Automotive Refinishing Detection
There are many uses for the Phase II brand coating thickness gauges, (paint meters, paint thickness meters, paint gauges) in the automotive industry. One such application for these portable paint thickness meters would be for fast and accurate detection of a refinished surface. Auto auctions/car auctions, are a popular method to sell vehicles that have been refinished for a variety of reasons. Most of the time an unsuspecting buyer will not be aware of this or of the quality of the refinishing job which can end up being very costly to the buyer of said vehicle. Insurance inspectors and appraisers at car auctions often use these paint meters/coating thickness gauges/paint thickness meters to evalute the current condition and quality of paint on vehicle in question. To alleviate paint quality issues, the buyers/inspectors at car auctions, body shops, auto dealers, etc must be prepared to take a fast yet accurate paint thickness reading of paint on the body panels before making a final decision. That’s where our PTG Series of paint gauges come in. With worldwide distribution these portable coating thickness gauges can be purchased through any auto body shop supply facility, car dealer supply co, as well as any tooling distribution company. Call us direct for nearest dealer to your facility.
With automatic substrate detection, these paint thickness meters/gauges can perform accurate and non-destructive thickness measurements in seconds. Those few seconds can be the difference between making a profit on a vehicle or losing valuable time and resources.
Buyers of this type of coating thickness gauges/paint meter, would be car dealerships, auto body shops, insurance inspectors/appraisers, black book car buyers, professional car buyers, auto auctions/car auctions, body shop supplies and any other profession that needs quick, precise paint thickness measurements.
Other applications for the Phase II paint meter / auto dealer paint meter, would include but are not restricted to any refinishing shop for cars, trucks, tractors or any other steel or aluminum body panel that is sprayed with a coating.
Non-Destructive Coating Thickness Measuring Principles
1) Magnetic Induction Priciple:
The Phase II PTG series of Coating Thickness Gauges utilize this non-destructive priciple when measuring coatings on ferro-magnetic substrates such as Steel and Iron. The coatings must be non-magnetic such as; paint, enamel, aluminum, chrome, copper and brass.
2) Eddy-Current Priciple:
The Phase II PTG series of Coating Thickness Gauges utilize this non-destructive priciple when measuring coatings on non-magnetic substrates such as; Aluminum, Aluminum Alloys, bronze, copper, brass tin and rustproof weak magnetic steels. The coatings must be electrically insulating such as; paint, enamel, plastics, anodized coatings and ceramics.
Calibration Procedures
NOTE: All PTG series Coating Thickness Gauges are inspected and calibrated using the Two-Point Calibratiuon procedure prior to shipment.
1) One-Point Calibration:
This procedure is accomplished by "Zeroing" the gauge on an uncoated version of the sample that you will be checking the coating thickness on. To accomplish this calibration, you will need to follow the simple calibration procedure that is explained in the operation manual. Although this is an accurate method for calibration, it is not as accurate as using the two point calibration.
2) Two-Point Calibration:
This procedure is accomplished by "zeroing" the gauge on one of the supplied substrate samples (steel/aluminum) and then placing one of the calibrated "foils" on that substrate and calibrating the gauge to match the known thickness of the foils. It is best to use the foil that is closest to the actual known thickness of your own samples to be tested. This is a very simple procedure that is explained in the operation manual. By using the two-point calibration procedure, you are making sure that the gauge will be at its most accurate when testing your own coated samples. This is the same method used to calibrate every gauge prior to shipment.
3) Frequency of Calibration:
Once the PTG series of Coating Thickness Gauge have been calibrated, the parameters are saved in the memory and the calibration procedure does not need to be repeated. We do recommed that after numerous hours of operation or if the gauge has not been used for a few days you should check the accuracy using the same calibrated substrate/foil combination previously used to calibrate the gauge. |
