addicted to tint

11% interior reflectivity is virtually the same as unfilmed glass.  17% while not much, will have a bit more sheen.  Have samples of each put up side by side and view at night.

First replace your cutting strip.  Make sure you remove any adhesive left behind before putting new strip in.  Reset your settings.  18 is way too high on force.  Slow speed to 15, start with force of 10, reset with your blade barely exposed and test cut.  If you need to bump up force do only by 1 degree at a time.  After you are cutting well adjust speed up to 20 if you want a faster cut.

You may have already gauged your cut strip if you have the blade too far out of holder.  It barely needs to be exposed out of tip to cut window film.  

Adjust your blade positioning and start at force of 10, speed of 15.  Test cut and adjust force by increasing to 11, then 12 and so on (1 point increments) until cutting well.  If you can feel a groove in cutting strip with fingernails you may need to replace strip with new.

Global - Indian Made- Garware family coverage

F1 Classic - USA Made - Eastman Chemical covered

I know many don't care but - a difference.

Also, F1's lifetime no charge transferable warranty is a vehicle value enhancer that should be part of sellers vehicle description if selling vehicle.  Only warranty like it in industry.  F1 dealers never have issue with redoing cars when being warranty reimbursed.  Warranty reimbursement rate is generous.  Again, important fact.

You'd truly be an original if you go with Global on all of vehicle and F1 Classic on windshield.  Given a choice I'd say 90 percent of consumers or better would go entirely F1... 

Very cool you made it as far as you did with nearly 100 or so competitors.  That puts you in top 10%!

5 hours ago, DennisJR said:

.Brett

I learned a lot in last 6 month with Korean and Chinese made PPF. We used to install Suntek and never had a problem. Then KDX, STek and Rayno distributor contacted me. Tried their film, looked good at first glance (Hydrophobic, instant healing, all those amazing features). Then used more than 200 rolls of their film next couple month. Customers start coming back and asking for warranty after 3 month. Contacted distributor and China office from those brand. was told there is No warranty !!!  WTF !!!!! sales rep start blocking my phone call !!!!! ...... Eventually, I have to buy new US made film by myself and replace for my customer.....

That was a bloody lesson. And from now on, I will only use US made PPF and window films....... because other film are shit and business model is gross. 

Will swing by at SEMA this year and chat with you. 

Wow!  If that does not make you think twice about less expensive Asian products and how they'll stand behind them not sure what will...

Sh#t runs downhill. You buy either imported direct or reboxed ppf or window film and failure occurs - I'd rather be backed by a US manufacturer with finances and goal of long term brand name protection.  Your reboxer may suck it up, maybe..  Think differently?  This guy could be you...

On ‎5‎/‎7‎/‎2017 at 11:14 AM, liltintgoddess said:

......I wanna pull my hair out...just started back into the industry, got a great gig...but they use a plotter. To say the very least I'm not impressed, not one bit, not even having been out of the game for 10+ years. It cuts and we re-cut or spend more time (in essence $$$) fighting the patterns to install. However, reading up on this website leads me to believe it's a software problem maybe?? Any insight to ease the frustration is much appreciated! Peace✌?️

You are doing something wrong.

Plenty installers don't like to take things apart.  And are pretty darn good at installing without doing so.

Beautiful!

55 belair

Impressive accomplishment with your short time at this biz! Way to go - that's a job nobody is interested in doing.

I'd still go with the guy that showed up, seems residentially flat glass oriented with his suggestions, and is reasonably priced too. That's versus the over the phone, automotive oriented guy suggesting typically commercial films at a higher psf price cause he doesn't really want to leave the shop. That's my take, but what do I know other than I too, am a handsome man.

If you like the Panorama guy, ask him to show and give prices for their SB 20 and Tru Vue 15.   They are very similar to the Sun Tek choices and you'd have the full range from the guy who's shown you the best service and you seem to like.  If he's been Panorama for a good while I'd bet his installs are good.  Sun Tek's readily available to most any dealers, not so for a Panorama dealer.

Amending the previous post.

Grade change from C- to B+/A-. Wish I had given it another day, as replacement film arrived today.

My apologies, but as the person pushing changing offerings, you know what was running downhill....

We'll give it another try, as this film was indeed within spec.

Again apologies and thanks for the effort.

I hope this supersedes any negativity from prior post.

In business it's tough keeping up with everything, following up etc., so this is not as critical as it may come out. There are many on this forum that boast about the customer service from Express. It's like a google review or ebay feedback, mostly positive with a quick response of thanks for the business from the owner and that they strive for customer satisfaction. All good stuff.

So if you read through this thread you'll see we asked what to use in conjunction with the Classic Black 35, and was guided to the Classic Charcoal 50. That's what we ordered, on Dec.26 via online and paying shipping as it was under $500. No sample request etc, just pay to play. Well it arrived January 2. Ironically we had sent an email requesting a tracking number as it's either not on their email confirmation correspondence or if it's there, it's hard to find. An email response did come on January 2 giving a tracking number and saying it should arrive that day. It was the holidays so all in all no big deal. Still, rather slow and poor update process on the order so can't really go crazy about the customer service on our end, pretty average.

Nonetheless the film was now in to play with. Just to rehash a little - the sample book sample of Classic Charcoal with our Pocket Detective read 1% off (47%) from their posted spec of 48%. The roll itself read off (6.2%)or 41.8 with our Pocket Detective. Made a post about it here on the January 4th. Thought maybe I'd get a response here but did not, so phoned in on the 9th. Posted about that conversation too on the 9th.

I was not going to say much about Pasquale, but he himself sounded defensive and stumbling (listen to the recording) trying to tell me you can't use a Pocket Detective to read film out of the box and that you must use a manufacturer designed meter (that no dealers have) to measure film only. I'm glad he's recorded, highly trained and IWFA certified, as I am too since 2000. But, it's a poor argument. Dealers use their meters, regardless of brand, to double check their film readings off glass all the time. The main point was the sample book read as it should and the supposed same film in the box did not (6% difference) with the same meter. On newer car glass the film/glass reading is darker. You know the formula. The police will use what we have, not your film only manufacturer meter.

So there was a bit of a difference of opinion, but we did get a call the following day (10th) and it was agreed a call tag would be issued, which came on the 13th. It was later posted by Express that the film is within spec at 46 with the magical factory meter and was within specification. Again, a post to the world that Express, though free from fault, was going above and beyond to rectify the situation. I commented on a post on January 10th - thanks for the effort and complimented the film.

So here it is 10 full business days later since call tag, 13 days since last correspondence, a month since film ordered and no email, call, update etc. It's January so I'm sure too much business can't be to blame. I've read a lot of compliments on Express's customer service. It's all been pretty C- to me.

Some of us have to use strict, lighter VLT films. We mainly use LLumar ATC 50, LLumar CTX 50 and Sun Tek HP 50 for the light VLT's. When there's an issue we get a replacement next day, and Sun Tek has allowed us to keep the film reading too dark at no charge. No meter conversations, no send in a piece, etc. Just good communication and concern.

Sorry - telling it like we see it.

Thanks for the effort. The film handles well and has nice appearance.

So the VLT for this film, Classic Charcoal 50 is 48% off their online spec sheet as well as in the sample deck specification sheet, which would have worked.  Unfortunately right off the roll it's 41.8 with my meter.  So I called in and reported what our roll was metering, and their first response was what meter are you using?  When I said Pocket Detective I was told you can't use that meter?  I said my meter gauged the sample deck piece of Classic Charcoal 50% at 47%, but off the roll we bought it was 41.8%.  I was then told I could send in a piece to be metered at their warehouse.  I said all I'm looking for is maybe you could check to see if you have a lighter reading batch that may work for us?..?..? I did not have the lot number in front of me and they don't record lot numbers in their invoice records, so it will wait until tomorrow.

It's pretty common to have this type issue with many suppliers, especially with the lighter VLT's like 50%, I'd recommend looking for solutions out the gate rather than something to blame and inconvenient solutions.  I don't know, it was right at 5pm so maybe the guy was ready to get home.

It's all good, I can take it or leave it no matter the outcome.

 

I think the lightest is a 42%. But I wish they made a couple in lighter shades.

 

 

Hi Mpameno81,

 

The majority of our customers match it with the QDP50 (NR Classic Charcoal 1.2 50%).  There is not yet enough demand for the factory to do a 50% run.  The MOQ (Minimum Order Quantity) is enormous.

 

-Howard

 

Well, gave it a try.  The film was nice enough, installers thought it resembled Carbon without being told anything about it.  The film handled fine and looked nice.  But the 50% Classic Charcoal was actually a 41-42% film out of the box, which won't work for our purposes (needs to be a true 50%). 

For those that use CB, what would you recommend from another Express or Global line in 50% that may blend well enough to mix with a CB 35%? 

Is there a 50% in the CB series?

Go with the current version, CTXi.  It would be the newer CTXi versus the film you had, CTX, which was "bluer" version.  Interior reflectivity should be less than what you've experienced.

You'll be pleased with the preferred appearance, and you'll know what to expect from the install as you were content with previous install.  Not saying they don't do as good a job at the dealership, but at this point it is an unknown.  You can probably look at other "preloads" on the lot for install quality.  Many auto dealerships tint in house with on average at best installations.   

Hey People great site, have been a visitor for a while and have now decided to chime in. I have 2 stint stores in Chattanooga, Tn. and a third location under construction in our local dodge /chrysler dealership. I need to vent to some fellow tinters and get your opinion on an issue we have with Suntek Films. First let me say that this is not a knock against their films, their films are good films. The issue lies on how they do business, let me explain: We are a 3M dealer and use Suntek as our 2nd value priced line. We hooked up with Suntek 2 years ago and was told that even though they do not offer exclusive territories that if we did business with them that they would not sell to anyone else in our area. We agreed and starting advertising and selling Suntek. The average Suntek dealer does less than 10k a year in purchases, this number given to me by the presidentm of Suntek. Our purchases have exceeded these numbers and just in the past 3 months have purchased over 10k in film. so just to clarify we have purchased over 10k in film since July! Now for the problem, my next door neighbor is a car audio store and decided that they wanted to tint windows so who do they call.... Suntek. and Suntek sells to them. Of course im angry and give Suntek a call to find out what was the deal?... and their answer was that they told me that they would not pursue anybody in my area but since my neighbor called them then they thought that would be OK. I find this a little underhanded and deceitful, what do you guys/gals think? I talked to the president of the company and he said that since they have already sold to my neighbor that he could not in good concious cut them off, he felt that would be wrong! This forum talks highly of Suntek and to be honest that was one of the reasons I chose them, I just wanted to get a fellow tinter's thoughts and to let everyone know that maybe Suntek is NOT what it is craked up to be. The president is supposed to call me back later this week and tell me what he decided. I hope they make the right decision and will let everyone know what they decide. Sorry for the long post!!

You're a 3M dealer using Sun Tek for the price point. Why does Sun Tek owe you something you don't give them?

Thank you for the replys!

How long does the uv protection on these films usually last?

Some shops carry a uv meter to verify rejection. Your windshield already blocks 95% or so of uv a&b, so the film you got from Johnson will only improve that number. Your side windows are the ones that benefited the most. The film's uv rejection should last years, but again have a shop somewhere in your area verify every couple of years.

Reminds me of the questions you sometimes get - can you tint these eye glasses?, or, I have an old, plexiglass boat windshield, can you tint it?

The short answer is - no. Way to much trouble for multiple reasons. Although you may get different ideas. Dyeing with diluted dye in a tub would be an easy way to attempt your project.

It's funny to see how things change. Progressive minded shops realized this 10 years ago-yet were slammed as being "limited" in skill level. Now finding long term and brand new shops/installers that don't offer a plotter cut is becoming the exception.