Sunbreakers

I would be careful about taking everything Ralph does and says to heart...He is what my grandmother would have called a "snake oil salesman." You would do much better if you stick to all of the fine folks here on this site. As a collective we have the experience and knowledge to help you, and we don't have to make a snappy video to do it. 

You can always snap them on your peel board. One thing that helps fingering  is bumping the edges with a paper towel. They never drain the slip solution well. 

Llumar will pull dealer rights to anyone they catch selling film out the back door. Regardless you cannot warranty it so it would make no sense to go that route. If everyone else is carrying it why would you want to join them? Global, Solar FX, Express all could get you a great film and you would be different and stand out. You can also set different prices....Same film=same selection=same price and you ultimately lose at that game if anyone low balls the rest of you. I would not want the same thing everyone else has. In our area everyone knows Llumar as they actually market and advertise, but Global is pretty solid as well. All depends on your area and market. 
 

I used to ONLY carry the ATR line and nothing else. Had the rep admit that there was very little efficiency difference between the two(ATR & CTX). The only thing to keep in mind is ATR is a hybrid metalized film and therefore can and will at times interfere with electronics such as key fobs/keyless entry etc..Doesn't always happen and two of the same model cars may have different results but I have had it happen. I stopped carrying it and only now have ATC and CTX as the ATR didn't really have a fit in the lineup and also, as much as I love Llumar, in the past 8 years the only warranty claims I have had for any sort of issue has been with the ATR. Again, as others have stated, the two are very close. The new CTX 25 is beautiful and extremely poplular. It is basically the ATR  20 in ceramic form. 
Hope this helps. 
 

Why as a new person would you automatically rule out arguably one of the best cleanest techniques there is? Learning to bottom load which mostly involves removing a seal or panel could eliminate the majority of all those problems you're having. 

It did to me and honestly real world with it compared to ctx I don't think you'll notice a heat difference. Crystalline yes you would but the numbers on ctx are just so low I wouldn't spend the extra. Maybe they could show you a couple samples so you can see for yourself what would look best.

Take this for what it is. We have a US Cutter 50" Laserpoint II plotter that brand new costs maybe $800. When going from hand cutting to plotting i already owned this plotter for vinyl sign purposes as a side gig. So far it has been cutting out about 60 cars a month (give or take)  for over a year. Is it as awesome as a Roland or GCC, probably not. I will say that even though the cost of the machine was cheap, it has done a fantastic job cutting tint. Being that it is a budget plotter, it has some quirks every now and then but im ok with that. For as cheap as it was new and the amount of use i have gotten out of it i have no problem recommending this plotter to people looking to make that jump without wanting to spend thousands. Buy some roland blades, replace the cutting strip every so often, and play with the speed and pressure settings and it will cut everything you want. Hope this was somewhat helpful. 

@quality tintz in the past I have always recommended signwarehouse dot com and they have done well. The best deal you can find for mainstream printer is a vinyl express Q series...usually a Q42 or Q64. They are a generic Graphtec and usually cheaper. However, one of the other guys here tried to buy one last month or so and they had gone way up and were really not an advantage price wise over the graphtec fc8600. The girl I have always used cited the China tariffs as the reason they had gone up but Graphtec is a Japanese company so go figure. I tried the cheaper stepper stepper motor plotters made in china that some folks had recommended and it was a nightmare...didn't work, force was uneven, cuts were horrible and blades went dull like every day or week. My Vinyl express I bought three years ago I am still using original blade..not sure how as it has cut a ton of film. 
Hope some of this helps. 
 

He said "tints". 

Llumar will pull dealer rights to anyone they catch selling film out the back door. Regardless you cannot warranty it so it would make no sense to go that route. If everyone else is carrying it why would you want to join them? Global, Solar FX, Express all could get you a great film and you would be different and stand out. You can also set different prices....Same film=same selection=same price and you ultimately lose at that game if anyone low balls the rest of you. I would not want the same thing everyone else has. In our area everyone knows Llumar as they actually market and advertise, but Global is pretty solid as well. All depends on your area and market. 
 

@Tint Slayer to be fair I have looked up a few cars here and there but never tried it. I looked into it and felt like I was buying a new car.. the price they tell you about is ok, then they start "adding" to it. If you are a dealer or not, if you want ppf or not. Per cut basis or monthly....seems pretty pricey when it is all said and done and the guy really wanted me to pick up their ppf. If I did a lot more of that then I could see how it would be an obvious transition, but we just don´t have enough business to justify xpel for ppf.
 

Oh and software all has it's good and bad points. Film design is always oversized on windshields and sometimes rear windows but better than Tinttek. Precision Cut from Llumar is better sometimes than Film Design but only for dealers and the folks you deal with are often bothered and rude. You complain and they are nice to you once...then back to the same old game. 

@jsylvaInteresting to see that you got a budget machine to work out with tint...I respect that. I notice on US Cutter website they have the LP III now. Would you recommend a seasoned veteran try one of those? I need to put plotters in at least two dealerships and would love to save $3k on each. Do you cut ppf with it ever?

He said "tints". 

He said "tints". 

That is a great idea...I used a long file once and really liked it just always stuck with the smaller files. I will have to go back to that. Thanks for the tip. 
 

He said "tints". 

He said "tints". 

Also when you file and are going towards the top of the window with the file try to resist the temptation to go sideways at the same time...just straight up..I find if I try to file up and sideways a little that can cause you to take chunks out of the film. 

He said "tints". 

I want to thank all of you good folks in this forum for the tips and suggestions...I had my first one of these to do today. I was ready and willing to completely disassemble the rear of the car to make this one a success. A good friend of mine sent me a 17 minute long video of the disassembly process...I watched it and then another video comes up with a guy from Detroit who mentions he is going to give it a try without disassembly. His cutting software suggests that he plot the window, place it on the car and shrink everything from the wiper and above at the top of the window, then slide it up and shrink the bottom. Place it on the inside and you are good to go...well the first attempt didn't work well for him so he tried again this time not peeling the film and shrinking the bottom on the inside of the window first...Here is the link to that video: 
 
I tried this method and worked like a charm the first time...no waste, no disassembly, no headaches. Done in about 30 min. Some of you here mentioned the same approach or some form of it...I am grateful for your help as always. 
 

Actually the old ones are meant to have the gaskets un-clipped from the panels first. You put the gasket on and then snap the door panel into them. 
 

I bought a sheet of the lexan or acrylic that Homedepot sells for $100. I find the thin plex will shatter or crack...especially if you score it several hundred times with a knife. lol!! the piece I bought is holding up after over a year. Problem with cutting on it is you are cutting INTO it so you don't have the movement or flexibility you normally would if on glass. Not sure how else to explain it. Hope this helps. 
 

I only peel off the vehicle as last resort on a mobile job and never a large window like a windshield or rear glass. It always is a better, cleaner job off a board regardless of how clean the vehicle is I think. 

All, I wouldn't worry too much about him sending in the patterns. About a month ago I sent in the 2018 Nissan Titan Windshield with the sensor in it, 2019 Chevy Silverado windshield, and a "repair" pattern for the current Ram 1500 windshield that has never ever fit and is like 2" too long on the sides from the middle to the top corners .....sent that to Terrance at FVD. Called him now twice.. and no update to the patterns database....for any of them. Guy acts like I have caught him in the middle of watching a football game every time I call.   Esoterik,  it will be forever before it makes it out if at all and probably be past the time it will really serve you. Just sayin.