UV lamp vs natural UV

[Jeremiahswindshieldrepair]

Oh another thing Bill...
When I said I have had no failures I was reffering to chips that are finished and come back to me another day to be fixed under warranty. I have had 1 though and it was a chip I told the guy it wasn't going to stop it and it didn't.

When I hand the customer the paperwork I always tell them that there is a lifetime warranty on this chip and if it ever moves or the pit comes loose or anything liek that to call me and we will fix it right away. I have not gotten a single call back.

[Bill D]

Brian,
Thanks for the reply.I understand your position on this forum and that my post will be modified or deleted.,as you are special.
You posted you never use a curing light, but now you post you sometimes do!
You do realize new people post here and believe everything they read as they are following a dream.
One failure in 20,000- turn around and smell the smoke-your pants are on fire!!!

[Bill D]

Delta,
What are your numbers on repairs/vs failures over the years?

[mafsu]

I believe it 100%, I have had 2 in 8+ years. They happened within 2 months of each other and I attribute them to them same crummy resin I used on both.

[Jeremiahswindshieldrepair]

Bill, you need to take those reading glasses out of your shirt pocket and look over my posts one more time. I distinctly said that I don't use a curing light until about 30-60 minutes before dusk .... obviously indoors and at night everyone uses a curing light. I didn't figure that part needed to be said. As for my failure rate you do realize I am talking about how many chips come back to me after I am done repairing them right? Not ones that break out DURING repair ... which has nothing to do with a curing lamp. Every couple months or more Ihave a one or 2 break out while I am working on them but not very often and usually only when it is hot out ... real hot.

As for my pants being on fire ... I don't know what you mean. I did just go and check my pants drawer though and I didn't find any burning.

If you are getting multiple chips coming back to you with further running damage I would say maybe you are doing something wrong? Can I give you some pointers on how to bring that problem to bay? I do have to admit my employees have a less than sterling "comeback" record and I have gotten calls on their work in the past but usually only because they were slackers and no longer work for me ... you being the owner of your own business and all I know you aren't slacking and therefore you shouldn't be getting any troubles coming back to you. As for Delta being my buddy and all ... they will edit and delete my posts just as fast as anyone elses if it is innapropriate and as you can see Delta also disagreed with me on most all of my points a page or 2 back from here ... so no favoritism is shown to me just because I help with the marketing stuff.

[Delta Kits]

Just tested UV outputs.

Our standard light puts out over 2700 microwatts/square centimeter of 365nm uv (which is what wsr resin is designed to cure at).

Full sun, middle of the day in Oregon puts out a little less than 1100 microwatts/square centimeter of 365nm uv light.

So, if you're doing repairs in Oregon, full direct sun is only 40% as effective as our basic uv light.

There's no clouds, a nice day, and we're still only at 40%. Different days i'm sure have differing amounts of uv light, but that's what I mean. Unless you want to be carrying around a uv meter with you everywhere trying to determine if you have enough uv light, it's probably best to use a uv lamp.

Now, obviously, southern states will probably have higher uv from the sun, and i'm not down there to measure it, but my suspicion is that it would not be enough to eclipse the uv lamp.

[mafsu]

I wouldn't argue with you that the lamp puts out superior light. Obviously I'd be wrong as you have done the testing. I think the point though is that the sun will typically get the job done. If we are talking about the difference between 5 minutes (uv light) and 12 minutes (sun) for full curing, yet the pit can be scraped on either after 2 or 3 minutes using the sun would actually save time and be more productive for the tech. Being that once you scrape the pit the curing will continue with no further need to tend to the vehicle.

[Delta Kits]

If we are talking about the difference between 5 minutes (uv light) and 12 minutes (sun) for full curing, yet the pit can be scraped on either after 2 or 3 minutes using the sun would actually save time and be more productive for the tech. Being that once you scrape the pit the curing will continue with no further need to tend to the vehicle.

First of all, obviously I can't advocate doing only a surface cure.

If you ARE going to do a surface cure though, a uv light will do a surface cure faster than natural light also, since it's sending out over twice the amount of uv power. It's quicker for a full cure, and it's quicker for a surface cure. Like I said WAY back on page 1 or 2. There are companies out there that try to imply that their lights are better because they can cure in under a minute while we recommend 3 to 5 minutes. Any light we sell (except AA) can do a surface cure in under a minute, but to do a full cure, you need 3 to 5 minutes.

[mafsu]

I don't advocate surface curing either. I actually advocate curing the repair before applying pit resin(I know Delta doesn't agree). I was simply trying to make the point that surface curing doesn't end the curing process at a point where it is not finished. The resin will continue to cure just as it would had you left the curing tab in place. The purpose of the cure tab is to reduce the amount of air that gets to the resin and this has been accomplished by the surface cure.

[glassdoctor]

Hey Jeff, I wish I had a cool toy to test UV like that. Sounds like fun.

I would think in the summer in the southern states that UV would be at least twice what you just measured, just based on how fast I can suntan... umm make that burn.

There is no comparison to winter in the northern states and mid summer in even in the midwest. I can get a good suntan in a couple hours in July, but can't get any noticeable color all day in Feburary. Is that scientific enough for the critics here?

How close was the uv meter to the bulb when you got 2700mw? I know it drops off a lot in just a few inches. Is that for a typical bulb-to-glass distance?

Oh, I think it's your duty to take a UV reading at the top of a ski mountain.... say Tahoe or Keystone.... take your pick of tax-deductible destination assignments.