3M PPS Sungun arrived; Mini Review and Pictures...

[Harry Houdini]

Finally found a reason to buy this babe...

Pictures below of the nice package and case it comes in.



Nice product but it makes you feel as if detailing your personal car is not the intended

use of it although 3M says it can be used for matching paint color or detailing to spot

imperfections.



Per instructions I kept the battery charging for 8 hours "I kept it for much longer in fact

around 14hrs which will help the battery reach its full capacity per instructions of course"



I was blown away by the amount of imperfections I seen in the car this morning in my pitch black garage!

The roof/trunk/hood in saphire black BMW were in such a bad shape that I felt stupid for having it detailed with out this gadget!



The unit has a fan in the back of it to cool the light it self and the housing when it

gets a little hot although I turned it for 5 minutes the fan was cooling the unit while I was

checking the car, you get 2 light setting activated by clicking the trigger once for normal

light "which is extremely bright by it self" and a second click to activate the turbo light

which gave me the sensation as if the sun was inside the garage! :spot

Also the unit turns off every 50 seconds by it self to save battery and cool the unit but

You can keep on using it with no problem; it is the safety feature build in as it has a processor

That counts turn on time + temperature and complete shutoff feature for 15 minutes only in case of extreme heat until it cools down.

“Normally only happens in 8 hours of constant use�



All in all great gadget that doesn’t come cheap $350ish plus shipping insurance

$45 plus overnight shipping $50 "don't ask me why I just wanted this sucker in my

inventory ASAP

Lens Picture

Fan Picture

Update: Check the second page for more opration pictures!

 

[stiffdogg06]

Looks like a good product to have around. Now let's see it being used. I rather see results with a product than just the product itself.

 

[Harry Houdini]

Looks like a good product to have around. Now let's see it being used. I rather see results with a product than just the product itself.

hehe, coming very soon as I just placed an order for Swissvax Mystrey :2thumbs:

 

[ZoranC]

I was blown away by the amount of imperfections I seen in the car this morning in my pitch black garage!

Does it reveal swirls when used on car under very bright sunlight (but not direct sun)?

 

[stiffdogg06]

hehe, coming very soon as I just placed an order for Swissvax Mystrey :2thumbs:

I just want to see pics of you using the light; not mystery. :LOLOL



I just want to see how much better is this light than my $25 1000W Halogens...

 

[Harry Houdini]

Does it reveal swirls when used on car under very bright sunlight (but not direct sun)?

I have seen it used it in detailing world with the normal 2 halogen lights and also

this light from a different angel to reveal them.

trust me you won't be disappointed with it especially if it is for a customer you care about,

you don't want him calling you "complaining about swirls"



Stiffdogg

My car been "professionally" detailed as you know, but swirls are yet to leave it alone

so I will have a go at it very soon when mystery arrives.

it is better than your halogen and mine combined especially considering the heat

that comes out of the halogens and portability would be obvious reasons,

just keep the halogens as far as possible at half power, and this baby in your hands.

 

[ZoranC]

I have seen it used it in detailing world with the normal 2 halogen lights and also this light from a different angel to reveal them.



trust me you won't be disappointed with it especially if it is for a customer you care about,

you don't want him calling you "complaining about swirls"

I do not work inside, I work outside, and almost always I have to evaluate paint quickly on the fly outside (think parking lot), so whether it is strong enough to easily overcome (contrast wise) very strong daylight (think Southern California mid day of mid summer but no direct sun that would help you and you have light colored vehicle in front of you all together creating a dissipated glare) and reveal those flaws and swirls is of utmost importance to me, especially because I have worst possible customer in the world (me).



That is the question nobody was able to answer for me yet.

 

[Harry Houdini]

I do not work inside, I work outside, and almost always I have to evaluate paint quickly on the fly outside (think parking lot), so whether it is strong enough to easily overcome (contrast wise) very strong daylight (think Southern California mid day of mid summer but no direct sun that would help you and you have light colored vehicle in front of you all together creating a dissipated glare) and reveal those flaws and swirls is of utmost importance to me, especially because I have worst possible customer in the world (me).



That is the question nobody was able to answer for me yet.

to be honest with you, I think I seen it somewhere in the manual that it should not

be used in direct sunlight, I know you work on the shade, but I will double check this

manual when I get home, typing this from my iPhone.

 

[ZoranC]

I think I seen it somewhere in the manual that it should not be used in direct sunlight

I would assume that would be their advice and I understand why, they don't want tool for matching paint used in environment that will cause interference as later you might blame tool for colors not being matched. So, their warning is not related to what I am trying to do as I will not be matching paints. All I would be using it for in sunlight is to hunt down swirls, identify did I do things right during polishing or I created problems, and to hunt down paint flaws and possible indicators of possible repaints.

typing this from my iPhone

You like new toys just as much as I do, if not more, don't you?

 

[Accumulator]

Does it reveal swirls when used on car under very bright sunlight (but not direct sun)?

AFAIK you'll never see marring as well in a lighted environment as you will in am otherwise *dark* environment. Something to do with the way contrast works, forget the details.



I too wonder how well it'll work; my painter has one, and with it I can't see marring that I can see under my incandescents.

 

[ZoranC]

AFAIK you'll never see marring as well in a lighted environment as you will in am otherwise *dark* environment. Something to do with the way contrast works, forget the details.



I too wonder how well it'll work; my painter has one, and with it I can't see marring that I can see under my incandescents.

I understand that but in the absence of best way I am just trying to find out how close I can get with whatever "second best" would be.

 

[the other pc]

Ever notice how you don’t worry about farting at a Metallica concert but you do in a crowded elevator?



Trying to view swirls with an artificial light source in daylight is like being at the concert.





PC.

 

[ZoranC]

Trying to view swirls with an artificial light source in daylight is like being at the concert.

Ever noticed how direct sun straight above your head is never there when you need it but there is always such lighting that you can see everything but swirls?



Trying to do it without anything available is like being only male invited to an all female dorm sleepover on a moment's notice right after you took very long swim in a very cold water. In other words you are heading to a battlefield with absolutely nothing.

 

[stiffdogg06]

Ever noticed how direct sun straight above your head is never there when you need it but there is always such lighting that you can see everything but swirls?



Trying to do it without anything available is like being only male invited to an all female dorm sleepover on a moment's notice right after you took very long swim in a very cold water. In other words you are heading to a battlefield with absolutely nothing.

I have a bad feeling someone is explaining what happened to them...

 

[ZoranC]

I have a bad feeling someone is explaining what happened to them...

I wish I was because that would mean I have been invited, I would not let rest of it end up being an obstacle :lol

 

[Harry Houdini]

Ever noticed how direct sun straight above your head is never there when you need it but there is always such lighting that you can see everything but swirls?



Trying to do it without anything available is like being only male invited to an all female dorm sleepover on a moment's notice right after you took very long swim in a very cold water. In other words you are heading to a battlefield with absolutely nothing.

LOL

dude I love gadget especially if they can make a difference!



ok I looked quickly in the Manuel but couldn't find where it was, t is a pretty thick Manuel

btw, but I am almost 100% I seen it there, but I guess you are correct they are

worries about the lens losing its matching color ability over time.

I wouldn't mind using mine out doors.



Here is some pictures guys that shows how potent this light is I sh^^ you not it is

potent, look at the swirls I captured with this shots next to the fender and others in different locations all

over the car with naked eyes, my camera didn’t do a great job at capturing it.

by the way your 30$ halogens "same as mine" did not detect

with an autopian operating it.



This is a close up Spot setting on camera picture to show the light in true color

to be honest I don't know how to setup my Manuel camera settings

a little swirlie hiding in the shadow while the light in a 3 feet or more distance

This is a scratch on the clearcoat not polished previously, look at it in different

angles and different distances starting by the closest distance with the light

ugly...

Ok here is the money shot, 3 meters away from the car at the turbo settings in a

pitched black garage

Who said this won't work out doors? :woot2:

 

[ZoranC]

I need to find a way to test this thing outdoors before making a decision.

 

[Mikeyc]

There was a great thread by FMinus I think over on the AG Forums comparing this light to the dual xenon light a lot of us have.

 

[imported_Dave KG]

I cannot remember if I posted this review of the SunGun here alongside the Dual Xenon or not, but it may add to this thread to have these comparison pics and my thoughts on them:



_________________



A little test here of three light sources for spotting swilrs and other defects in paint work, to show a comparison of the different lights.



The contenders:



> Brinkmann Dual Xenon: infamous in detailing, widely considered to be *the* light for swilrs!

> 3M Sun Gun: less well known in detailing, but used widely in bodushops for checking colour match.

> Toureag Torch: little cigarette lighter torch







So we take out test panel with medium swirls and general marring. A pic of the swirls before machine polishing was taken, after machine polishing and a 50/50 pic for each of the light sources to get a fair idea of the performance of each light. Here we go...





Brinkmann Dual Xenon



First up was the trusty Brinkmann. A pic of the swirls:







The bright light of the Brinkmann ideally pics up all of ther deeper looking and light swirls. Works best when held quite far from paintwork to get a more general picture of the condition of the paintwork. The spread of the light is also quite good, so you can view the paint over a large area.



Now, a pic of the corrected paint:







The Brinkmann here shows the paint to be near flawless after correction, wioth no evidence of hologramming or swirls... The finish is actually free from holograms but there are a few light swilrs remaining in the finish which the Brinkmann has failed to pick up, even when sweeping the light around looking for them. It shows a good approximation of the paint condition, but misses out light marks that can hide from you.



A 50/50 pic:







There is good definition between the treated and untreated areas, a bid difference is shown to have been made by the polishing stage.



Overall, the Brinkmann performs very well and gives a fiarly accurate representaiton of the condition of the paintwork, but does miss out in lighter marks that would become evident when the car is rolled out into the sunlight. A good light though.





3M Sun Gun



Used by bodyshops to cheack out colour mathcing, this tool springs to mind as being ideal for spotting swirls.



First up, a pic of the area before polishing:







The Sun Gun produces a very bright and large area of light. In the centre, where the light is at its most intense it is hard to make out much about the condition of the paint but in the far spreading wings of the light, the condition of the paintwork is made fantastically clear by the sheer brightness of the light, which made the Brinkmann before it seem like a night light.



A pic of the corrected paint:







This clearly shows the paint finsih to be well corrected but is also highlighting the odd lighter marks that has remained. Only the camera flash was able to pick this mark out also. The brighter light of the Sun Gun has also proved itself through use now to show up more light imperfections and is ideal in my eyes for getting an absolutely spot on finish as far as removing light marring and very faint hologramming goes.



A 50/50 shot:







The 50/50 pic shows huge difference between polished and unpolished sections, the difference being clearer than any of the other light cources owing to ther brightness of the bulb.



In summary, this for me is the ultimate light for detailing thanks to its ability to pick up the lightest of marks which is ideal when you cannot rely on what is the worlds best light source - the sun! Gives the truest representation of the finish from all of the lights tested.





Toureag Torch



Bit of an odd ball this - a bright light that charges in your cigarrette lighter, but a very neat design.



Pic of the swilrs:







The light is bright enough to pick put the swirl marks there with ease but the spreadnof the light is far too small for this top be practival for me to thorougholy check a car. Ideal for little spot checks, but for me, not good for getting the bigger picture - you'd have to scan the light backwards and forwards far too laboriously compared to the other two lights.



Pic of the corrected paint:







Shows the corrected finish well, but even thoroghly scanning the light it failed to pick up any of the very light marring left that the Sun Gun picked up.



The 50/50 pic:







There is a clear difference here but less obvious than the other two lights and again the small beam size is a bit of a pest for getting the bigger picture... but does show the difference nicely.



All in all, the little torch is a very neat design and does show the majority of the swirls but misses out on the lighter ones... Ad a detailing tool though, its certainly not for me, the light beam being far too small to sensibily get the big picture on paintwork, required for checking to see if there are any faint holograms.

 

[imported_Dave KG]

If anything from testing the light sources, angles of use are very important espeically when you are hunting out fating holograms... for example, the 3M gun you will not see holograms in the main region of the light, where its at its most intense, but away from this intense region you can see faint holograms more clearly if they are there... Tilting both the SunGun and the Brinkmann I find useful in thoroughly evaluating a finish with the lights when the sun is not available (and it frequently isn't in Scotland...)