There are basically only two seasons for car enthusiasts and owners of vintage cars, youngtimers or convertibles – but there is always plenty to do. The bes time is of course spring and summer, when driving fun is at its peak. When the sun is shining and the temperatures are pleasantly warm, trips and meetings are attended. In the wet and cold autumn/winter season, when bad weather and low temperatures dominate, the beloved jewel in the garage receives special care and attention. This is the ideal time to carry out necessary repairs or maintenance work in the vehicle.
To ensure that your vehicle gets spring off to a flying start, there’s nothing better than having it well-prepared and equipped with the right accessories. This will make sure your vehicle starts reliably after the winter break and its paintwork shines in the sun.
With Trotec, your car will always be the star of the show!
- Powerful battery chargers with trickle charge function so that the car starts reliably after the winter break.
- Cordless high-pressure cleaners, eccentric polishing machines and vacuum cleaners to remove dirt from vehicles and restore the shine to dull paintwork.
- Portable battery compressors for checking tyre pressure and preventing damage to the vehicle during winter storage.
- Practical tools such as cordless impact drivers and LED work lights for carrying out repairs even when there is no power supply.
- Measuring devices such as thermal imaging cameras, infrared thermometers and videoscopes for diagnostics and troubleshooting.
Our blog series Car accessories for a perfect start to the season showcases Trotec’s robust, durable and versatile power tools – the affordable solution to all your automotive questions and challenges in maintenance, care and repair.
Part 5: Checking the paint when buying a used car
Springtime is convertible time. When the sun is shining and it gets warmer day by day, many drivers feel the urge to cruise through the sun with the roof down. It is not uncommon for convertibles to be bought as a second car in order to enjoy the breezy freedom of driving on sunny days. But vintage cars and vehicles with sunroofs also change hand particularly frequently in spring.
Are you also planning to buy a new used car at the start of the season? Then protect yourself from dubious seller and bad purchases with a paint thickness gauge from Trotec. Previous damage to the vehicle is often concealed when selling a used car. This can be simple paint repairs after a bump, but also major accident damage that significantly reduces the resale value of a car.
Trotec car paint testers make previous damage to the vehicle visible
Well-repaired accident and paint damage is difficult for laymen to recognise. But fortunately there are practical helpers such as the car paint testers BB20 and BB30 from Trotec, which make it comparatively easy to detect previous and old damage.
You can easily find out whether a vehicle has had an accident, whether parts of the paint layer have been repainted and, if so, how well or badly, by using a BB20 or BB30 coating thickness gauge from Trotec to check whether the paint has been applied evenly in all areas. As soon as you find a spot where the paint layer is thicker or thinner, you can be sure that this spot has been touched up.
It’s that easy:
Simply place the handy pocket-sized measuring device on the paintwork at the spot on the car to be checked, measure the thickness of the paint layer and compare it with the values of the previous and subsequent measurements.
Illustrations
The thickness of the paint layer is measured in micrometres (μm), in the range from 0 to 1,250 µm for the BB20 automotive paint tester, and even from 0 to 2,000 µm for the BB30. The measurement is carried out non-destructively with the help of a sensitive dual sensor. One particularly practical feature: Both measuring devices alert you a soon as the layer thickness you have defined is exceeded or undershot.
Of course, a repainted car is not automatically a worse car. But previous damage to the vehicle is always a good argument in sales negotiation to lower the selling price. The £ 79,95 for the Coating Thickness Gauge BB20 will pay for itself in no time.
Coating Thickness Gauge BB20:
- Dual sensor for the thickness measurement of non-magnetic layers on all magnetic and non-magnetic metals
- Wide measuring range of 0 to 1,250 µm
- Spring-loaded measuring head
- V-groove for measuring on curved surfaces
- Alarm function when exceeding or falling below freely definable layer thickness
- Various statistical functional such as maximum, minimum and average layer thickness
- Two-point calibration for high accuracy
- Memory for up to 400 measured values
- USB interface for PC data transfer
- Simple one-hand operation
- Backlit display
- Automatic shut-down
- Excellent value for money
For those who frequently buy used vehicles or trade in vehicles commercially, the coating thickness gauge BB30 with app control at a price of only £ 159,95 is worthwhile. Equipped with a wide range of professional functions and the outstanding MultiMeasure Mobile App, the BB30 leaves nothing to be desired when it comes to regularly testing vehicle paintwork.
Coating Thickness Gauge BB30:
- Dual sensor for the thickness measurement of non-magnetic layers on all magnetic and non-magnetic metals
- Wide measuring range of 0 to 2,000 µm
- Spring-loaded measuring head
- V-groove for measuring on curved surfaces
- Practical probe extension for reaching measuring points that are difficult to access
- Error indication in case of incorrect measurement
- Simple zero point calibration for fast operational readiness and high precision
- Memory for up to 2,500 measured values
- All values and groups in the memory can be called up directly on the unit
- Bluetooth interface for PC data transfer
- Adaptive display illumination
- Automatic shut-down
