Logo rotaautoservice.com
Category: Auto Tips

Thickness Gauge: Looking Deep

2024

Table of contents:

Video: Thickness Gauge: Looking Deep

Video: Thickness Gauge: Looking Deep
Video: Ultrasonic Thickness Gauge 2024, March
Thickness Gauge: Looking Deep
Thickness Gauge: Looking Deep
Anonim

eight

Image
Image

The factory paint and varnish coating (LPC) of a modern car has a definite and approximately the same thickness for all models: as a rule, 100-140 microns. If the part is straightened, then, you understand, under the paint layer there can even be a couple of millimeters of putty. But even if the part was simply changed, subsequent painting in a car service would also be far from factory standards. In this case, the typical thickness is unlikely to be less than 200 microns - usually a little more. Well, if the repairmen stinted on the primer, then the opposite picture is also possible: the paintwork can be thinner than 100 microns.

Thickness gauges make it possible to identify these deviations. They cost from 400 rubles to many thousands. We acquired the “magnificent seven” of such devices and compared their capabilities, convenience, and stability of readings. The Fiat Albea acted as an experimental rabbit, on which the right rear door was changed and the right rear pillar was repaired. Details, as usual, in the signatures and the table; appliances are located in an art mess.

Let's say right away: even the most primitive thickness gauge allowed us to detect putty, but not repainting. Higher-class devices check the thickness of paintwork on aluminum parts. As for the work on plastic, here, alas, only an ultrasonic thickness gauge at the price of an inexpensive car in the same secondary market will help.

PHYSICS OF THE PROCESS

Any thickness gauge is a device that determines the distance from the sensor to the base of the body part. The easiest case is if this base is steel, that is, ferromagnetic. Here you can get by with a simple magnetic device worth several hundred rubles. The principle of its operation is simple: a permanent magnet is hidden in the case, mechanically connected to the arrow-pointer. The closer the magnet is to the metal, the stronger its attraction and the greater the angle of the arrow deviates. Not even a battery needed! Cons - very low sensitivity and accuracy. But he will catch a layer of putty about a millimeter thick with a guarantee.

More expensive and accurate are electromagnetic thickness gauges based on Hall sensors or on the principle of electromagnetic induction. In the latter case, the body closes the transformer magnetic circuit. And the smaller the gap determined by the thickness of the paintwork, the stronger the signal. You can also measure the change in inductance of the sensor coil. Such devices are called inductive.

Non-magnetic materials are more complicated. Nothing is attracted to aluminum, and its effect on the coil inductance is very weak. But you can induce eddy currents in it - the stronger, the thinner the coating. This is how eddy current thickness gauges work. They will respond to aluminum and capacitive sensors. In them, the body becomes, as it were, the second lining of the capacitor formed by it and the two electrodes of the device. The thinner the coating, the larger the measured capacitance. The disadvantages include high sensitivity to moisture: it leads to a "short circuit" of the electrodes. In addition, their area is quite large, so it is difficult to work with such a device on bent surfaces.

But only ultrasonic thickness sounder can distinguish plastic from paint applied to it. It measures the time before the arrival of the reflected ultrasound pulse. Imagine how accurate a time delay meter should be!

Thickness Gauge Indicator *

one

Image
Image

Manufacturer LLC Jet Auto, Moscow

Estimated price 400 rubles

The principle of operation is magnetic. The simplest box with a magnet and an arrow inside did not inspire confidence, but it worked in any weather without batteries, buttons, or other excesses. On the experimental car, I immediately determined the putty on the rack, but I remained indifferent to the replaced door. This device is originally from the USSR and has been manufactured unchanged for many years, if not decades.

* Identifies hidden defects in the car body.

IT-01 *

2

Image
Image

Manufacturer LLC "APEL", Togliatti

Estimated price 3000 rubles

Inductive thickness gauge, specializes only in steel bodies. It is very easy to use, has a bright LED indicator and a flashlight that will help when inspecting hidden cavities or the bottom. Immediately revealed and replaced the door, and straightened rack. The disadvantages are ferrite rings of the sensor coils: they can easily scratch the paint, especially if you move the device along it to continuously read the readings.

* Indicator of the thickness of non-magnetic coatings.

ET-14 *

3

Image
Image

Made by order of Eurotrade LLC

Estimated price 6000 rubles

It’s a completely professional device, as the plastic case is talking about, and the ability to accumulate results and then upload them to a computer via a USB port. Management of modes and calibration - through the English menu. But the paper instruction is not Russified. But it is needed: setting up the device is not so simple. Identify a carelessly painted door and a putty rack for the appliance - seeds. There will be no problems with aluminum parts.

* Coating thickness gauge.

ET-04 *

four

Image
Image

Manufacturer not specified

Estimated price 3000 rubles

The indicator, by the method of displaying the thickness of the paintwork, is similar to CARAT-s, but working on the electromagnetic principle. Here the sensor is point-like, and therefore curved surfaces are not a problem for it. It is controlled by a single button. Apparently, this is why they saved on detailed instructions: it is only told what the combinations of LEDs mean, although this is already clear from the inscriptions around them. The appliance saw the replaced door at the limit of its capabilities, he pointed to the corrected rack uniquely. In front of aluminum bodies it gives in.

* Paint thickness tester.

ET-11S * ZR Choice

five

Image
Image

Manufacturer CHY FIREMATE Company, Taiwan

Estimated price 5300 rub

Outwardly, it is very similar to CHY 113, but, unlike it, has a combined electromagnetic and eddy current sensor, which allows you to work confidently on aluminum. The device determines the material of the part itself by lighting Fe or Non Fe on the display. Accordingly, there are two calibration disks in the set: steel and aluminum. During the tests, he confidently “highlighted” both the door and the stand. Is it worth it to overpay for "color", if you are not going to take an "aluminum" car, you decide.

* A device for measuring the thickness of the paintwork.

CHY 113 * The choice of SP

6

Image
Image

Manufacturer CHY FIREMATE Company, Taiwan

Estimated price 3600 rub

An electromagnetic digital device shows the coating thickness only on ferrous metals. The kit includes an unpainted disc and a 102-micron-thick film that simulates a paint layer - they are needed for initial calibration. The advantages include a spring-loaded sensor, which guarantees stability of the pressing force to the surface of the body. He coped with the task, immediately finding a thicker coating on the door. But the Audi-A6 does not see the aluminum hood point-blank. We chose this particular thickness gauge, based on the best price / quality ratio.

* Coating thickness gauge.

CARAT-s *

7

Image
Image

Manufacturer LLC "PMU", Velikiye Luki

Estimated price 1900 rub

The indicator on the capacitive principle, when turned on, resembles color music: it is poured by LEDs of all colors. It works on steel or aluminum, but only on dry ones: moisture causes the blue LED to light up - and this is where the measurements end. The device reliably identified the putty rack, tried to signal the replaced door, but somehow hesitantly. The disadvantages include a large sensor area (30 mm in diameter), which introduces an error on curved surfaces. However, it is possible to reset the display anywhere and then only check deviations of the thickness.

* Device for controlling the thickness of the paintwork.

Recommended:

New

Red Price. Examination Of Cheap Spark Plugs

Test of inexpensive spark plugs - we compare power, efficiency, consumption and toxicity and make a rating of spark plugs. Let’s figure out if it’s worth buying expensive spark plugs or whether you can do it simple and cheap

Read More
Auto News Rating From June 28 To July 4

Auto News Rating from June 28 to July 4

Read More
Editor'S Choice
Best reviews for the week
Popular for the day