Water Spots

H

HoganH

New member
Last month I went to Key West for Spring Break and left my truck parked in my buddy's parents driveway for a couple days. I thought the truck had enough wax on it to withstand being hit by the sprinkler system in the morning for two days and didn't want to make a big deal out of where I parked my truck since they were nice enough to let me leave it there.

Anyways, they live on the ocean and I came to later find out that their sprinkler system runs off well water so I'm sure it was terrible water. The sides of my truck look fine but there are definitely water spots on the hood that so far I have been unable to remove even with SSR3 using a Griot's orange pad with the PC set at 6. The surface feels as smooth as glass but the spots are definitely still there. What else could I try to remove them?
 
Hmmm i would think that theyre etched on there already if SSR3 wasnt able to remove them.thats just my opinion tho.Anyone else?
 
They've only been there a month and the hood was repainted last July, there's got to be some way to remove them.
 
well since youve already tried to remove them with your PC then the next thing i would try and do is to use a wool leveling pad.*I* myself wouldnt try it since i have no experience with a PC let alone to use it with a leveling pad or a rotary.Everything i do,i do by hand.Other ppl who have experience could probably help you with that here.
 
Hogan...

Can you feel the etching with your fingernail (try with a plastic baggie)? If so, you're going to need a rotary to level the clear and even then, that might be a lot of clear before you level that spot.

Maybe the ole' acid wash with distilled vinegar and h20 mix?

-Chris
 
Hogan,

Try this, with a cool hood, wash the hood with car wash soap and water. Next, give the area an acid bath using distilled white vinegar. Let it sit for a few minutes and wash again with car wash soap and water. Clay, then try polishing them out again. I use Menzerna IP or Sometimes Powergloss. You can follow up with IP or PB SSR1.

You may also want to test a chemical cleaner and see if that works better at removing the spots. Lite Cuts, or even Zymol HD. This sometimes works. I have had this issue on my black car from time to time.

Hope this helps.
 
Sounds like a job for lite cut compound and a wool pad on a rotary. If its etched in the clear, you have level and the PC will not do that for the most part.
Wet sanding is another soloution but you REALLY need pratice on that one. You might want to look for a good detailer in your area that can rework that area.
 
I cannot feel the etching with my fingernails, the paint feels perfectly smooth. I'll have to try the acid bath, can you give me some more info on exactly what I need to mix? Here are some pics of the spots:
 
Maybe the ole' acid wash with distilled vinegar and h20 mix?

-Chris [/B][/QUOTE]

Forgive me for asking this, and this is in no way of disrespect, as I would be curious, but if ssr3 couldn't get rid of the spots, how could vinegar fix it? I would think that something like ssr3 would be much more aggressive than using vinegar.
 
Hogan, if this doesn't work, contact Adam. He has a new water spot remover that is supposed to work wonders!!
 
Just went out there, poured the vinegar on there, let it sit for 30 to 40 seconds and then went to town with a MF towel trying to buff the spots off, didn't do much if anything. I then cleaned off the remaining vinegar with S&W and will reapply wax this afternoon. Its still dark outside, but the water spots are much more visible under the moonlight.

Nick, I emailed Adam about the water spot remover, I don't want to call his cell at 2:30am his time. I saw a demonstration of that product over on FTW a while back, it looked like good stuff. I'm certainly willing to give that a try, I guess if that doesn't work I'll try and find someone with a rotary. I think I saw one other member in Gainesville on this site, maybe he'll be able to help out.
 
Hogan H,

Let the vinegar sit 10-15 minutes. The mild acid in vinegar helps unlock or dissolve the mineral deposites in the water spots. Try it agan, then clay, then buff. If SSR 2 or PP dosn't work, try a chemical type cleaner like lite cuts, zymol hd, even Meguiars wax, red bottle that has a chemical cleaner.
 
What I bet would do more good than anything would be to have a yellow Lake Country cutting pad on the PC set a 5. I have the Griot`s pad that you used and it is not a good cutting pad. More for polishing. Also, I would get a bottle of the Meguiar`s Deep Crystal Cleaner (Step 1) and mix it half and half with a medium cut compound, not a diminishing abrasive. 3M has some good ones. You want to maintain cutting power. You may as well face it, the surface is etched. By this I mean that you cannot see any defect on the surface but looking into the paint there are stains there. I have yet to know if paint can be "corrected" with a rotary or if it is just a faster way to level the paint. I know that you can level paint all day long with a PC using the method I said. If you want to take it down to shiny metal then use 3M super duty rubbing compund and the Meg`s cleaner.
 
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