jteran5

Side-by-side comparisons of what I had before

Pinnacle 35 in the front, 05 in the back:

Pinnacle 35 in front, Huper Ceramic 05 in the rear:

Front windows: Spectra Photosync 35, Rear Windows: Spectra Photosync 35 w/ FormulaOne Classic 05 layer

Some shots in the sun. The pic makes the windshield look much more blue than it really is

Just an update to what I did to replace the Huper:

Windshield: Spectra Photosync 55
Front windows: Spectra Photosync 35
Rear Windows: Spectra Photosync 35 w/ FormulaOne Classic 05 layer
Rear Windshield: Spectra Photosync 35 with FormulaOne Pinnacle 15 layer

Just an update. The installer of the Huper Optik does not want to give me a refund and is telling me to come back in and redo it or he will mail me a piece of the film so I can have someone else try it. He says that he has 35 years experience in the tinting business and can do it right. He does not want to give me a refund because he had to order the roll which was a little more than $1,000 and he spent 4 hours on my car. So now I'm out $450 and this Saturday, the fruits of this amount will literally be in the garbage.

The shop I normally go to that has both Formula One and Pinnacle is charging me about $50 more than the Huper install to re-do all my rears with Photosync and a second layer of Formula One Classic. He is also not charging me to remove the film. He is a great guy and I have brought a few cars to him so he is really trying to help me out and give me a deal.

The best thing to do is call the shop and explain your concerns to them. Then between the two of you try and reach the best outcome. Your vehicle though is exactly why no one wants to install that film.

I have only seen one other reference of this film in a youtube video. It was on a G-Wagon I think and it looked like black chrome. I thought that's what I was getting into. Almost like a very shiny black/chrome appearance. Did not expect reflective silver =(. Might be a very expensive lesson I had to learn. I am not out to waste anyone's time and actually feel a little hesitant to even ask for my money back.. I am not the kind of person to be aggressive and demand things. The installer had to order the roll especially for me since it is not a line he normally carries. But at the same time, I blew a lot of money for something that will literally be thrown away after one month of use. I am hoping that we can come to an arrangement.

The Huper on the rear was the real killer and the most expensive. I am wondering if I can contact the installer for a refund. Either full or partial. 1) the rear windshield has VERY bad ghosting, 2) there are some spots on the side windows where there looks like there are some trapped hairs or fibers. 3) I really don't like the look. #3 probable doesn't warrant a refund.

To you installers, if I were to come to you asking for a refund for this, would you comply? Or should I just eat the money spent? If you would refund, do I need to bring the car back for you to remove the tint or will pictures suffice? I want to contact the Huper installer directly and see what he says but he is currently on vacation this week. The person that will re-do my tint, will remove the Huper at no charge so I don't know if I should make the two hour drive just to get the Huper removed at the original install location. My appt to redo the back is on 9/17. So I still have some time to decide.

 

The reflectiveness of the huper doesn't show through the llumar?

 

Slightly, we used 50% of each to keep the reflectivity as low as possible, but getting in the 24-30% range.  It is much less than normal, but still can see it.  One of the main reasons why we were not happy with being a Huper dealer.  The ghost marks are horrible, they do not know how to properly shrink it.

 

I figured that if used as a second layer, I should be good. I'll just forget the Huper all together. The place I go to has Photosync and Formula One readily in stock. Tinter suggested the Classic line of Formula One should be good enough to get it darker. I've only ever used Pinnacle as it is a high TSER ceramic tint and know that optically, they are very clear. Never had any issues with them before. Would the basic, Classic line, be just as clear? No distortions or the like? It is basically like the Pinnacle without the higher solar rejection properties, correct? Probably over thinking it. Dropped so much money and hoping this will be the last time. I am hoping that this will get me a nice, black look in the back.

On a side note, when I do get the Huper Ceramic removed, I will first ask the tinter to compare the heat rejection of the Photosync against the Huper. Photosync claims 75% TSER (before the "transition") so it should be on par with the Ceramic 05 which also claims 75% TSER. I know that the Photosync does not have long-term results as of yet, but if the transition gets "stuck" at the darker stage, it should be 29% light transmission and 79% TSER, which is fine with me.

Added some photos to original post. Trying to go for the look again I had with the Pinnacle. From people's feedback, a simple dyed film as a second layer would give me the dark look I'm going for?

The reflectiveness of the huper doesn't show through the llumar?

I definitely wouldn't do a layer of the photo then of the huper. Just do the photo then a layer of dyed on top of it. No real reason to waste the money on the extra imo.

Simple...just do Photosync all the way with a double layer on the rear with 35. It will be roughly around 10% when it is lighter and roughly around 6% when it is darker. Any other option might not match up as well.

I think within direct light, it will darken to a 10%, no?

Hi all. Long time lurker and finally decided to create an account to ask a question as I could not find an answer by searching. (There is a summary of my situation and a TL;DR at the bottom)

"Little" background. I originally had Formula One Pinnacle on my windows (35% front and 5% all rears) and Air Blue on the windshield. I grew tired of the AIr Blue and wanted something a little darker. I was about to go for the 3M Crystalline 50 but then came across the Spectra Photosync. I was really impressed with the numbers. I know that there were no third parties to verify the numbers were valid but I decided to go for it. Luckily a very reputable shop has this regularly in stock.

I was BLOWN away at the quality and the visibility of the Photosync. I went with the Photosync 55 and glad I did not go any darker. The day after installation, I was down in Southern NJ and had to drive back up in the middle of the night. No street lights or other cars on the back road, and I was able to see clearly. I wanted more... I set-up an appt to have my front windows done.

I wish Photosync came in darker shades as I wanted my rears to have the 5% tint for privacy and the fronts to still have visibility, which at about 30% is about as dark as I want to go up front. I also wanted something with high TSER. I decided to do my front windows with Photosync 35 and rear windows with Huper Optik 05 Ceramic. They both have 75% TSER. I know that the Huper would be more blue and more reflective but looking at the Photosync pics, they too looked a little blue and reflective. I thought it would be a good idea to mix the tints and that they wouldn't look to off... I was wrong.

First problem, Almost no one wants to work with Huper Optik in a 5% as it is too difficult to work with. I finally found an installer a little less than two hours away that was willing to work with it without a problem. I figured cool, I would have my rear done on weekend and do my fronts the next weekend. After the Huper was installed, the rear tints look almost silver and very reflective. Almost like a mirror, especially in direct sunlight. I figured that after I redo my fronts with the Photosync, that it would match a little better....

Second problem, after I did do my fronts with the Photosync 35, it does not match the Huper Ceramic 05..... at all..... Also, I noticed some ghosting on the rear windshield from the heatshrinking. I called the shop that did the Huper and he said that he will redo it. He has years of experience and will fix it. Even if he is willing to re-do the back windshield, I still am not happy with the way the way the Huper Ceramic looks. Granted, the heat rejection is great but the looks are killing me...

At this point, which is leading up to my main question, I am thinking about re-doing the rear with Photosync 35 and adding a layer of darker tint behind it. I was told that the look outside will have the properties of the first tint. Is this true? That's my main question. If it is, maybe I can do the Photosync 35 and add the Huper Ceramic behind it? Or will it still be very reflective? Will the ghosting still show if the guys adds the Huper behind it and it ends up ghosting again? If the Huper properties will still penetrate and appear, I might just throw on some Pinnacle behind it instead to darken it and call it a day. Reason I'm asking is that if the guy is willing to redo the Huper, he can just add it behind the photosync. It will save me the expense of adding a second layer out of my pocket. Paid a lot to have all this done haha.

I'll try to add some pics soon to show what I am talking about.

TL;DR: Will the properties of a second layer of tint (reflectiveness and/or ghosting) show through the first layer of tint?

Here's how my car looked like before. Pinnacle 35 in the front, 05 in the back:

Here's a pic of Pinnacle 35 in front, Huper Ceramic 05 in the rear:

Here's Photosync 35 in front, Huper 05 rear:

And here's some shots of the ghosting with Huper Ceramic 05 on the back windshield: