Recharge v Overcoat v VS1

[BudgetPlan1]

This particular idea sprang from the mind of Autopia user glfnaz; booster comparison on bare paint. This is the kinda thing that happens when guy from NE Ohio travels to Arizona and meets another Autopia for lunch at a Chinese place; I`m sure my wife was thrilled by our car-centric observations/discussions but she was later placated when we went to Barrett-Jackson and saw many 1970 Chevelle SS 454`s that we can not afford. Budgetplan and all...but she was just happy to be out of the cold in OH in January. Trouble is, we ended up in AZ on a rainy, 58 degree day; where`s the dry heat everyone talks about out there?

Anyway, started as testing Kamikaze Overcoat v 22ple VS1 Final Coat on top of McKees 37 Paint Coating V2. The the question was raised on how would we know when the boosters wore off and the coating was doing the protecting/self-cleaning? So, we nixed the McKees Paint Coating underneath and decided to test on bare paint.

Prep: This was a vehicle I compounded/polished in November, coated with Gyeon Prime. Then added CanCoat on top of Prime. Then topped with IGL Premier. Compounded and polished the hood to remove the combo from all areas except under the tape because I thought it would be fun to leave the combo under those two strips because...well, just because. Used Flex 3401 and Orange Force Pad w/ M101 followed by HD Polish+ on White Force Pad; boy, I really like HD Polish+...not a lot of cut but just really nice to use and I`ve also always liked the HD/3D bottles and labels.

Kamikaze Overcoat instructions for application on bare paint:

And for an advanced method (ONLY on non-coated cars), you can apply OVER COAT by machine using a soft finishing pad, and slow machine speed. This application method will increase durability, and will do a better job of filling in fine hairline defects.

Used the GG6, LC Country Blue Flat Finishing Pad; spritzed with Overcoat, ran at speed 3 for about 3 passes, buffed off.

For the HydroSilex Recharge (which was added to the test cuz it just happened to show up in time) and the VS1 I sprayed onto microfiber applicator and applied up and down, side to side motions to insure even coverage and then buffed.

I`ll let glfnaz determine the maintenance (if any) going forward. I`ll see this truck pretty much every day, it gets moderate use but nothing heavy like some of our other fleet vehicles. Can waterless/rinseless wash it with McKees 914 or ONR or PB Spray and Wipe. I dunno, or we could just let it ride with no ongoing maint.

We`ll see how it turns out...

Hood

HydroSilex Recharge

Kamikaze Overcoat

22ple VS1

I`m so tired of looking at this red Ford paint I really couldn`t discern any gloss differences once I removed the tape. At first I thought slickness ranked

1. 22ple VS1
2. Kamikaze Overcoat
3. HydroSilex Recharge

...but then when i pulled the tape off and ran towel lightly (Rag Company Creature) across the entire hood I really didn`t notice a difference from section to section. This was immediately after application in a 62 degree F warehouse so we`ll see tomorrow how it as as it cures. I`ll be here working on another one of our new fleet vans until likely 10pm tonite so the temperature will stay around 62 up until then, then likely drop to 50 degrees by the time we hit the 24hr mark after application. Vehicle won`t be going anywhere until Monday at the earliest.

On another, stranger note, the owner showed up while I was doing this, looked at the GG6 and wondered if it could be used to polish his wooden desk. Nothing ventured, nothing gained so I gave hime the GG6, some Menz 2400 and a yellow Lake Country Flat Pad. It`s actually working quite nicely; doesn`t remove many defects in the soft wood but sure cleans it up and shines it up well. HydroSilex Recharge says it can be used on wood...hmmmm.

Kinda got the cord over the shoulder thing going too...kinda.

 

[Ronkh]

Cool !~!~!!!

Very interested.

 

[glfnaz]

YOU DA MAN!
Wash: Mckees 914 when you think it visually needs a wash, but not more than once a week.

Yeah sorry about the weather. 81* today and tomorrow. I`ll be at the Phoenix open in my shorts watching opening day of women`s `tank top season`. Might even watch a few golf shots.

 

[rlmccarty2000]

I love this kind of test. With all the new toppers coming out seemingly every day I keep wondering which is “best”. Best being in this case longest lasting. There seems to be very little difference in the shine department as long as the prep work is done properly. There are so many toppers out right now it would be difficult to do a comparison test among all of the contestants. Keep up the good work, I’m subscribed.

 

[JHL88]

A lot of hype and choices around toppers nowadays. We need to sift through the options

 

[BudgetPlan1]

Aside from what seems to be a morphing of previously classified `toppers` into stand alone products recently, I kinda look at the booster products as something that enhances the base coating in some distinguishable and desired manner.

Appearance: Something like PA High Gloss can change the appearance in a meaningful way (for an Autopian anyway, 75% of people in the world wouldn`t notice a difference). It changes the somewhat `relaxed high gloss` of our base coatings to a more defined and sharper look for a while which is sometimes fun.

Feel: Some coatings, while performing and looking good, just don`t have that nice, smooth feel to them, can be grabby. Topping them helps improve the feel if that matters to someone.

Hydrophobic/Self cleaning: These products usually renew, restore or improve upon the base coatings performance. For us, this is where Overcoat excels. If you don`t live in a climate or use the car in a manner where that`s a concern it might be pointless to use that particular product.

Add to that the (real or perceived) claim of additional protection and it becomes "Well, it can`t hurt" kinda proposition. Unless it`s me, TAC Moonlight and a black Corvette with WG Uber on it; that was a definite step in the wrong direction. Oops.


And FWIW, a couple of hours after application, Recharge was noticeably less slick than VS1 and Overcoat. We`ll see what tomorrow holds. Maybe spritz with some water or give it a little flood rinse wirh a bottle of water and see what happens.

If nothing else, gives the folks at work a new reason to ask "What are you doing now?" although they are kinda used to me spraying hoods with water, throwing water at hoods and wandering around the parking lot in the rain, occasionally stopping to blow on hoods to see how easily the beads move.

 

[SWETM]

It`s going to be interesting to follow this. Thanks for shareing your testing.

 

[BudgetPlan1]

OK; trying to take videos of this without everyone here thinking I`m totally nuts is gonna be an issue; but perhaps that ship has sailed regardless. Kinda limited on what I can do regarding using a hose to simulate rain/sheeting, I`m left to the glug-glug of water bottle. Not ideal, but best I can do here where it is a scintillating 6 degree F and snowing outside.

Slickness:
1. Kamikaze Overcoat and 22ple VS1 Final coat (tie, indistinguishable)
2. HydroSilex Recharge: If`n I hadda put a number on it, I`d say 10% less slick

This was also confirmed by an impartial party who I had close her eyes and gently drag finger (very lightly) across hood. She confirmed that the OverCoat/VS1 sections felt `silkier`.

Misc item of note: You can tell when you hit one of the dividing lines (tape) where there surface is Prime/CanCoat/Premier you can feel a slight transition; I did wipe down tape lines to be visually indistinguishable so it can`t be tape residue from the edge.

Pic after pour water across top edge (windshield edge) of hood and let it run off; for future reference, hood is basically split by where windshield washer squirters are on cowl, circled (ok...`squared`) in below pic:


Vids of pouring water on hood, crappy `flood rinse`; stuff is hard to holding a cellphone camera and pouring; apparently coordination between two activities is not my strong point:

All Sheet: https://youtu.be/i6m52I0ddB4
Kami Sheet: https://youtu.be/FxzpQ9Bkms0
VS1 Sheet: https://youtu.be/NfexSn-Mulc
HydroSilex Sheet: https://youtu.be/BiE1GanZvhM

Well, it`s pretty much shows nothing dramatic.

Edit: As I pondered it this morning after taking the pics, the application of Kamikaze via DA didn`t seem `fair` to the others in that they were applied by hand with just a wipe and buff so I buffed off the center section with M205, panel-wiped and then applied the Overcoat just like the others, microfiber applicator pad and towel buff. It just seemed a bit more consistent as to how most would apply these products.

 

[SWETM]

Seems like kamikaze and vs1 has a little more aggressive sheeting too?

But think that is to expect as the hydrosilex is sio2 based. And the others is also fluorine based just to be more slicker and aggressive water behavior?

If hydrosilex comes anywhere near those 2 in longevity it`s the real deal. Is there any claims of the up to longevity on their own?

 

[glfnaz]

They all looked good, but I`d expect that after 48 hours.

 

[MattPersman]

I am thinking that hysrosilex is gonna get whipped it’s already behind in sheeting imo. But then again these all might only last 3-4 weeks


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[BudgetPlan1]

1. I`m trying to decide if HydroSilex is a `real deal` product or just the latest TopCoat F11
2. I think we`ll see some decent longevity out of Overcoat & VS1 if past experiences are any indication; it is one nasty, salt-filled, brine and de-icer laden winter here in Cleveland. While the hood is a little off the ground it still gets killed every time they think it`s gonna snow out here. If HydroSilex kept up, that`d be pretty cool. Water behavior is Kamikaze`s forte though. VS1 is a pretty solid product as well.

I am thinking that hysrosilex is gonna get whipped it’s already behind in sheeting imo. But then again these all might only last 3-4 weeks


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[BudgetPlan1]

Van was driven around out in the harsh Cleveland winter for a day or 2. Cleaned off salt and spray with McKees 914 at 1:128 and then sprayed with water from a Kwazar spray bottle:

Whole hood:

HydroSilex Recharge

Kamikaze Overcoat

22ple VS1 (can barely make out dividing line between Kama/22ple sections...black lines at top of pic indicate borders; that line is Gyeon Prime + CanCoat + IGL Premier applied 11/2017)

They all bead relatively equally but where I gooned this little escapade up this morning was I shoulda taken a pic after I sprayed on the McKees waterless but before actually cleaning the hood. The separation between the water on the Recharge & Overcoat/VS1 sections was very notable, with decent beading occurring in the 22ple/Kamikaze sections while the Recharge section was much less so. On the dirty hood, the Overcoat and VS1 still had some nice beading and the Recharge not so much; perhaps VS1 and Overcoat are better at self cleaning? I dunno as the hood looked equally dirty on all 3 sections but somehow superior beading came through on Overcoat and VS1 sections, much less so on Recharge. Not sure what to make of that.

Next time I check it after being out in the weather, I`ll take pics after spraying with McKees Waterless but before actually wiping. Oops, sorry...

 

[Rblouin]

Thanks for doing this review. Any new updates/info? I got the $10 recharge deal so figure why not try it. I`m a chronic user of reload and just ran out so I`m hoping Recharge will fill in for a while. Not sure if it was mentioned but is this truck ceramic coated?

 

[glfnaz]

The truck is coated EXCEPT not the panel doing the maintenance test. That was on purpose to figure out longevity of each topper. I can`t wait to see how these turn out. Hats off to Budget Man!

 

[BudgetPlan1]

Truck did not see much inclement weather, probably about 200 miles or so since last week. Didn`t bother washing with McKees or anything, just 16oz of tap water sprayed from Kwazar Mercury Pro spray bottle.

Recharge:

Recharge after 15 minutes:

Overcoat:

Overcoat after 15 minutes:

Vs1 Final Coat:

Vs1 after 15 minutes:

From left:

From right:

At it seems the leader so far is....the Gyeon Prime + CanCoat applied 11/2017 that was under the masking tape between sections:
Recharge on left, Overcoat on right, Gyeon in middle:

Overcoat on left, VS1 on right, Gyeon in the middle:

Just gonne let the water from tap dry in it, which will no doubt leave water spots. Will probably not update any until February 26th as I`m gonna sit at home doing next to nothing all next week and won`t see truck until I go back to work on 26th. Hopefully will have some more miles/abuse on it by then.

Thanks for doing this review. Any new updates/info? I got the $10 recharge deal so figure why not try it. I`m a chronic user of reload and just ran out so I`m hoping Recharge will fill in for a while. Not sure if it was mentioned but is this truck ceramic coated?

 

[BudgetPlan1]

Just couldn`t leave well enough alone so I went back there, filled a 5 gallon bucket of water and tossed it at the hood. All sheeted off pretty cleanly, perhaps VS1 the quickest, Recharge the slowest, Overcoat in the middle. Hard to say though...not much difference really:

 

[JustJesus]

Thanks Budget!!!

It`s funny to see the Gyeon section, thin or not, thrown in there like that And thanks so much for your contributions with so much testing.

 

[BudgetPlan1]

Can be a looooong winter in Cleveland...this is the kinda stuff that passes for entertainment in my life; not sure if that`s a good or bad thing.

The Gyeon `stripes` are kinda interesting. Given that one can get it around $35-$40 depending on sales maybe the whole `booster` use is pointless; just rub on some CanCoat every month. I`d also forgotten just how good 22ple VS1 Final Coat is...hadn`t used it since March 2017.

Thanks Budget!!!

It`s funny to see the Gyeon section, thin or not, thrown in there like that And thanks so much for your contributions with so much testing.

 

[JustJesus]

Can be a looooong winter in Cleveland...this is the kinda stuff that passes for entertainment in my life; not sure if that`s a good or bad thing.

You won`t get nothing bad from me. Yesterday, I was being "entertained" by watching YouTube videos on spray bottles!!