Paint Gauge for Cheap?

man no periods coma's no separation at all..help!! sorry gets confusing trogan!!! i HATE to bitch..

anyways how is the 456? if you tape off a circle and use markers to line them up it should be accurate if the lens is the same size no?

i have never used one but there is a way to line it up..works best with a magnifying glass

 

Hmm, I'm still pondering whether I should buy the HF PTG or just save for the DFT Combo... so confused!

 

I ordered the HF one and it came in yesterday. I can't compare it to anything but it is working well so far ... It was easy to calibrate and all it takes is a few seconds to get a reading. The screen has a back light and the reading stays on the screen for 15 seconds until it shuts off.

On the Tacoma, the paint reads 115 - 120 microns and 85 in the door jam. It even took a reading of 110-115 on the bed, which is a composite material ... which is confusing. It doesn't read on the plastic fender flares nor the front bumper but does on the composite bed. Anybody know why????

The Jeep has readings of 85-90 microns, which makes sense because the paint is horrible.

I just got it in and haven't measured before and after a detail to see how much paint is removed but I will report back at a later date about that.

 

Why not a Highline PTG? Under 400 bucks. Cheaper than the DFT but more than the HF PTG obviously.

 

Found this for Highline, $279 shipped:
High-Line Paint Meter

 

Yep. There's a few places to get it for that price for some reason I was thinking it was 379. It's made by the same folks who do the elcometer PTG.

Paint Meter, Paint Gauge, Paint Gage - HighLineMeter.com

 

Do you have one of these gages? Is it close to the DFT combo in performance?

 

I don't personally, no. There are a few members on autopia.org that do.. which is how it got my attention.

 

Actually it's not made by Elcometer.. it is serviced by elcometer.

I have spoken in depth with a local tech that works at the place that sells them that is just 10 minutes away. This is also the service depot so logistically should anything ever happen, that is a plus for me.

After speaking in depth with the tech I have determined that it takes readings just as fast as the DFT and as reliable readings. I was also told it is durable in the sense that it is not extremly fragile... One item of note, the highline is not backlit.

An additional sense of "warm fuzzy" is that Elcometer services them and they would not service junk...

 

A number of places I have found seem to state elcometer and highlne are made by the same folks. Whether it's simply out of the same factory in China I do not know.

Here's a quote from the link I posted earlier. I've also found it on a few other webpages as well.

Since the 311 milgage is an Elcometer, what precisely does the quote above mean then?

 

i end up doing testing like this in flexible packaging..but our gauges are around the same price if not higher.. i am really getting interested in a paint guage just so i can check how much i removed after i polish

 

I'll do a search as well... but can someone post a 'bargain' link to the DFT combo PTG? Thanks!

 

I am seriously considering this one. Hoping someone writes a review on it first.

 

I have the Highline PTG, and let SuperBee mess with it for a weekend. We both think its a very nice PTG for the price, kicks butt over slightly more expensive PTG.

For me I wanted to have a guage that measures both Fe and non Fe, Microns and Mils, and good resolution, good accuracy. The highline gives all this.

When I was looking, you can find cheaper models but the accuracy is like only every Mill, rathat than .1mil or .001microns. Why own a guage that you can notice subtle differences to paint thickness.

As pointed out already the Highline is an ELconometer PTG in reality, that is HUGE factor.

Cheers,
GREG

 

Awesome! Thanks for the info. I've noticed more and more people purchasing this paint gauge.