Cquartz Pro/ Water Spots/Reload question

I had my car coated with CQuartz Pro one year ago by a local detailer. The car is kept covered in a garage and not driven during the winter. I wash the car often using Reset. This spring, I was washing the car and noticed that the water was not being repelled as it had in the past. I purchased some Reload and Elixir and washed the car again with Reset. I was applying the Reload in my garage and noticed that the garage lights seemed to show spots on the coating on a portion of the hood. I could only see the spots when the lights reflected off the hood at an angle, if that makes sense. Now I am wondering if I have a problem and how to correct it. My guess is that the spots may have been water spots? Do I need to remove the Reload, use some water spot remover and start again? I'm not sure what the next steps should be. Is there a water spot remover that works with ceramics that I can pick up locally so I can get this done quickly? Thanks, I am not too knowledgeable about all the coatings etc out now.

Do you have any CarPro Ech2o? This contains a water softener, so if you use it at say a ratio of 1:15 (with it being diluted with demin water) it will remove light water spotting but nothing extreme / heavy calcium deposits.

Picking up something locally may be difficult, but if you're feeling brave you could dilute some white vinegar and spray this onto a microfiber and gently wipe over a test area?

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Originally Posted by Fatboy40

Do you have any CarPro Ech2o? This contains a water softener, so if you use it at say a ratio of 1:15 (with it being diluted with demin water) it will remove light water spotting but nothing extreme / heavy calcium deposits.

Picking up something locally may be difficult, but if you're feeling brave you could dilute some white vinegar and spray this onto a microfiber and gently wipe over a test area?

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I don't have any Ech2o. I was going to use the Elixir next and and thought that contained some of the Ech20. I don't think anyone else would notice the spots as it seems to need the exact right angle from my garage lights to see it. But it will drive me crazy knowing it is there even though the car is not new. I appreciate the reply.

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Originally Posted by streetglider

I had my car coated with CQuartz Pro one year ago by a local detailer. The car is kept covered in a garage and not driven during the winter. I wash the car often using Reset. This spring, I was washing the car and noticed that the water was not being repelled as it had in the past. I purchased some Reload and Elixir and washed the car again with Reset. I was applying the Reload in my garage and noticed that the garage lights seemed to show spots on the coating on a portion of the hood. I could only see the spots when the lights reflected off the hood at an angle, if that makes sense. Now I am wondering if I have a problem and how to correct it. My guess is that the spots may have been water spots? Do I need to remove the Reload, use some water spot remover and start again? I'm not sure what the next steps should be. Is there a water spot remover that works with ceramics that I can pick up locally so I can get this done quickly? Thanks, I am not too knowledgeable about all the coatings etc out now.

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It might be time for a chemical decontamination using ironx, tarx if needed and reset to restore the hydrophobic's.

I would say to try CarPro Spotless if they are indeed water spots. But it works best on fresh water spots and not so much on older water spots. If they are still there then the final way is to polish them off. The downside is that it will remove the coating.

Have you spoken to your Cquartz installer?

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Originally Posted by The Guz

It might be time for a chemical decontamination using ironx, tarx if needed and reset to restore the hydrophobic's.

I would say to try CarPro Spotless if they are indeed water spots. But it works best on fresh water spots and not so much on older water spots. If they are still there then the final way is to polish them off. The downside is that it will remove the coating.

Have you spoken to your Cquartz installer?

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No, I haven't talked to him. In the past, that has never worked well for me. It always seems to be something someone else did. In this case, all I ever did was wash the car with Reset, blow it dry with a leaf blower and then some light drying with towels from one of the big detailing supply companies. It was covered in my garage when I wasn't driving it. I may just have to live with it but it is a bit tough to take as it was very expensive.

You are right. The high cost is one of the issues when having someone do it and apply a "professional" product. What area are you located? Perhaps someone here is close and can help you out. I don't know if you have facebook but the two CarPro groups have many people there.

One of the draw backs to a ceramic coating is that they are prone to water spots. You could try a vinegar and water mixture. That has always been a recommended approach and can sometimes work.

First Guz, I want to thank you for following up with me and thank the others that responded. It has been a learning experience.

I spoke with the detailer that applied the coating and took the car to him this morning. He believes that it is water spots and I will be paying for a discounted maintenance session. Another disappointment since I had just applied Reload to the entire car including taking off the wheels and treating them. I am laughing at myself as that was a real pain to do. I am not faulting the detailer but am concerned about the product.

To be fair, some of the cost was the paint correction as the car was purchased used. The entire car was treated including the wheels, interior, and windshield; all with carpro products. It is not a daily driver but gets out of the garage frequently. I put about 3,000 miles on it last year since I live in Ohio.

It is odd that when I researched this originally, I never saw that water spots are such a big problem. Ceramic coatings were highly recommended on the main forum I am on. The detailer told me that even though I dried the car with a leaf blower and followed up with a drying towel, the water may have still been on the car but not visible to me. I don't know if it is just the product that was used on my car but, if most ceramic coatings are prone to this it is quite a problem. Water you can't even see spotting the car! I have always kept my cars clean and since I am older, at one time they were waxed and in more recent years polished (Blackfire). The cost was minimal and just involved my putting in my time. I chose a ceramic coating as I thought the shine looked superior to polished/waxed cars. But now I fear water! I think the car looks good and want it to look like it is taken care of. I don't know what I want to do going forward. I guess I will now buy some CarPro Spotless or Ech2o but at some point I will have to stop buying products.

Glad to hear it worked out in the end. Yeah unfortunately it is a well known fact that some experience water spotting issues with ceramic coatings. I have yet to experience that myself. Products like Gliss, Reload or Elixir are designed to mitigate that.

Reload doesn't have hydrophobic properties that last that long and it begins to turn into sheeting rather quickly. This is why I think it helps with water spotting. EcH20 is a versatile product and a good one. From a waterless wash, quick detailer to a rinseless wash it does a god job. The only thing it doesn't do is leave protection behind like Reload or Elixir. It leaves one heck of a gloss and slickness. I myself prefer Elixir. For me it just lasts longer than Reload in terms of hydrophobic behavior.

I usually give my coated cars a chemical decon 1-2 times a year to remove most of the contaminants on the paint per CarPro's recommendation on the product page for Cquartz UK 3.0.

I believe I have the same problem. I applied CQ.UK 3.0, after clay bar and Essence Extreme Gloss primer. This is on a new Corvette. Everything came out beautiful and still looks great. But after washing my car last week with Reset, I noticed this week some small "spots" that you can only see in a certain light. My question is what can I use to eliminate this without compromising the Ceramic base? Will Essence take out the spots and leave the CQ.UK.3.0 intact? I have tried Reload but ti did not help.

Have you considered reaching out to the detailer or checking with the community forums for specific advice on addressing water spots, and do you think a product like Essence could potentially resolve the issue without compromising the ceramic coating?