Not getting good beading out of AJT

hooked said:
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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Regular Prime would have an affect if you didn't polish or clay prior to applying the sealant. Prime prepares the surface by chemically cleaning it, thus the sealant has a better chance of bonding! :nixweiss
 
budman3 said:
Plus you are comparing a carnauba (Collinite 845) and a sealant AJT. I find that some sealants don't bead rather they sheet the water. Beading shouldn't be your #1 estimation for durability because you may be using a product that doesn't bead well... I believe UPP is one sealant that doesn't bead that well... but use a canauba wax and beads gallore. I haven't used AJT so I don't know if it is one of those sealants that doesn't bead. Plus the dirsty car doesn't help the situation either.
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It always puzzles me why the #1 association for durability is Beading. Beading results from surface tension, if you observe a brand new car that is fresh from the factory even that unprotected clearcoat will bead. Consider real world environment, certain Detailed vehicles get driven through all sorts of Pollutants/Elements in the atmosphere. For example, if a vehicle is taken daily to the Airport, pollutants in the air build-up a high amount which could weaken a Protected surface, as well as destroy the beading effect.



Durability really should be marked on a range of attributes: appearance (reflection, gloss, shine, slickness), beading size/frequency from the start of the protection cycle, and ability to repell dirt build-up.



Unprotected/no durability would be a surface with pools of water, almost as if the surface is dead.
 
The beading looks worse now after a night of rain...pics to come...



I don't know if the poor beading has anything to do with my prep but I polished with Prime (by hand) and clayed.



What if I had polished with a PC? Think that would of made a significant difference in the beadiing? I know I am gonna get flamed for being obsessed with beading as a indicator of a quality sealant, but how else am I going to determine WHAT is left on there and how much its protecting? Trying to determine this by slickness and looks alone won't do much to persuade anyone..



I am going to wash it today and hopefully it rains so I can get a better esimation of the protection I am getting. If it is still weak I am switching to a different LSP...
 
Klasse SG/AIO, which are directly related to the Werkstatt line, were known for "sheeting" water after exposure to the elements. The protection is probably still there but not indicated by beading.

Feel the surface after washing to see if it is still slick.
 
Well, it has stopped raining and the beading looks better than it did when it was raining over night. Here are some pics...the car hasn't been washed in 2 weeks. You can see globs of dirt in the first pic.

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Roof

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With AJT I'm not particularly worried about the outer limits of durability other than out of intellectual curiosity.



It's so easy to put on another layer of AJT that I know I won't be able to go more than 3-4 weeks max. without applying another coat of AJT anyway.



With easy spray WOWO sealants like AJT - I' m simply not worried about having a reliable indicater of when the sealant might fail (4-6 months?) because I'm not going to go more than 3-4 weeks anyway without appling more AJT or some other spray wax (like DG AW).



While it's reassuring to know that AJT has a reputation for excellent durability (because then I have the confidence of knowing that my paint is well protected at all times) - other than that, I don't care about having a reliable and verifiable visual indicator of AJT failure for the reasons set out above.
 
SilvaBimma said:
It always puzzles me why the #1 association for durability is Beading. Beading results from surface tension, if you observe a brand new car that is fresh from the factory even that unprotected clearcoat will bead. Consider real world environment, certain Detailed vehicles get driven through all sorts of Pollutants/Elements in the atmosphere. For example, if a vehicle is taken daily to the Airport, pollutants in the air build-up a high amount which could weaken a Protected surface, as well as destroy the beading effect.



Durability really should be marked on a range of attributes: appearance (reflection, gloss, shine, slickness), beading size/frequency from the start of the protection cycle, and ability to repell dirt build-up.



Unprotected/no durability would be a surface with pools of water, almost as if the surface is dead.
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I don't consider slickness to be a sign of wether a product is still on the surface. I look for some type of water repellancy, gloss and the ability to wash clean easily. The best products don't absorb dirt.
 
BMW335, you need collinite 476 :-) My truck is FILTHY (I live in MA, so it is to be expected) and still beading very nicely (from an application in OCTOBER)



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Beading looks fine to me, especially on a dirty car. But maybe you'd be happier topping with a carnauba if you like beading. For a spray wax OCW also beads nicely.



Regarding indicators for protection: I like to watch how well the water sheets when rinsing the car after a wash. When the sheeting starts to go slowly, it's time for a refreshing of the LSP. Also as wannafbody said, how easy the car is to wash clean is a good indicator. As well as the slickness when using a QD.
 
The beading on your car looks fine to me especially since it's not washed. They're not the tightest, but I think most comments about AJT is that it doesn't bead with super small drops.



It happened to be raining after work today so I took a couple shots to show what the difference is between beading on a clean surface versus a dirty surface...



The first shot is the hood of my van that was done with AJT at Thanksgiving last year. It has been washed a few times with ONR, but no retreatment of any LSP, and it is outdoors all the time. The AJT is still beading and the last wash was probably a couple of weeks ago.



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And here's a shot of the roof that was also done in November with AJT. I've been lazy and haven't washed it since, so it has 4 months of grime. You can see that there areas with no beading at all.



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So Class, what conclusions can we draw from these pics? Besides that I need to clean my van more often!!! ;)



BTW, the quality of the pics are not the best. Took them with my camera phone.
 
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