not sure if you could tell in the pic or not.

I can also tell you that I am 99% sure that a different guy tinted this car. My other car that I brought in on Tuesday, when I was dropped back off there were two guys working on it. This time, it looked like one guy was working on it.

And this car was done sooner than the other car. And when I dropped it off when they first opened, there was another guy there with a car that needed one window redone. So they did his window first and then my car in less time than it took them to tint my other car straight from the beginning. The funny thing is, the second time they had the garage door shut. The first day the garage door was wide open. So, if anything, there should have been more airborne contaminates in the windows of the first car....but there weren't.

There are other air bubbles and stuff that I am noticing as well. This guy wasn't as good.

I left it out all day in the sun today. I didn't do that yesterday. When I got back from the tint shop I immediately put it in the garage and took my other car to work.

Would not leaving it in the sun on the first day right after the tint job make any sort of difference?

PS - The other car, the only blemish I see is a scratch on the tint that I can feel with my fingernail one one of the small "triangle" windows in the rear doors. I don't think this is a big enough issue to take it back for, that car was just about perfect minus a few dots of fuzz......but barely any at all to be honest.

The second car, he scratched the rear window on the outside with the razor blade when cutting out the tint, there is a scratch in the tint on the driver's side front window that I can feel with my fingernail, various other air bubbles randomly in other windows, and of course, the two rear door windows "peppered" with what appears to be fuzz. You can see a tiny line inside of the teeny-tiny bubbles if you look close. Looks like thread almost. Or, it could not be thread, it could just be water making it appear to be warped or something.

I'm not really sure. Either way, I called them and they have an appointment for me Tuesday morning when they open.

In the first car I took in, the third brake light is NOT removable from the rear deck panel! So I had to remove a bunch of interior D-pillar trim and the small seat cushions on either side of the 60/40 fold just to be able to remove the entire deck cover with the third brake light attached.

On the second car, luckily the third brake light removed separately from the rear deck cover.

RockyDaz · August 10, 2013

Why do people these days hit up an Internet forum first up as soon as they have a problem?

What the hell can we do about it?

Go back to the business , explain your issues, and give them a chance to make right.

This always used to be the way things were done.

It's a brave new world.....not sure if I like it.

August 10, 2013

I was asking the opinion of others.

If at all possible I'd rather not go back. I spent 6 hours this week waiting for tint jobs to be complete before I went into my own work afterwards. Truthfully, The last thing I wanted to do was wait some more, especially since next week I may be starting a second job in the morning before my evening job.

Which is why I posted here first. And besides, they couldn't get me in until Tuesday. Plenty of time to think about it. My mind is like that...anything that is incomplete will always be on my mind until its finished.

Is that OCD?

RockyDaz · August 10, 2013

Yes, it probably is OCD.

I bought new security cams for my business this week at probably 10 times what you paid for your tint, wasn't happy with installation so called security company and worked it out.

Didn't even think about trolling the Internet for a security cam forum.

Thankfully at least you didn't bash their name around as many do straight away.

Sorry, but I have a business owners perspective, I try my best all the time as I appreciate repeat business but I would hope my customers come straight back to resolve any issues before resorting to Internet forums and the like.

August 10, 2013

I'm not going to post the business and badmouth them when the issue is still unresolved.

However, this forum is....."Tint Dude"

It would seem logical to ask a question about a tint job on this forum.....what's the frickin big issue with what I questioned?

if you don't like this thread, don't reply. It's Friday. Be happy.

yz101 · August 10, 2013

There is something going on there for sure. Take it back and ask if it can be fixed. If it is a responsible shop, they will take care of it.

August 10, 2013

I don't think the rear window will have to be redone as it's pretty good. Just a few water bubbles that need to go away yet. I don't think there are any air bubbles.

But all of the doors may need to be redone. I'm not happy - I hear that re-tints sometimes aren't as good as the first time due to the adhesive involved. The car was never tinted before so the first time should have been the best shot to do it right

It seems like after sitting out in the sun today, blemishes are popping up all over the place.