How many times on average can you use the PC before the paint shows

it's hard to say, really. different auto manufacturers use different amounts of paint on their cars. also, it depends on how heavily you polish the paint.



for example, hyundai is known for generally having much more paint on their cars. you can take a scratch that's down to the metal, and heat the paint with your rotary and actually pull it to cover the scratch. without burning the paint.



paint hardness comes into play quite a bit too. i just buffed an F250 diesel the other day and there was practically no paint on it. a hyundai sonata i buffed a few weeks ago, i used a heavy compound on the same spot for over fifteen minutes.



then again, we don't get many new cars in so i'm not sure what the paint's like fresh.



another factor, where you live. florida cars tend to have very little paint on them because it's so worn down by the sun.



but i have to agree with everyone else here and say polishing your car a few times a year won't ever hurt it, as long as it's just a quick polish
 
I know on my old Jimmy, I polished it atleast 30 times with a PC and still had the orginal paint depth reading (3.7 mils)
 
13thcrusader said:
it's hard to say, really. different auto manufacturers use different amounts of paint on their cars. also, it depends on how heavily you polish the paint.



for example, hyundai is known for generally having much more paint on their cars. you can take a scratch that's down to the metal, and heat the paint with your rotary and actually pull it to cover the scratch. without burning the paint.



paint hardness comes into play quite a bit too. i just buffed an F250 diesel the other day and there was practically no paint on it. a hyundai sonata i buffed a few weeks ago, i used a heavy compound on the same spot for over fifteen minutes.



then again, we don't get many new cars in so i'm not sure what the paint's like fresh.



another factor, where you live. florida cars tend to have very little paint on them because it's so worn down by the sun.



but i have to agree with everyone else here and say polishing your car a few times a year won't ever hurt it, as long as it's just a quick polish
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I don't want to be a jerk, but this is some horrible misinformation that needs to be cleared up.



Hyundia's that I have worked on are around 2.7-3.0 mils, fairly average, if not thin. Also, you can not reheat and reflow paint (I have heard old guys claim this with single stage lacquers but no way on a modern enemal or urethane based clear coat).



Paint thickness doesn't change depending on climate, because it doesn't evaporate. If anything, Florida cars have less paint because there are a lot of hacks running around with glazes on wool pads...
 
I've cut through clear ('02 Mazda MPV, previously corrected via PC twice with only very mild products) using a PC/ 4" pad and a fairly mild product. OTOH I've polished other vehicles dozens of times with more aggressive approaches and never had a problem. You simply cannot generalize and ever time you take off clear you have that much less the next time.



Get an ETG and use it thoughtfully.



But remember, it's not a matter of cutting through the clear to the basecoat, you'll do serious damage long before you take off that much clear. If you remove more than 0.30 mil (0.0003"), or, some would argue 0.50 mil, you'll precipitate premature failure via UV damage and it'll also look bad; hard to describe (lightened color, lack of richness, no depth) but when you see it you know you went too far.
 
TH0001 said:
Florida cars have less paint because there are a lot of hacks running around with glazes on wool pads...
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Thats just funny right there!! I dont know much about the detailers in FL but up here, thats a pretty true statement:doh
 
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