Not getting good beading out of AJT

BMW335i said:
Was this beading on a freshly washed car?
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Yes but even when my car is "dirty" there is no difference in beading quality...I guess if my car got extremely filthy, which I would never let happen, then maybe, but I've never noticed any change in beading
 
atticdog said:
BMW335i what state are you in?
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Long Island, NY



Here is multiple coats of AJT on a dirty hood. Car is Titanium Silver.

Hood

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Roof

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Hood

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IMO, not the greatest beading, but for a dirty car I guess its average for a sealant? I don't have much experience with this, thats why I am asking you guys.
 
Here is what it looked like after the wash and before the storm, I still haven't washed it since the storm.

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Yeah, this is what we call ICE for you guys down south.

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That beading looks fine to me for a dirty car. AJT has always done more sheeting than beading for me anyway. When I tested AJT vs OCW vs Z8 vs CJ I remarked that AJT's beads were uniform, but large, and tended to sheet.
 
White95Max said:
No. It's misting outside right now and I could go out and get you pics of several cars that aren't showing any beads.

The beads are caused by the cohesive forces between the water molecules being stronger than the adhesive forces presented by contaminants, swirls, oxidation, etc...

If the hood is swirled, oxidized, and dirty, the total adhesive forces will overcome the cohesive forces, pulling the beads apart. The dirtier and more neglected the paint is, the flatter and more irregular the beads will be, due to the pulling force from all sides.
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quote from that thread
 
^^ Yeah, just from that picture, and since we have the same cars, I can see a similiarity in the beading/sheeting.



Oh, just for kicks, 37 replies and 38 views. Is that a record on here or something?



Wow, nevermind, views just shot up to 225 in 5 minutes. LOL.
 
BMW335i said:
So I shouldn't expect good beading from any sealant or wax when the car is dirty? It hasn't been washed in about 2 weeks.
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My car has ugly beads this time of year, so much pollen on my car and washed down by rain...and I have #16 on my car (over Carnauba Moose) and any other time of the year, it beads great.



I had been using my #16/Pink Wax blend on my car all winter, last applied in mid November and other than the body shop washing my car, it had remained untouched. I washed it in the middle of February at a coin-op, using their soap but one of my chenille pads (left my conventional car wash soap at the warehouse with the deionized water system) and after rinsing it off, there was very little beading. Next night, it rained and my car was beading like I had just waxed it!
 
BMW335i said:
Yeah, this is what we call ICE for you guys down south.

DSC02503.jpg
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Turtle Wax ICE? ;)



Sorry, couldn't resist.



I use Prime and AJT on my cars and I've been happy with the beading. I detailed my van back in November and only recently I've noticed that the roof isn't beading anymore. It's kept outside all the time and I haven't washed the roof since November. So about 3 1/2 months without any upkeep. Not too bad.



Does the fact that Prime was put on by hand play a factor? What do you guys think?
 
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