# Babies first burn though - gutted. New Audi paint is THIN



## Guest

*Baby's first burn though - gutted. New Audi paint is THIN*

Just had my first ever burn though of clear coat after sanding down some touch up paint. Got the touchh up levelled just right and on final polish (on low with S20 and a purple scholl pad on a DA) a spot appeared just below the touch up work... and I felt like vomiting. After years of polishing cars it has finally happened.

The paint on a 2019 Audi RS3 is ridiculously thin. Average measurement is 11 microns. Around the touch up was 10 when I was done sanding, and the burn through is at 9 microns. My hatch lid is a shockingly thin 8! And most of these panels and 2-3 layers of ceramic on them.

Thankfully I'm pals with a local smart repair guy who does a pretty good job, but the wing will need to be re-cleared and polished. I guess on the upside it'll have more clear for future polishing, but my poor paint is no longer virgin.

Live and learn I guess, and it's a reality of detailing that these things can happen.

Anyone else had the misfortune of a burn though?


----------



## Sicskate

That's very low reading for paint, are you sure your calibration is correct?



Sent from my COR-L29 using Tapatalk


----------



## Guest

Well it is a cheap gauge off eBay, but it is calibrated to the included samples and reading correctly. Wife's SMART car reads 19-20 which is more usual for Mercedes paint in my experience.

The Audi thickness is just shocking, on a £55k car no less. Might have to reconsider my stance on PPF film as there is so little paint to play with.


----------



## James_R

Is that recording JUST the lacquer/clear coat because it does sounds VERY thin

I'd expect around 100um for base colour and clear coat on that type of car at least ????


----------



## Dave KG

Sounds like your gauge is maybe measuring in mils or 'thou' (thousands of an inch) rather than microns? This is the US unit of measurement (imperial). Though this would now be pretty thick readings rather than thin.. 9 microns sound way too thin.

In any case, that's rotten luck but always a risk of anything that is removing clearcoat. Hopefully the repair will not be too eye watering.


----------



## muzzer

I thought my old 308GTi paint was thin at 20 microns but that is :doublesho


----------



## vsideboy

you got any other Audi's in the street that you could try the gauge on mate, surprised you can't see the metal through the paint haha.


----------



## Christian6984

That does seem a bit thin, I reduced a deeper scratch on the bonnet of my Mums 2019 Seat Arona in Magnetic Grey, has plenty of sharp angles the newer VAG stuff which made me rather cautious, its still there but less visible. The paint was much harder than our 2006 Golf. I was getting readings on the bonnet of around 115-140 microns and being so new I didn't want to push my luck. hope its easily sortable as annoying as it is


----------



## nicks16v

11 microns is basically nothing, especially on an Audi, what colour is the RS3 ? we have a 2016 in Nardo and always thought that was pretty thin as it shows lots of wash marring, even though I'm super careful.


----------



## fatdazza

Personally i would be amazed if your paint thickness was 11 microns.

It may be that your clear coat may be that thin, but an ebay paint thickness gauge is most certainly not going to measure only clearcoat ( unless you paid £1500 for it).

Can you link to your gauge?


----------



## fatdazza

nicks16v said:


> 11 microns is basically nothing, especially on an Audi, what colour is the RS3 ? we have a 2016 in Nardo and always thought that was pretty thin as it shows lots of wash marring, even though I'm super careful.


Not sure why you equate thin paint with wash marring?

Soft paint yes.


----------



## nicks16v

fatdazza said:


> Not sure why you equate thin paint with wash marring?
> 
> Soft paint yes.


Sorry, thats what I meant, soft paint


----------



## Guest

My audi paint is quite hard to be fair. 

My gauge to clarify is in mm, apologies for my error, measurements and maths were never my strong suit. Readings range from .11mm to .08mm which I believe is 110 to 80 microns. In mil the lowest reading is 3mil and averages 4.3mil

Again this is half of paint as any of my kind neighbours cars on my street who let me test theirs. They all ranging in the .18 to .20mm range on average, including a 2015 Audi A3 I checked. Not real happy about this!


----------



## Guest

Link to the one I bought: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/183992792584

I realise this isn't a professional gauge, but it is calibrated to sample discs that come with the gauge, and is reading accurate against those samples. Its advertised as as accurate within .03mm (300 micron). Not a pro gauge by any stretch, but has been useful for my purposes. I'll check these readings with my SMART repair guys £400 gauge when he comes to fix my burn though.... ugh


----------



## Guest

nicks16v said:


> 11 microns is basically nothing, especially on an Audi, what colour is the RS3 ? we have a 2016 in Nardo and always thought that was pretty thin as it shows lots of wash marring, even though I'm super careful.


Daytona Gray


----------



## vsideboy

On the plus side mate, LESS PAINT = LESS WEIGHT = FASTER CAR


----------



## Guest

vsideboy said:


> On the plus side mate, LESS PAINT = LESS WEIGHT = FASTER CAR


Hmm fair point. Sanding the car down to the metal would be cheaper than a respray. 

It's fairly quick already though


----------



## vsideboy

yeah I'll bet it is, lad near me has one.


----------



## fatdazza

80 to 110 microns is thin, but not unusual in some modern cars.

Also the guage you have is not really that helpful when polishing. You really need something with a higher resolution.

The quoted error is +/- 0.03mm i..e 30 microns. Plus given you are measuring paint at the lower end of the spectrum, where the accuracy tends to be more pronounced.


----------



## Guest

I agree, not too helpful when polishing, I bought it just to see what I was working with, how much I was taking off and when buying new cars to check for any obvious repair work. I see now I need something much finer (and to use it before taking sandpaper to the car!). Lesson very much learned!


----------



## suds

Just out of interest, are the low reading panels aluminium by any chance? And, you say you were running on high speed- how much pressure were you applying?


----------



## Guest

suds said:


> Just out of interest, are the low reading panels aluminium by any chance? And, you say you were running on high speed- how much pressure were you applying?


No, I was running on low speed (1) on a DA with a purple scholl pad and some s20 when the hole appeared. Moderate pressure, nothing that could burn on it's own. But I had wet sanded with 2000/2500/3000 prior (but not though) so must have gone too deep on that in the slight curve of the wheel arch flare. My own fault, I unfortunately underestimated how much I had to work with.

The panels could well be aluminium on the Audi RS3, but can't be sure till I find a magnet to check. Does that make a difference to readings?


----------



## Alan W

DannyRS3 said:


> The panels could well be aluminium on the Audi RS3, but can't be sure till I find a magnet to check. Does that make a difference to readings?


The gauge that you have linked to in a previous post will only measure on Ferrous (steel) panels and not aluminium panels.

I don't know what material the panels of your RS3 are made of but on my new TT the bonnet, wings, doors, quarter panels and roof are all aluminium.

Alan W


----------



## Guest

Alan W said:


> The gauge that you have linked to in a previous post will only measure on Ferrous (steel) panels and not aluminium panels.
> 
> I don't know what material the panels of your RS3 are made of but on my new TT the bonnet, wings, doors, quarter panels and roof are all aluminium.
> 
> Alan W


Must be steel then I guess. The bonnet of the wife's car is aluminium or composite possibly and it gets no reading at all.


----------



## nicks16v

I believe only the bonnet is aluminium on the rs3


----------



## Jenson’s Dad

Having read this with interest, can anyone offer a recommendation for a thickness gauge? I'm not a professional so can't justify £400 but I'm no fan of low end stuff that may or may not be accurate - something in the middle.


----------



## nicks16v

This new one from NexPTG looks good, it connects to your phone via an APP and records the results on a virtual map of the car (on the professional version) - think its about £145. Whether its actually any good is another story.

https://www.theultimatefinish.co.uk/nexdiag/nexptg-professional.aspx


----------



## Alan W

Jenson's Dad said:


> Having read this with interest, can anyone offer a recommendation for a thickness gauge? I'm not a professional so can't justify £400 but I'm no fan of low end stuff that may or may not be accurate - something in the middle.


I have noticed Jason Rose of Rupes using a gauge similar to THIS in a video on wet sanding.

The gauge works on magnetic and non-magnetic substrate, ie steel and aluminium panels.

Alan W


----------



## Guest

Alan W said:


> I have noticed Jason Rose of Rupes using a gauge similar to THIS in a video on wet sanding.
> 
> The gauge works on magnetic and non-magnetic substrate, ie steel and aluminium panels.
> 
> Alan W


My cheapo gauge does work on my bonnet and reads the same as the rest of the car more or less. The bonnet in Aluminium and the wings and steel - checked it with a magnet


----------



## Jenson’s Dad

Thanks guys - I'll pass your recommendations on to Santa.


----------



## Alan W

Jenson's Dad said:


> Thanks guys - I'll pass your recommendations on to Santa.


I'm not sure he's going to be able to travel this year. :lol:

Alan W


----------



## fatdazza

Presents may be delayed by 14 days as Santa will undertake quarantine when he enters UK airspace.


----------



## Darlofan

Doesn't he just use hand santaizer?


----------



## Titanium Htail

Only the car knows what work has been done, how did this compare to the shuts, always a chance of happening..it may come to us all at sometime, you are not clairvoyant that Guage may only be a guide.

Good Luck.

John Tht.


----------



## Guest

Titanium Htail said:


> Only the car knows what work has been done, how did this compare to the shuts, always a chance of happening..it may come to us all at sometime, you are not clairvoyant that Guage may only be a guide.
> 
> Good Luck.
> 
> John Tht.


Thanks John, it was inevitable that I'd do it at some point, you're right. I just wish it'd happened on the wife's car and not my pride and joy! Now I've got to bite my nails on Thursday and stress while the SMART repair guy works his magic. Thankfully I've vetted him well on 2 other jobs and he's now half a mate. But no less stressful on an otherwise mint 1 year old car. Good question on the door shuts, just measured them and they are pretty uniform with the rest of the car at .10mm.


----------

