calcium deposits

southerndetail

southerndetail

New member
Had a call back today, I did a 83 jeep scrambler. Process was wash, clay, light polish, followed by Z2 jeep was in great shape turned out awesome. Guy calls back saying he thinks the sealant is coming off, so I rushed over to see what he was talking about. Apparently he parks near a sprinkler system that uses well water, I pointed this out and he said he has always parked there and never had this problem. I tried to explain to him that before he didn't have any beading so the water wasn't sitting on his hood as long .also the sun may have not been as intense. Regardless he was convinced that it was the zainos fault and not the hard water. I can't find anyone around here that can relate, could someone back me up.
 
Certainly what you have said is logical. That said, my experience with hard water spots on cars that have had a quality sealant recently applied is that the spots come off fairly easily. I would think that a good quick detailer would take care of that problem having used Zaino as your sealant.
 
What you said to this guy is spot on (no pun)...I would be willing to bet that this guy had spots before but really didn't notice or pay attention to them...once he payed for the job...his eye was on the finish and then could see the spots as now they are sitting surface of the sealant....I'd do what gear-head said...QD clean it up...then educate him on what hard water dose to a car...its going to come back and he should be looking for another place to park...some people want to point to what ins't the problem or a bad habit...his parking selection is the issue
 
Beemerboy said:
What you said to this guy is spot on (no pun)...I would be willing to bet that this guy had spots before but really didn't notice or pay attention to them...once he payed for the job...his eye was on the finish and then could see the spots as now they are sitting surface of the sealant....I'd do what gear-head said...QD clean it up...then educate him on what hard water dose to a car...its going to come back and he should be looking for another place to park...some people want to point to what ins't the problem or a bad habit...his parking selection is the issue
Click to expand...

What he said.
 
I believe we had a discussion a year or so ago about sealants vs wax as protection. Sealants tend to stand up to weather and airborne polutants longer, but waxes tend to resist bird droppings and stains from sprinklers. I prefer to have a wax as the LSP and use sealants under them to give longer protection.
It is very possible that hard water and calcium could penetrate either a sealant or wax in a very short period of time,depending on the sun and heat, and it's really hard to argue with a customer who has a complaint whether they are right or wrong:cool:

ps..a QD will usually not help if the sun has been working it in:)
 
GearHead_1 said:
May be a duration issue but we've got very hard water in my area and QD's (Final Detail, yeah I know you can't get it anymore) work for me. :cool:
Click to expand...

I didn't mean just hard water, but from a sprinkler, i had to repaint my Camaro once after a sprinkler hit it and it sat in the sun beading too long..went straight though the finish:(
 
Poorboy said:
I didn't mean just hard water, but from a sprinkler, i had to repaint my Camaro once after a sprinkler hit it and it sat in the sun beading too long..went straight though the finish:(
Click to expand...
I've never seen anything like that. Delivery method set aside, isn't the level of hardness the cause for leaving rings/water spots? We don't have secondary irrigation. Our tap water is the same as our sprinklers. Myst from a sprinkler is typically the cause of my frustration.
 
Poorboy said:
I didn't mean just hard water, but from a sprinkler, i had to repaint my Camaro once after a sprinkler hit it and it sat in the sun beading too long..went straight though the finish:(
Click to expand...

how hard is the water out there and how hot was it? In all the years I have done cars I have not seen that happen
 
GearHead_1 said:
I've never seen anything like that. Delivery method set aside, isn't the level of hardness the cause for leaving rings/water spots? We don't have secondary irrigation. Our tap water is the same as our sprinklers. Myst from a sprinkler is typically the cause of my frustration.
Click to expand...

Beemerboy said:
how hard is the water out there and how hot was it? In all the years I have done cars I have not seen that happen
Click to expand...

I believe it was older piping with rust in the water lines that was the main culprit:huh:
 
Around here at least in my area we all have wells...with extremely hard water...the causes for my water spots are from large amounts of calcium deposits.
 
this was a period of two days, I had to use an acid based spot remover for the calcium and then a compound, polish, nxt for the rings. and still could see trace amounts.
 
Poorboy said:
I didn't mean just hard water, but from a sprinkler, i had to repaint my Camaro once after a sprinkler hit it and it sat in the sun beading too long..went straight though the finish:(
Click to expand...

The hardest detail I ever did was a fairly new Astro Van that a guy left sitting by a sprinkler system FOR 3 MONTHS while he was out of the country. It was so bad that we had to use diluted hydrofluroic acid in spray bottles to get to a starting point for the rotary work. To my amazement it worked and after at least 6 steps and at least 10 hours the Van looked normal again.

He paid me alot of money for that detail, but he went straight to parking it in the very same spot that caused all the trouble. I washed my hands of that customer.

Calcium deposits can be a huge pain but if gotten to early they're usually eliminated with clay.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top