Thursday, February 23, 2012

PDR Technology

PDR Technology stands for Paintless Dent Removal. This technology was born in the USA and Germany thanks to the invention of the new flexible paint for cars. Flexible and still strong coating is preserved even when the metal of the car is damaged and this allows to remove the dent on the car without repainting the whole part of it.

This technology is very convenient, economic and profitable. As soon as it appeared, it changed completely the concept of body shop repair, which requires much more efforts, time and most important – money!

The difference between standard body shop repair and PDR technology
When using PDR Technology:

1. You don’t need to repaint the part of the car, as the original paint is preserved.
2. You don’t need to dismantle or dismount the parts of the car
3. You don’t need to use the filler (usually), abrasive materials and other chemicals
4. The cost of such repair depends on many things but the final price is at least 2-3 times lower than standard body shop repair with painting.

How this innovative technology works?
With the help of special instrument the skilled worker removes the dent from the inside of the car. For this kind of job he uses the instruments of different shape, length and thickness. If the dent is small and round (as from the hail) the Slide hammer system is used. This system is so-called “glue” system that allows to remove the dent from the outside, that is much faster and easier.
Due to the appearance of such instrument the worker do not need to dismantle the car any more!
The process of removing the dent consists of several important steps:

1. The worker determines the position of the dent, the way he can reach it and also on the request of the customer estimates the approximate price of such repair.
2. The worker picks up the suitable instrument for this kind of job, fits the light and starts working with the dent.
3. An average repair takes 15-30 minutes. After finishing the removal of the dent, the worker fixes the possible defects if any, and returns the car to the customer.

15-30 minutes all in all and the dent is away as if never to be there before. What is more: both you and your customer are satisfied!
But! With this easiness and quickness one should bare in mind that it is not always possible to do such kind of repair.
Firstly, this technology is applicable only in case when the paint of the car is not damaged. Otherwise after removing the dent you will still need to do the spot repair ( it is possible with the system C from HBC System) and renovate the paint locally.

Secondly, when the metal is damaged hardly you won’t be able to remove the dent leaving no trace, because the metal is stretched and its surplus will be visible anyway.

Thirdly, it is not recommended to fix the dents on the cars that have the paint coating of poor quality, for example some cars more than 15 years old, and also the cars that were repainted in the body shop before.
Nevertheless you have a lot of potential customers, as the amount of cars on the roads is growing unceasingly and nobody is secured from some accidents on the roads as well as from the whims of nature, for example hale.

This technology appeared on the Ukrainian market not so long ago and grows in popularity very rapidly. It is a source of profit for private entrepreneurs, who wish to start their own business. This business doesn’t require huge investments. You invest money only in good instruments, but your major investment is your time, desire and skills.
This technology also attracts the attention of the professionals, who deal with selling used cars, as dealer centers. The question of removing the dents from the car spending little time and money is more than urgent for them.
The choice of the tools
Answering the question “What is the most important in working with this technology?” the professionals will say for sure that it is the level of the worker’s skills combined with the good and qualitative instrument.
The choice of the tools is a very important step. The main criteria that one should keep in mind while selecting the tools are described here.

The material
The material from which the tools are made is very important. It reflects on the price, quality and durability of the tools. The tools can be made of ordinary steel (that normally rusts), chromed and made of rustless steel. The instrument made of ordinary steel is, of coarse, cheaper, but it won’t serve for a long time, what is more you will have to leave aside the expensive cars, and it is these cars, that are your potential customers.

The PDR tools made by Danish company HBC System are made of rustless steel that on the final stage is polished and the instruments acquires the nice and shiny look, that is preserved for many years unlike the chromed instrument that looks nice only when you buy it. HBC System produces the tools from high-carbonate steel and this instrument has been tested for hundred times by workers and also metal laboratories. HBC has the homologations from the car producers all around the world, such companies as Mercedes and Porsche already made their choice in favour of HBC System.

Quality
Except the material the process of producing the tools is very important too. The tools produced by HBC System undergo 3 stages of heat treatment. The points of the instruments are forged and do not distort with the years of usage. Very important is that the middle part of the instrument only bends but do not twists. Because the worker works from the inside of the car he doesn’t see directly where and how hard he pushes, that is why it is so important that the tool works as the continuation of his hand and reproduces the efforts the worker makes.. When the instrument twists in the middle it is very difficult to control it, there is a danger to push too hard or at the wrong place and to spoil all the work done. If you made your mind to work with this technology start with the quality of the instrument.

Sets of instruments

While choosing the instrument one should remember that a universal kit doesn’t exist. In the process of working everyone finds his own tool, which he likes. All the PDR tools proposed by HBC System can be generally subdivided into 2 kinds: main and special. Main tools are the tools that are invented to deal with the most common types of dents and to solve the most common problems. At the same time the special tools are created to help you in more problematic cases where the main tools are not the thing you need. More description you will find in this catalogue.

Cost of the tools
Following the principle of quality one should understand that qualitative and good instrument as any other product on the market can’t possibly be cheap. But the investment into the instrument is totally justifiable, because the tools will serve you for many years without loosing their qualities and maintaining good “sell” look. And even if you want to close the business some day, the instrument won’t be left somewhere on your shelves, because even after years of usage you will still be able to present or sell it to somebody else.

Tuesday, February 21, 2012

Caravan Repair with HBC System E Step by step

Caravan Repair with HBC System E – Step by step
  1. Check the dent (there may not be any areas there are to high.) 
  2. Knock down edges/kanter so the overgang/transition of the dent becomes slanting/skrå, about 45 degrees. 
  3. Grind the damaged area until the paint is gone. You can use a wire brush. 
  4. Clean the dent and the area were the copy is going to be taken. Clean with E-cleaner. 
  5. Measure the dent on the plate/caravan. Check the fixed points several times. 
  6. Fit the niveau rail by applying an appropriate layer of mouldmaker on the back of it. Make sure that the injection hole is in the centre of the damage. 
  7. If it is upgrade: Check the fixed points and fit the niveau rail with vacuum.  
  8. Fasten the vacuum tool. Fit the vacuum tool on top of the niveau rail. 
  9. Check if there is space between the niveau rail and the vacuum tool. Check fixed points. 
  10. Copy: Fill mouldmaker in the hole slowly to the edge. 2cm larger than the damaged spot. Pull up the mixing tip slowly to avoid air pocket/a hole. 
  11. Take the vacuum tool of the plate/caravan. You can use a palette. The copy is done. Press out the air lightly.  
  12. Forskyd/displace,place the vacuum tool/copy to the dent efter fixed points. Check the space between the niveau rail and the vacuum tool. 
  13. Mix the støbemasse (E-filler and hardener.) ½ pipette, ½ HBC mixing jar at 20 degrees.  
  14. Fill the injector. Make sure that there is no air in the injector. 
  15. Cut of the prop/top of the copy. Important: Place the needle in the middle of the copy and inject the e-filler very carefully while at the same time twisting the injector/needle to avoid air in the cast. 
  16. Remove the needle at the first sign of e-filler next to the mould. Carefully keep on filling while the needle is being removed, to fill the hole in the cast.  
  17. If it needs more filling: Leave the needle in and fill the injector.  
  18. The hardening time is 30 minutes at 20 degrees.  
  19. Grind with the glass pen. 
  20. Apply the Primer between the repair area and the plate.  
  21. Spray carefully the area with primer and grind again. Avoid spraying too much into the middle of the repair.  
  22. Regrind with the glass pen if necessary.  
  23. Apply the right caravan colour. Warm up the area to 50 degrees to speed up the curing process.
  24. Apply fade thinner in the mat area (in the rim zone). Bruges til at fjerne sprøjtestøv. The fade thinner dries in 10 minutes, so wait and see the result before applying more fade thinner.  
  25. After a couple of hours you can polish if needed. 
Good advices:
  
- Clean the tools after use.
- The vacuum tools are going to be placed right after use to avoid damages on the gasket.
- Good light.
- You can use a palette or fishing line to get the copy/vacuum tool of.
- Avoid taking of the vacuum tool to fast, when you have made the copy.
- There may not be any air in the injector with e-filler.
- Mouldmaker: Leave the mixing tip on for next time. Change the mixing tip before you use it again.
- Painting with aerosol: Press or don’t. Remember to spray before use.
- Important:
Clean the plate on the caravan.
Clean the caravan tools in hot water.