civicrice

idk bout you guys but the slight waviness of the film on the edge is driving me nuts. 

yes its standard practice. 

4 hours ago, WearTheFoxHat said:

First use google fu and see if it is something you feel comfortable with...... Second ..... Maybe...pay a pro cause you've never done it?? .  For what to use .... check with your manufacturer... If they don't have a recommendation ..remember its only to stop it from lifting.. trim film at around a 1/16th inch from the frames to ensure the film is not blocking access for the caulk to bond to film and frame. I'd go with clear.

agree. we are not contractors. a few local companies around my area are crazy busy and they  hire caulkers for jobs that require it.  but it doesn't mean you shouldn't try it. theres an art to everything. 

On 1/14/2022 at 7:33 AM, Dano said:

I like a keg for full hoods, flat glass and spraying dust out of the air. Also good for mobile work where the water/air quality is questionable.

 

Mine sit most of the time as well, but I wouldn't be without 'em. I usually replace the slinky hose with 30' of food grade bar service line and an external filter to monitor water quality.

food grade hose better than the regular ones? cool idea with the external filter but I use distilled water will there still be a need for a filter. 

yeah the kegs turned out to be $250 end tables for tools at the shop. 

do you reverse roll?

On 12/1/2021 at 5:21 PM, LuxTint said:

Hi,

 

New member here, just starting out and we went and bought an older ce5000-120 plotter from a really nice lady but it’s not really working?

 

at first we thought we were doing something wrong while setting it up but it doesn’t even do a proper test. It makes tiny 1/4” cuts and the cutter is just going up and down and “poking” at the film, and then it’s cutting a large 4”x6” shape instead of a little triangle inside a square…

 

extremely confused and frustrated… machine doesn’t seem to be broken but we don’t know anything about plotters…

 

Appreciate any help you can provide!

 

Thanks!

Its all part of the game. I got a brand new jaguar V 72" that is stopping half way through the cutting. haven't had time dink with it but its very frustrating. working fine one day and not the next. 

when i started 11 years ago my work was dusty AF and no one said anything lol.  To this day I can think of only 2 customers that have brought back their vehicles to have them looked at. one of them spent about 2 minutes trying to find the specs. his nose was about an inch from the glass. in the end he was only concerned about the little defect getting bigger over time. I told him it will stay that way. he still brings me all his new vehicles and definitely keeps me on my A game. A quick tip is to mist the air before peeling the liner they do come out flawless most of the time. I always go over all the windows with tinters eyes and rub out dots here and there. the bottom loader tool from xpel has been a game changer for producing high quality installs without removing panels. 

5 hours ago, Tint Slayer said:

The Auto NR? I don't see green in it at all. My experience shrinking is the opposite. Which version you using?

NR Pro series

I used the non ceramic version and it sucks. the color is too green for my taste and the film is very heat sensitive. curls and burns where other films just lay and shrink. 

46 minutes ago, TITAN500 said:

I have never done a tractor nor have I ever wanted to for the reason you gave.

however here is a partial list of cars I burned many feet of film and much time  at my expense until I was "the man"

porsche 928     my ego wouldnt let me walk away 3 times on 3 928s

94 saturn          waste of film see above

c6                     a fellow tintdude named blade shared the secret of the c6 its on here somewhere I think

94 cutlass         another waste of film

new beetle       this forum helped me save much time and film 

 

the only one that was worth the time and expense for me was the beetle since I ended up tinting quite a few of them 

 

 

 

bro you one pieced a cutlass? .....savage. 

I have done a back window on an el camino 7 times before it finally laid. it was the only thing on the schedule though.  had an r/r on 3000gt last week that took 2 attempts for the back window. I would have probably given it two more attempts. Dano is right about scheduling on an off day. the added stress doesn't help the cause. 

custy's that see me tint already say i make it look easy.... they going to loose their sh!t when i master this technique. 

looks like old glue from the previous dozen attempts. 

that looks clean cut and damn good for that truck. me personally i would have ran a line line of black paint with a paint marker around those borders before applying the film to avoid that slither of a light gap. 

YESSSSS! 

water wick for the bottom? 

try using a steamer?

easy shrink

yeah some films have more than others. i had a customer that had xpel on his 21 ridgeline and had the same issue. I installed a different film and it went away. you only notice it on the windshield due to the angle you are looking at it at. 

any newer dodge set of  fronts with the xpel ez tint loader tool lol 

you are looking at the grain of the film. 

don't get discouraged. avery is allergic to heat. I can never do a charger BG without burning it. The craftsman heat gun i normally use does get hotter than most guns though. anyway leave all the excess film and do the h pattern. use baby powder for maximum float on the BG (normally ppl use dryer sheets or bar soap). hold and stretch the end starting in the center and start shrking in large regions with long horzontal passes where ever you are heating the other hand should be pulling on the region. the film will lay do that for top and bottom and cut and wet check like normal. good luck!

some shops take up to a week and that is with a full man crew

On 3/22/2021 at 11:16 AM, Uglyboy said:

I have the exact same issue! I can't find anything about it online. I can only find information about tint being 'blurry' the first two weeks of installation but i don't think they're talking about this and have never had this before

 

bar keepers friend a little water and microfiber. rubs them right out.