UV Curing light for Headlight Restoration

[Ilikeshinythings]

I am starting a business doing Headlight Restoration and I have narrowed my search for a quality UV headlight sealant to Solaray 21013 spray. This coat requires a UV light to cure. At 32 dollars for 7 ounces, the stuff is NOT cheap. However, they want to charge $220.00 for the "special UV curing light" from Solaray.

Seeing as how I have been on CPF for 5 years, I know better than to spend $220.00 on a "special UV curing light". However, I don't know where to find the right supplies for a light of this application for cheap, or what supplies I need to buy.

Anybody happen to know where I can find these supplies? Thanks!

 

[Ilikeshinythings]

Did I post this in the wrong forum or does really nobody know? I feel like somebody on here would know...this is CPF.

 

[EndOfTheTunnel]

I found this quote on a site selling the SEM product:
allow 2nd coat to flash 5 minutes before exposing to UV light. cure at a distance of 1-2" for 2 minutes.

And another:

Salesman Note: Solaray Headlight Lens Clear Coat is designed to be used with a U.V. Cure lamp. Although, I have used this product to restore a headlight lens and allowed the lens to stay out on a bright sunny day and it cures out just fine. However, Use of this method is the sole discretion of the purchaser and is in no way warrantied by the manufacturer or seller.


Seems to me you could build your own curing 'table' using whatever UV bulbs you can get at Home Depot, or your local hardware store. You might need to experiment a bit with getting the right amount of UVA, UVB or UVC light, or at least copious amounts of each.

 

[Ilikeshinythings]

For my application a table won't be useful because I am doing work with the headlights still on the car. I'll just keep fishing around until I find the right setup. I don't even really know anything about the properties of UV lights or how much light is required to cure.

 

[Apollo Cree]

Some other posts about other UV cure adhesives have indicated that they may be picky about the wavelength. Since LED's tend to have narrow spectrum widths, a UV LED may not work when another one will.

I wonder if you can find out the correct wavelength for the solaray stuff.

 

[65535]

$220 isn't bad for something that is guaranteed to work.

I've seen some single high power UV LED's go for well over $100.

Most of the time you can get away cheap, but you take a risk with UV.

 

[Ilikeshinythings]

Thanks for the information guys! Perhaps I should just fork out the money when I'm ready. In the mean time I will simply advise people to wax their headlights when they detail their cars or every 6 months (whichever comes first).

 

[Apollo Cree]

OK, I misunderstood. You're not gluing the light back together, you're coating the entire surface of the lens. That's probably going to be hard to do with an LED.

 

[Ilikeshinythings]

OK, I misunderstood. You're not gluing the light back together, you're coating the entire surface of the lens. That's probably going to be hard to do with an LED.

Exactly. Headlight restoration involves wet-sanding with two to four different grits of sandpaper, compounding and polishing with a rotary polisher, and finishing with a form of sealant.

At this stage of the game, I will be using Finish Kare 1000P which is known for out-lasting even carnauba wax which is supposed to be the longest lasting form of wax. I am going to advise my customers that proper maintenance is necessary to ensure their headlights stay shiny--IE waxing the headlights when your car is detailed or every 4 to 6 months.

Headlights are coated with a baked on UV protection from the factory and when you see headlights peeling and degrading it is typically this UV protection that is beginning to disappear. The solaray spray and UV curing lamp provide a layer very similar to the UV protection you see from the factory, as does the Finish Kare, but the spray on protection should last longer. Unfortunately, at $30.00 per 7 oz. spray can, it is VERY expensive. I don't know how many applications 7 oz. will give you, but I only charge $80.00 for a full restoration.

That said, I am looking for alternatives to the Solaray spray. I have found this:

http://www.autogeekonline.net/forum...eadlight-restoration-new-uv-sealant-idea.html

It is quite popular on Google as it is the first website that comes up when you enter "headlight sealant". I have considered this method, but would like more proof that it does not "amber" or "yellow" over time like Spar-urethane is known to do.

 

[DM51]

You've had some replies, but you posted this in a section that is basically a parent sub-forum containing at present just the Dive Lighting section.

I can move the thread somewhere more appropriate if you indicate the main thrust of the topic - is it the LED type/wavelength that is the most important factor?

 

[Apollo Cree]

What happens if you don't cure the spray? Does it dry out without UV? If it's dry but uncured, what happens if it gets wet?

Unless rain damages it, or bugs stick in it or some such, wouldn't it eventually cure from sunlight exposure? Or is there some sort of "threshold" UV intensity that is required to cure? i.e. Does a low intensity UV eventually cure the material over a few days?

 

[Superdave]

find out what wavelength it likes and go from there.


you should be able to build a custom rig with a good florescent bulb inside for this. I doubt the standard black light bulbs will work, you may have to look into germicidal lamps like the ones used in Eprom erasers.

 

[FA5Si]

One thing about sunlight is that it should contain the full UV spectrum, but the intensity may vary. I happened across the spar varnish link previously and it does appear that the stuff has been working for nine months now, with anecdotal evidence of around two years or more, but the idea of having to sand it off means that it does have a finite number of possible applications before the headlight assembly is trashed.

 

[Elemental LED staff]

If you're still looking for some inexpensive UV light for curing the sealant, here's a link to Ultraviolet LED strip lighting, which you can get by the foot for $14.99. Hope this helps!

 

[csshih]

what wavelength? I've had some very good results in curing norland with a blb. -- the wavelengths should be similar?

 

[Yucca Patrol]

Sunlight is a great UV source and is pretty cheap if it is possible to let the stuff cure outdoors during the day

 

[albertzhang]

Maybe you can seek it from china,i am not really sure what kinds of UV headlamp you want?
We had make the headlamp before.it is make up of normal LED.
If you want to get the correct UV headlamp,you must let them know where you use it for , and the wavelengh.How long the light distance you want ,and so on.

 

[Ilikeshinythings]

Wow I haven't checked this thread for some time..I didn't realize so many people responded. Thanks for the responses. I'm still open to the idea of using a UV sealant spray of some kind, but I have opted to use Klasse All In One Acrylic glaze followed by Klasse Sealant Glaze after I finish headlights. The AIO is supposedly good for a year, while the sealant glaze is supposedly good for 4 to 6 months. I assume the combined protection should be good for about a year, so I always recommend that my customers wax their headlights every 4 to 6 months for extra protection. It's all explained on my website which can be found at www.shinyheadlights.com

The spray that I was, and I guess AM still sort of interested in is the Solaray UV spray. I'm not sure what the output of the provided light is, so if I am going to use the solaray UV spray, which I have not decided on yet, I will probably charge extra for it, and I will find the right light source. The LED strips shown before are quite interesting, but I'm not sure they would provide enough raw power. I'll look into it further and see what I can find.

 

[Apollo Cree]

I wonder what something like a Stanley HID spotlight would do?

 

[bshanahan14rulz]

Here's hoping the Stanley DOESN'T cure UV-sensitive materials :thumbsup: