CQuartzUK Gone After ONE Rain?

[nickclark08]

my bet is on it being "clogged up" from gunk - I have a hard time believing 4-day old ceramic coating would just disappear after a rain (if properly applied and cured, which sounds like you did everything right).

Either that or you got the worst luck with a bad batch

Hope that`s not the case. Id see what you could do with a decon wash like 512 suggested - see what happens after that.

[The Guz]

That`s kind of what I thought... if I had a tough time removing it the 1st time I would have expected it to last much longer.

After application I could tell a difference in the coated surface. It wasn`t "slick" perse, but I could tell there was product on there.

I am wondering if the microfiber I used the second time caused some kind of issue. That`s the only variable I can think of that was different.

But it was a new microfiber so unless the coating MUST be removed by the included suede towel it shouldn`t have been the issue.

I will say though if I have to use the suede towel I`ll likely never use this product again since the suede towel did little more than smear around the coating.

I certainly doubt that the towels are the issue. I use 300 gsm low nap microfiber towels to remove/level coatings. With UK I have had to adjust my removal process depending on the temperature and humidity as it was designed to be used for colder climates. FYI it applied better for me at night with the cooler temps here in Southern California.

The longer it sat (we are talking about 5 mins) the harder it was to be removed which resulted in one area that I had a tiny high spot. Zipped right over it with Essence on my Rupes ibrid nano and re-coated that one spot. I then removed it sooner (about 2 minutes) and had no issues.

When I applied it to my uncles black vette, I did not use Reload as it does not rain here and the car sat in my garage for a week before he came and picked it up. CarPro recommends to use Reload as Dan posted to protect the coating during the 7 day curing window. I don`t think this would be an issue 4 days later but that is just one person`s opinion.

I will also mention that my mom`s car has Gyeon CanCoat (around 6 months) and I had topped it with Gyeon Cure about two weeks before it rained. Given it sits outside 24/7 and is parked under a tree so junk from the tree falls onto certain parts of the paint. With the dirt and the whatever else from the tree, the water just laid flat on the flat surfaces looking as if the protection was gone. Proceeded to wash it and as soon as I rinsed off the surface the water behavior was back. So the dirt and grime was masking the water behavior.

I experienced the same thing with my personal car which has Sonax CC36 ceramic coating and sits outside 24/7. I had not washed it for 2 weeks before it rained and it looked like the coating wash gone. A quick wash and it was back to normal.

Road grime can also mask a coatings water behavior.

Give it a good wash this weekend and see if the water behavior is there.

Did you use that product called Reflect in the process ???
They say you have to remove Reflect with Car Pro Eraser to remove all oils to insure durability of your product...

My question is - why would one put this on and then have to remove it with Eraser to "insure durability of the Coating" ???

Hi Dan. CarPro just says to use Reflect as it`s their polish. Just like Optimum told me that Gloss Coat failed because I did not use their hyper polish. So it`s a way for a coating company to come back and say "hey you did not use what we recommend so it`s not our fault." Just how I read that and experienced that with optimum. There are many other folks who use another polish and then coat and have no issues.

Reflect just has less polishing oils than M205. And Eraser will remove those polishing oils to leave a bare surface behind.

Now CarPro recommends to use Essence to get more durability with any of their coatings so there is that .

Yeah you`re right by me too.

But here`s the thing, I`ve gone through MANY rainstorms under my oaks with DG105 and it withstands that stuff for at least three weeks. Never had it wash away like that after one night. Which leads me to believe that if the CQuartzUK is actually gone... it`s yet another product that is over-hyped and doesn`t deliver as promised.

Not exactly the first time I`ve been in this situation but it is a bummer.

The only other "coating" product I tried before this was McKee`s Wheel coating. It was fine.. but longevity again wasn`t on par with DG105. I was hoping the CQuartzUK product(and maybe other coatings) would be a new product I could use for good protection.

I spent A LOT of time reading about the various coatings on this board and elsewhere before I purchased. It`s disappointing to say the least.

Coatings take time for them to actually cure and harden on the paint. 7-10 days is the typical recommendation per coating manufacturer before washing it. Which is usually enough time for the coating to not be effected by a chemical. I never asked Corey about cquartz but Yvan of Optimum has mentioned on the podcast that like 2 weeks to a month and their coatings have fully cured to their max hardness.

It is highly impossible for a coating to be washed off especially after 4 days. Unless the coating did not bond to the paint because there was something hindering it. I have used a few coatings (both versions of Cquartz included) and they all have their pros and cons but I have never had one appear to fail after rain or a wash. Most of them feel grabby instead of slick unless one has a topper like the Gyeon Syncro kit.

This is why I like to recommend someone start with something like Gyeon CanCoat before going to a more semi-permanent coating like Cquartz before one decides if they like coatings or not.

You should not need a decontamination 4 days after application. That may even affect the performance some more since the coating is relatively fresh.

Keep us updated after you wash it. Worst case hit it with Reload or something similar until you have the time to polish it off and go back to your sealant of choice. Fingers crossed for you.

[Stokdgs]

Mike --
Thanks for your post !
Glad you have much experience with the CarPro coating and all the other steps that have to be done..
Life was much simpler when Optimum just went on, dried, cured, and there you have it..

From the experiences with Optimum long term - years - on my personal car, it did go "flat" and then a couple of good washes with CarPro Reset, and it was all back to beading, rolling off, and looking much clearer and brighter..

I don`t like all the steps these guys are making everyone go through when coatings started out so much simpler.. I guess some things have to change with newer technology, but why cant someone actually make one that is very easy to use, don`t need a zillion other things to put on it, and be done with it ?? Yeah, I know, Marketing 101...

Dan F

[Imatk]

So I got home and cleaned off the hood. Just used water, no soap and unfortunately it does appear that the CQuartzUK coating is gone.



At this point I may do a side-by-side with the DG105 and try to apply the CQuartzUK again OR if anyone wants to buy a barely used bottle of the UK let me know, although this isn`t exactly a good advertisement for it :/

[Larry A]

Rain going thru trees will rinse garbage from the leaves. Elm trees are very bad with this. Try a wash and you may be suprised.

[Stokdgs]

So I got home and cleaned off the hood. Just used water, no soap and unfortunately it does appear that the CQuartzUK coating is gone.



At this point I may do a side-by-side with the DG105 and try to apply the CQuartzUK again OR if anyone wants to buy a barely used bottle of the UK let me know, although this isn`t exactly a good advertisement for it :/

Imatk, - Nice video, the paint looks beautiful !

I have never used your product, is it not supposed to sheet water off ?

Will someone who lives close by please give this man some CarPro Reset to wash the car a couple of times??
If you are in Northern California, I will come by with the Reset..
Dan F

[The Guz]

Mike --
Thanks for your post !
Glad you have much experience with the CarPro coating and all the other steps that have to be done..
Life was much simpler when Optimum just went on, dried, cured, and there you have it..

From the experiences with Optimum long term - years - on my personal car, it did go "flat" and then a couple of good washes with CarPro Reset, and it was all back to beading, rolling off, and looking much clearer and brighter..

I don`t like all the steps these guys are making everyone go through when coatings started out so much simpler.. I guess some things have to change with newer technology, but why cant someone actually make one that is very easy to use, don`t need a zillion other things to put on it, and be done with it ?? Yeah, I know, Marketing 101...

Dan F

I have been playing with various coating as of late so I’ve been able to play around with how each is applied and removed including both versions of Cquartz, Optimum, Gyeon and Sonax. Trying and testing them.

I’m currently applying Cquartz TiO2 or Classic on my brothers Tahoe and will be using the new topper Gliss so will see how that goes.

So I got home and cleaned off the hood. Just used water, no soap and unfortunately it does appear that the CQuartzUK coating is gone.

What this video shows me is that something is still in the paint based on the surface tension and how the water sheeted off. If there was nothing on the paint then the water would be laying flat and stuck on the paint.

Wiping it down with just water is not going to do much other than potentially grind dirt into that nice polished out finish.

Could you post up a video after you give it a wash with soap and then spray the hood with water on a mist setting to see if it beeds and then sheet rinse the hood to see how it behaves?

[Wing Commander]

https://www.autopia-carcare.com/carpro-ech20.html This gets my vote. Every time I use this on a coated vehicle I smile. Rinseless I use 1 oz. per 2 gal. but it is suggested 1 oz. per 3 gal. by the manufacturer.

[SWETM]

When you wash your hood after the curing time it will bounce back. That`s why you are recommended to apply reload after CQUK. To get the expected water behavior from the start. You know have the sheeting there but when it`s cured fully the sheeting will be more crazy than know. Wait up to 10 days so you are more on the safe side than you already are after 7 days. In the meantime if you don`t have bought carpro reset do so till you are able to wash it the first time. This will help you deep clean it and not interfear with leaving anything behind but the CQUK.

As I can read you have applyied it correctly. Some more questions to be on the safe side.
Did you shake your bottle of cquk thoroughly before applying it?
When you leveled the coating did you gently wipe it or did you use a more coarse wipe off? What mf towel did you use?
If you don`t use the recommended suede towel to level the coating it`s important to use a soft low nap or a split cut nap. The risk you are takeing is that you don`t only remove the excess coating aka not cured high spots. But leave the coating with microscopic trails in the already beginning to cure coating.

The big problem as I see it is that when they sell the kit of coatings it`s not enough of suede towels in it to both apply 2 layers and level the coating. For one layer you are fine with the amount of application suedes but not for level the coating. You would at least have 4-5 suede towels to get it leveled. Just think about it they recommend you to switch out the application suedes after a couple of panels so they don`t crystalise. Then you are leveling the coating when it`s starting to be cured. Why would a single suede be enough to do this. And this is not to you personal but to the sellers of coatings that not inform you on this. To get the suede towel to be effective many do use a own low nap mf towel to gentle wipe the first time and then follow up with the suede towel to level it nicely. But I will by more of the suede towel to use if I were to apply a ceramic coating. Mike Phillips on Autogeek have done write up on application of gyeon coating and which and how many he used when doing it.

So wait for the coating to fully cure. And then do a wash with carpro reset or a rinseless wash with mckees 37 N-914. And see what you get in water behavior. Then do as Guz says and both rinse and spray the water on to be able to see the behavior it has. Cause this is one of the most used coatings in the EU and much used in the US too. And would it only last over the first rain even if it`s a rainstorm you can bet that carpro would not exists anymore. Depending on the mileage and the environment the car has the longevity of it would be over a year at least if not extreme mileage driven. Be carefull to use only water when touching the paint if you are not certain if it`s clean surface.

I hope it will bounce back and be the protection you where expecting.

[Loach]

I agree with the above, based on your video the coating has still survived but no where near the performance it should be at. It`s possible a heavy rainstorm like this on a coating less than a week cured could have a large impact on the performance, the McKee`s 37 coating held up much better than CQUK when I performed a wash shortly after applying it. Washing or wiping the paint down using only water could also have a strong masking impact if the rainstorm dumped some nasty water on the paint. I just did a test with washing using only water on F11 Top Coat and PA Rapidwaxx at 3 weeks old and it completely masked Rapidwaxx. Then when washing with soap I could see evidence Rapidwaxx was holding up fine (F11 Top Coat continued to be dead).

Give the paint a wash with soap and report back, if no changes to the performance I would reapply. CQUK has been an extremely strong performing coating on my test cars.

[Imatk]

Clean paint is going to have a certain amount of surface tension even if it`s bare. Unless it`s contaminated and "unclean."

This paint was completely bare. I washed it with water only so I wouldn`t introduce an chemical agent that might hinder the coating. And if I did "grind" dirt into it then I can polish it out, but I`m pretty sure it`s just fine since I used several microfibers to clean it... as they say in Texas this aint my first rodeo.

There are areas that show beading, so there were parts that were still in tact, but I didn`t include the entire video, for clarification here is the part where you can see definite beading. So either those areas just didn`t wash away, OR there was some kind of error in application that caused this issue.

I`m guessing it`s error in application so I`m going to try again and see if I can get better results.

https://youtu.be/pOWPb4RyJ9U

[KEVINS]

Use your gut feeling then proceed.

ks

[DaveT435]

Clean paint is going to have a certain amount of surface tension even if it`s bare. Unless it`s contaminated and "unclean."

This paint was completely bare. I washed it with water only so I wouldn`t introduce an chemical agent that might hinder the coating. And if I did "grind" dirt into it then I can polish it out, but I`m pretty sure it`s just fine since I used several microfibers to clean it... as they say in Texas this aint my first rodeo.

There are areas that show beading, so there were parts that were still in tact, but I didn`t include the entire video, for clarification here is the part where you can see definite beading. So either those areas just didn`t wash away, OR there was some kind of error in application that caused this issue.

I`m guessing it`s error in application so I`m going to try again and see if I can get better results.

https://youtu.be/pOWPb4RyJ9U

If it doesn`t work out and you want to try something else let me know, I`ve got a coating you can have. Actually a choice of a couple...free, but I would want you to pick up the freight.

[SWETM]

Is your paint single stage?

I`m uncertain to how different ceramic coatings works on them. But someone with experience with it maybe chaim in. If your car has SS. Either way it`s very surprising how your coating behave. Cause CQUK is one of the best consumer coating there is in harsh environment. In aspects to longevity and use degreasers on them to get the road salt and road grime build up removed with chemicals. The coatings is sensitive to chemicals with ph level above 11-12. But to acidic ph level down to 2 often.

[Rsurfer]

So I got home and cleaned off the hood. Just used water, no soap and unfortunately it does appear that the CQuartzUK coating is gone.



At this point I may do a side-by-side with the DG105 and try to apply the CQuartzUK again OR if anyone wants to buy a barely used bottle of the UK let me know, although this isn`t exactly a good advertisement for it :/

You are flooding your hood from a hose and that`s how a protected (CQuartzUK) hood should react (sheeting). Put a nozzle on your hose and spray it or mist it and I bet it will bead. If you use a soap like Reset, it will bead even more. I say that the coating is still on your paint, based on your vid.