mrsunshades

I'm sure you are aware of this problem - that Lexus and some other manufacturers decided to install this super sensitive coating to the inside of the glass, that cannot be razor scraped at all. I had one a couple years ago and I had no idea what I was getting into you, and figured it was a one-time deal where the manufacturers realized what a stupid idea it was, & wouldn't do it anymore. Well, a week ago I had a brand new all electric Subaru SUV. It had the exact same thing on the front 2 windows - IR or UV coating that cannot be touched ! Didn't know about it & gouged the coating with my razor blade ... SO ... Does anyone know or have access to some sort of a complete list of these vehicles? I was informed by my sales rep that anyone using the core software from Llumar gets these notes about potential problems with the software - I don't understand why all  Llumar dealers don't get the same updates. I was completely unaware of this and it's going to cost me quite a bit of money to fix it because even though I didn't do anything wrong, it did happen at my shop! 

Somtimes what it takes is figuring out a new way to do things - I was told by a doctor, for my knees & back, to stop kneeling on the back seat to do the rear glass. Well how am I supposed to do that?!? So what I do is go sideways - most rear seats fold down so you can put larger items in the trunk. So I sit down on that seat back and swing my legs into the trunk and I'm sitting down with the glass in front of me, instead of kneeling and having to crane my neck up. 

To do the install I sit down, backwards, on the seat (coming in from the passenger side) with the film draped "superman" style in my outstreached arms, and then just lean back and swing my arms into the car. 

Will post a video of this technique soon.

On 6/5/2022 at 3:16 PM, WHOADY said:

Just had this done a couple of days ago, and parked the car in the garage as soon as I got home to sit a few days while it cures. Set it and forget it so no chances of ruining the other freshly tinted windows down.😎 Anyway, my installer is closed today, and tomorrow, and I had a question. When I dropped my car off, I had a suction cup style phone mount(that I freaking love) installed on my non tinted windshield in the lower left corner right above my new inspection sticker which he was able to salvage💪🏻, and next to my steering wheel at about eye level. I forgot all about it until today because my installer pulled it off before he tinted my windshield, and threw it in my hatch area.
 

Since I have a lifetime warranty on the tint, I just wanted to make sure that I’m good to go, and continue using suction cup style mounts on my windshield even though it’s now tinted. From talking to other people I know who have put suction cup style mounts on their tint through the years including cameras, phones, and radar on both the windshield, and rear windows they say as long as I don’t place the suction cup on the edge of the tint where it ends I should be fine after it cures for a week from their experience, and what they’ve been told. What say you guys? 

My professional opinion (and I do tons of windshields at the shop; many of my customers have suction cup mounts,  security cameras, phone cradles etc) is give it about a week just to be sure & you can put whatever you want on the film - it becomes part of the glass.  Suction cups are not a problem. I have a big phone cradle attached to my windshield with air 80 and I use it all the time. Only time I saw a problem was a customer came back and swore he had waited a week but you could see where the suction cup had attached to the film and then the tint was off and I knew he is only waited less than a day. I went ahead and redid the windshield for him since it was an isolated case. Then he was well satisfied. Other than that you can put the oil change stickers, SunPasses, parking permit stickers, suction cups, whatever - back on the inside cuz all this is ceramic & the electronic signal will read any highway passes or car wash memberships.

On 6/4/2022 at 12:52 PM, MoeDelly said:

Update: the guy said he would gladly re-do it for me. We’ll see how it goes. Have an appt in a few weeks. 

Whether it's a restaurant, a plumbing service or a tint shop,  I am a big believer in giving the store owner a second chance - if they show a basic and sincere willingness to make it right when a customer isn't happy, that's all we are usually looking for. That's why when one of MY customers complains and comes back (a rare occasion but yes it does happen), I found that they don't necessarily want a perfect job, but just that I'm willing to take the time to make sure they're happy in the end . To me, that's a perfect job : when the customer is smiling and glad they came in. I don't sell window film or tint jobs; I sell comfort and satisfaction!

On 11/14/2012 at 7:19 PM, MikeMN said:

3M NV-15.

Before.

http://i1142.photobucket.com/albums/n614/Retnitorp/004-22.jpg

1st floor done.

http://i1142.photobucket.com/albums/n614/Retnitorp/014-11.jpg

http://i1142.photobucket.com/albums/n614/Retnitorp/009-16.jpg

2nd floor done.

http://i1142.photobucket.com/albums/n614/Retnitorp/015-11.jpg

Before.

http://i1142.photobucket.com/albums/n614/Retnitorp/001-28.jpg

After.

http://i1142.photobucket.com/albums/n614/Retnitorp/011-15.jpg

Sorry for being a noob but why can't I see most of the posted pictures on this website?

I appreciate the tip. Yeah, Llumar sold me a 60-in at the 36-in price because of an inventory problem so I just had that left over. That's a good idea though, appreciate it!

I have a brand new roll of Air 80 - 24" and it's a full roll. Still has the factory tape and it's in the bag. Make me an offer on this. I don't believe I can make use of it at my shop. I generally go with 36-in which covers most windshields.

That's 200 ft² of film. If you can use it make me an offer!

Best Regards

Stewart/ SunShades Glass Tinting

Alpharetta, GA. 678-463-2361 

On 2/3/2022 at 1:46 PM, Paul_TDI said:

Yep nail on the head! 😂 

 

Mrsunshades, exactly that, check out the first pics, the seals have a strip of metal running through them and this was cut through too. Only thin stuff so can't imagine too hard to cut through with a knife. 

Like I said: HACKER !  (and yes, in the PC world a "hacker" is defined as "an expert at programming and solving problems with a computer". BUT in any other field or occupation, a hacker is " a person or thing that hacks or cuts roughly" !!! HMM does this sound familiar ?!?!

On 1/27/2022 at 11:45 AM, Tintguy1980 said:

They don't want to look or feel ignorant, which is counterintuitive to achieving a point of 'Wow, thanks, I did not know that (aka light bulb moment)'.

It is amazing that many people just cannot bring themselves to say those simple works - "hey I didn't know that" or "that's very interesting, tell me more about it"!  I have a family member who's favorite saying is "Oh, I KNOW!"  You can be telling him about literally anything that you've experienced and he'll say "I know", instead of "Huh, that's great - tell me more". I could say something like "Did you know that New Guinea lizards eat only purple cactus seeds" and he would say  "Oh, I KNOW" !!!

On 2/2/2022 at 12:50 PM, Paul_TDI said:

Sorry my terminology probably isn't quite right. 

 

On my car the bottom seal to the window attaches to the rest of the window frame seal. 

 

In the pics you can see the metal centre of the seal where it would of been attached to the rest of the seal. He has cut the seal so it cam lift away, but now it doesn't sit correctly where it needs to be so isnt as flush as factory finish with unmolested seals. 

 

Due to this cut he also had to redo the tint originally as I now think the sharp bit of metal in the seal was rubbing on the film

OK - so you're saying that he cut through the rubber AND the metal of that seal ?!? How in the world would you do that, with a hacksaw?   If someone did that, they are truly a hack tinter ...  it's one thing to lightly trim the edge of a rubber seal (quarter windows usually) to get a nice fit for the film. This IS common practice and if it's done right it isn't even detectable or seen at all; you just see an awesome film installation that is clean and well fitted to the glass & rubber edges. BUT it is another thing entirely to hack through someone's rubber seal system to get it out of the car - totally unacceptable and un-necessary. Sure, tinters remove seals  all the time, and door panels get pulled; done right it's fine and nothing gets damaged or altered.

I did a job using the Llumar LS 65 several years ago,  and now some of the panes need to be replaced, and I can't find any.  Does anyone out there have a small amount that I could buy or get from you?

Just now, mrsunshades said:

 

 So yes you can simply wet the window, use a soft scrub pad perhaps,  and then squeegee, installing the film over the IR coating. Only problem with that is the film can never be removed without damaging the IR... that being said,  if one uses a quality product &  do it right the 1st time,  it should not be a problem and the customer will be happy. Just explain everything to them 1st.

On 5/7/2019 at 4:08 PM, Bham said:

I want to know if these window " can be tinted one time "  using just install soap and a yellow turbo.  ??    

 

Has anyone tinted these successfully without all the scraping of the coating and crap ??   

 

Is there any damage or change in the coating after you install film ?  

 

These are serious questions and inquiring minds NEED to know      

OK - My customer JUST left my shop with his NX 300 ...TOTALLY satisfied, AND after I scratched the SH*T out of his driver's window!!!

So, I never got the tech bulletin / warning from Eastman, and I always get those - they send them out on any bad situation that would arise from installing film on new cars, as they become aware. So like I said, the first pass of the razor on the driver's side dug right into that IR coating, and it wasn't pretty. So I read about the posibilty of removing all the coating by dry scraping, and it actually works - you can, with new SS blades (I used 6"triumph as well as regular 1" SS blades), remove the coating.  I then went over the whole glass with #000 steel wool, squeegeed and installed my piece. Voila - no bubbles, no troubles!!!  

FYI: The only glass that has the IR is the driver's and passenger's front, but not the small triangle one on the fronts.

You can actually see the IR; it starts about 1/2 inch from the top of the glass (roll it down half way and look from an angle - you can clearly see the edge of the coating.

I also heard that other Lexus models have this, but am not sure yet; will post after clarifying that. 

The image here is when it first happened, after my first few passes - I should have taken an after pic, but got too excited that I was going to solve the problem and not have to stroke a check for hundreds to have the glass replaced!

Yes,  I did feel like I was getting customer-no-service with ST. To be told that doing something  that I've done for the last 25 years (like  reverse-rolling film) won't work with their film is hard to accept, and IMHO should be stated on the box or maybe a note inside with the film. I am

supposed to just know this somehow ... 

Anyhow, I do appreciate your advice : to reflect on "what did I learn from this" ... as with any bad experience or tough situation in life, if I just complain and don't learn something - about myself, a product, a technique, etc then it was truly a wasted moment. Thanks for your replies - consider me sucking it up, and moving on !!! 

Cheers!

4 hours ago, smartie2shoes said:

 

I recently ran into a serious issue with SunTek film while doing an install on a commercial building. 

I was filming large panes (roughly 4' x 6'), using their SDS20. I was working film by myself, and of course using the reverse roll method, which is something that any seasoned tinter knows well, but I will describe here, just so there's no misunderstanding about what I did with the film :

So, you pull out enough film for the window,  cut it off, and then roll it up in a tight tube. The liner is on the outside of the roll in the box,  but when you pull it out and roll it up, the liner is to the inside of your tightly rolled up tube. Then you simply wet the film that will be at the top, peel back the liner, letting it stick to the back of the film, and drop the roll, holding onto the corners. So the film unrolls, peeling the liner off and leaving it on the back of the film to be peeled away and trashed. Does this sound familiar? Of course it does, because that's how it's DONE! So WHY am I going on about this?  

Well, go back to the job I mentioned: I started noticing long horizontal lines  in the film once I had it installed. It turned out to be what's known as "tunneling", where the liner comes off the film, and forms long fingers when it's rolled tightly. And you can read all about it on the Eastman document site where it's clearly stated not to STORE film for long times rolled up like this. But that's not the case here - I was merely pre-cutting the film and rolling it up to be installed the very next morning.  
So I called SunTek, and they told me that I can't do that, and using the reverse roll method will cause this tunnelling issue, and that all of their installers know this already. 

They also told me that some installers who use the reverse roll method special order their film so that it is rolled up the other way on the core, with the liner on the inside. 

1st of all: are there any SunTek dealers out there that have heard of this?  

I asked them if they had installers who do the reverse roll method with the liner on the outside of their tube, and she said yes, everyone is different and some like it one way, and others the other way.  Because that makes no sense - it doesn't work! I actually tried it (pulling the film out of the box, rolling it up in the same direction it came off the core, with the line to the outside) IT DOESN'T WORK THAT WAY!!!

So SunTek won't pay to have those panes re-done, because they said I was doing something they don't recommend, I should have know this!

Any feedback?

I recently completed a 5000 sq ft job, and did a fairly good job ordering the right amount of the different widths to complete - I didn't want to over-order and end up with lots of film left over. So I got what I figured would get me through most of the way, and then could order more at the end. I had to order enough, at the very end, to cut out THREE windows! (job had close to 400) So that all worked out well, but I was thinking how nice it would be to have a program, or app or whatever, which could calculate how much to order. With all the different heights, widths, # of panes etc, it can be very hard to know on a really big job, you know? So any thoughts?

On 6/25/2003 at 9:15 PM, TintDude said:

Sorry - for some reason I can't see the jpeg could you post it another way so it will show up on my phone

On 6/28/2003 at 4:02 PM, Guest FastBackJack said:

Yeah its funny how every one stares at them. Some times people even get kinda scared when you walk in with it. Then you have the guys that say "hey alright you brought some Coke, her her her!" My tank is a 5 gal. Firestone Challenger VI. I love it, and its light as hell compared to the Cornelius type.

I like to walk into an office area, hold that thing High over my head and say "alright - keg party!"...

pretty much everybody knows these are used for Homebrew 

Hi, I'm needing a small amount of the P+ 35% - does anyone have some to sell, trade, etc?

dean gave me all of his stuff. And it's a chit load!!!!! Thanks Dean!! So you beeches can kiss up to me now. hahahaha

Alright, and I realize this is YEARS later, but do you have any of the P+35 left to sell? I am in the ATL area and used P+ for years, and loved it. Now it is discontinued, but I still have the occasional customer needing to replace one window etc. I have a good customer that had one side peel up and I need to take care of him asap.

Please respond;

Best Regards,

Stewart McCallum

SunShades Glass Tinting

5280 Highway 9

Alpharetta, GA

770 521 0027