[Experimental] Can SiO2 Ceramic Coating Protect Polished Metal for 10 years?

[SA14]

Can ceramic coating (SiO2) keep polished surfaces from oxidation and corrosion? I say yes and if I'm right this will mean the end to endless pain of polishing raw aluminium. I'll explain where my opinion comes from down below but for now let's define the current situation. I don't sell ceramic solutions so I have no other agenda here other than to solve our current pain of re-polishing and protecting our precious polished aluminium surfaces such as engine covers and fork tubes.

The Problem:
We all know how much effort it takes to polish aluminium and the heartbreak that comes from seeing your freshly polished metal surfaces tarnish, corrode and get difficult to remove water spots. So what many people do is they paint their surfaces which might fit certain themes and can look ok but if you like shiny metal (like I do) and wish there was a way to protect that shiny surface and make it last longer if not for years.

Previous Solutions:
Some people use furniture polish, others use regular car-type wax and others don't mind re-polishing at all (it's therapeutic). Wax doesn't last long enough or protect for long enough, furniture polishes such as Mr Sheen (In Australia) can be ok but I've never tried it because I'm looking for a more long lasting solution and liquid silicone in solution can get onto surfaces where it doesn't belong. Feel free to share what works for you or what you've been doing so far.

The Ultimate Solution:
I've been using a very high grade (85%) Silicone Dioxide solution to provide an industry first lifetime guarantee to the problem of tarnished plastic (Polycarbonate) headlights. I restore headlights after they lose their factory applied clear coating that's there to protect the plastic underneath from UV affected corrosion. I stumbled across this solution which is normally used as "paint protection" at high end car detailers and does an amazing job of keeping paint shiny and protected against the elements.

So I thought, why not headlights? I tried it and sure enough where headlights would go yellow again after a polish in a few months and would require constant polishing (sound familiar?) they have now been lasting for years and are still crystal clear - unheard of in the headlight restoration industry after in some cases 2 years and still going strong.

So then I further thought why not on polished metal surfaces? I did some research and couldn't find anyone using it on polished metal surfaces. The closest I could come is ceramic protection for "painted" wheels but nothing for raw polished surfaces. I called my distributor and he said "yes absolutely! And it'll last for years too!". Interesting. "Furthermore, SiO2 is already being used as a surface sealer and protectant on stainless steel surgical instruments and a bell went off. I thought "that's us!" and wondered if it would work on polished aluminium because that's where the real issue is with motorcyclists who care about their shiny bits.

Are all ceramic coatings the same?
No. It's about the concentration level of SiO2. I use what I believe is the industry's best and highest grade which contains 85% solid SiO2. Some of the cheap Chinese ceramics you can get can have as little as zero to 5% ceramic which is largely ineffective. My distributor conducted his own tests using a silicone (floppy) ice cube tray and tried as many different ceramic coating (including many of the very popular brands) by pouring the solution into each cup and letting them sit for a few days to cure.

It's was a pretty stark result. Some of the cheaper Chinese brands remained totally watery (i.e. did nothing). some had the consistency of jelly, some felt like soft plastic and only one was rock hard and shattered like glass. It actually created large fractured crystals that look like diamonds (picture below). The only one that seemed to work was the product I use which is the Wurtzite Product called P85 which stands for 85% solids. This is by far the highest concentration of SiO2 in the industry. It's not cheap at roughly AUD$250 for a 30ml bottle though the other failed solutions weren't too cheap either which was disappointing considering they claim the same thing.

One thing to note is P85 has other characteristics which make it superior as well. According to the Wurtzite P85 website the coating lasts up to 10 years! This is because it's nanotechnology which gets into the metal, paint and plastic on a molecular level which means it's not just a coating - it actually gets in and holds on. They refer to other coatings as simply "toppers". P85 also leaves a wax like finish which I can personally attest to. You can feel the difference both on headlights but also recently proven by leaving that same feeling onto the metals I recently shined on my own GSX1400 restoration.

Here's what they say...

Wurtzite P85 High-grade 85% SiO2 proprietary composite blend with superior wax like finish unlike any other coating on the market, extremely durable NanoCeramic protectant for paint surface.

P85 85% ADVANTAGE:
P85 is the only 85% SiO2 Nano-ceramic coating on the market this means the active ingredient in P85 is 85% SiO2 solid content, unlike other brands on the market are 50% or less. The wax like gloss and above 9H hardens can only be achieved with Wurtzite P85's High solid content. Other brands tend to use toppers to enhance gloss the problem with this is they use non-permanent coatings that wash away. SiO2 coatings are not all created equal P85 uses a High Grade of SiO2 manufactured in Japan. P85 has a performance life of 10 years and has become the number one choice for professionals in the luxury car market internationally all backed by Wurtzite's 10 year warranty.

EASY APPLICATION :
P85 is extremely easy to install unlike other coatings that require a lot of rubbing and microfiber towel wastage, with P85 you will only need 2 micro fiber towels to finish the job. We recommend 2 sequential coats of P85 this ensures a 6 micron layer and extreme slick gloss finish. Spray gun applications are suited to hard to get areas like wheel spokes and inside wheel barrels, grills and plastic moldings. P85 has a quick flash point with means better adhesion to paint surface this also reduces product wastage. Professional use only. 
PERFORMANCE COATINGS. NO HYPE.

Source: https://wurtzitenano.com/collections/our-range/products/wurtzite-p-85-ceramic-coat-paint-protection-30ml

I'm a believer so I've coated three items (x2) on my bike with triple coats of P85 after spending over 60 hours polishing them to a high chrome like lustre. These items are my headlight mounts (single coat), my two engine side covers and both front forks (with triple coats). Plus I've coated all my paint work (single coat). The headlight mounts were coated a two months ago (as of this post) and so far still look like fresh polished chrome (pics below). Admittedly, I don't ride much in the rain and it's not a commuter bike but I've been caught a few times in light rain and have washed the bike several times with typical hard water in my city of Adelaide.

Here are some of the features of P85.

• Permanent Ceramic Coating
• Chemical Composition SiO2
• Super Hydrophobic Effect (with a contact angle of 110-120 degrees)
• Anti Graffiti
• Oxidation and Corrosion Resistant
• Slick High Gloss Finish
• Scratch Resistant (9H Hardness)
• Thermal Resistance (up to 750c)
• Chemical Resistance (From PH2 to PH13)
• Performance Life of 7-10 Years

That's an impressive list of features! Note the 750c Thermal Resistance. I wonder how hot our exhaust tubes get? I'll be applying it to the shiny metal "camshaft end caps" which although aren't exactly end caps they are raw aluminium and I'll be polishing them to chrome like finish and will be applying P85 to those too. The engine gets hot but not 750c hot so I expect those to stay shiny for years as well.

The Experiment:
Anecdotal evidence is one thing but I want to really test it with an A/B test so over the next few days I'm going to polish one of my old engine side covers and apply P85 to only one third of the surface, One third will be left raw and another third will be protected with normal car paint wax (Meguires Synthetic X-Wax spray wax treatment) and I'll be leaving it outside on the grass and will be spraying it with water, salt water and soapy water to simulate as normal (or rough) life as possible. I look forward to the results and if I'm right this will be a revolution for bike owners worldwide or at least for our little community. I think there might even be a business opportunity in it driving around applying P85 to recently polished surfaces. Oh and apparently some people are also using it to prevent against water spots on shower screens and glass swimming pool fence surrounds, balcony glass...etc. It's pretty amazing stuff and it doesn't stop there. On the horizon is Graphene which is apparently even more amazing so if you like shiny aluminium subscribe or reply to this thread to keep keep abreast of the results of this (personally) exciting experiment.

I welcome your thoughts, comments and questions. I'm especially interested in how long you think it'll take before we can call this a successful and useful improvement solution. How long have you noticed it took before your polished aluminium started to tarnish and lose it's "freshly polished" shine. Also any other solutions you've found to protect the shine and how long they lasted. For this to work it has to obviously work and be a large (not marginal) improvement. I want it to "WOW!" us. What will it take for you to be a believer?

As for the cost, it's pretty expensive though not as expensive as many other things we do on our bikes and a club or group of friends could buy a single bottle and share the cost.

Application - How To Use P85:
Make sure the ambient temperate or part to be protected isn't too hot (over 30c) or too cold (below 5c) and humidity isn't too high and always out of direct sunshine. The UV rays from the sun (ironically) cause the ceramic to flash too fast - see below.

• Thoroughly wipe recently polished surface with 70% IPA (rubbing alcohol or Isopropyl Alcohol) and water 30%. I spray it on and wipe with a fresh and clean microfibre cloth turning frequently so as not to contaminate the surface and present a totally clean surface to which the ceramic can cling.
• Use a thin microfibre cloth such as that which is used to wipe cleaning glasses - I buy bulk lots at the Optometrist store such as "Optical Superstore" to apply a few drops (5-10) to the cloth and simply wipe on in multiple directions to ensure total coating.
• Wait for about a minute (not longer!) then buff off the excess with a fresh out of the bag microfibre cloth similar to what you'd use to wipe your paint. The ceramic coating only needs to be a few microns thick (typically 3-5 microns). All the rest must be buffed off or else it'll form unsightly ridges. If this occurs polish it off immediately and re-apply. It's not a disaster but not ideal either so take some care. I buy bags of 10 cloths at my local hardware superstore. No need to use your mega expensive super plus microfibre cloths as you'll be throwing it away immediately after buffing because crystals will be transferred to the cloth and will harden causing a very scratchy cloth that WILL scratch your paint or glass or any shiny surface.
• P85 has a two hour "no touch no wet" time period during which it should ideally be left alone to cure. But full curing takes place after 72 hours for it to be rock hard. So no washing or rubbing for a few days but you can ride/drive during this time. Just be super gentle if washing and when drying off. Gentle microfibre washing and wiping is ok (if caught in the wet or you kill a bug or two) but ideally it should be left to cure for as long as possible. Overnight is fine.

I hope I've covered everything I know. I hope this has been an interesting post and I apologise if I bored you with it's length so now...some pics!

[gsxbarmy]

Be interesting to see how this works out in the longer term. I have to admit I'm not yet convinced that this will achieve what you expect SA14. When I was still into polishing I spent a long time looking at and testing various products to maintain the shine; some worked better than others, but nothing ever really maintained the shine (at least on casings; on other items (like polished forks), I found that covering them in helicopter tape stopped further corrosion/damage and maintained the shine).

There are now some decent lacquers on the market for polished alloy; this wasn't quite so available a few years back, and the early ones I tried were ok-ish, but not great. I would imagine now that they have improved; the biggest problem I found was in getting the lacquer to stick to highly polished alloy for any length of time in a motorcycle environment, as after all by polishing the alloy one has removed all the little nooks and crannies that a lacquer or other substance would key to.

I don't know what the latest lacquers are like, but given they have improved, to me, the approach would be to polish the alloy, lacquer it and then apply the ceramic coating.

As I say will be interesting to see how this turns out, as if you have cracked it, many will thank you!

[SA14]

That's ok, me too. I get my confidence from having used this ceramic to stop UV degradation on sensitive plastics (headlights) so I know it works for that application and that wasn't even it's intended application. It's meant for paint protection. The rep was very confident that it would do the job on shiny aluminium based on his experience selling the product to the medical industry to coat their ultra shiny stainless surgical instruments. They don't sell it in these bottles but they use the same gear when making the instruments. I have yet to confirm that's true. I'm taking his word for it but it rings true. This P85 ain't no ordinary run of the mill SiO2. It's the highest solid factor available and has a few special properties but I'm sure that any high grade (at least 50%) SiO2 will help slow down or eliminate staining, corroding and tarnish. My rep says he uses it on the brass on his custom choppers.

I can say that the headlight mounts (although it's only been a little over two months as I write this) are still as shiny as they were when I applied the single coat although that's still not much of a test because I'm a light rider and fastidious when it comes to this bike. I wipe it down after every outing because I can and have the time. Although when I washed it a few times, other shined up aluminium immediately got hard to remove water spots but the headlight mounts just wiped up easily. The other aluminiums needed some hard rubbing and re-wetting with a damp cloth then immediate wiping to remove the water spots which is something I remember I needed to do when I had shiny aluminium mags back in the 80s. I thought "here we go again, what a hassle shiny aluminium is" except for the coated parts.

Also today on my ride I (and the cars in front of me) went through a large puddle of dirty water from a broken water main. It was a sighing moment as the bike was covered in brown water spots but that's riding - it's gonna get dirty. I continued riding and let the water spots dry on the newly polished forks because I wanted to give it it's first test plus it would be dumb to freak out over a ridden bike getting dirty. I just hope it helps me clean it off easier when I get home. The first thing I noticed was that the water stood straight up in big round beads and most of it just blew off which is what it's supposed to. This is the "self cleaning" property of which it speaks. So check on that.

Got home, quick wipe with a damp rag (plus to avoid rubbing dirt into the surface) then a dry one to buff and the spots were gone, back to ultra shiny chrome like polished surface. It only took a few moments to get that freshly polished surface look back. So I'm 100% certain it does protect shiny metal. The only thing left to test is for how long. Even newly shined metal may exhibit these tendencies so until I do the torture test on the side cover I'm not going to be concluded with this experiment. I wasn't willing to sacrifice my shiny forks quite just yet though so I did wipe them off. Just looked at them again about an hour ago right up close and not a single water spot anywhere on any surface I polished and coated.

So far so good but it's early days. I have no agenda to push here (not saying that it's been suggested or anything) because I'm not selling this to anyone. I just want it to sure this pain we all have of groaning about freshly polished aluminium staining immediately from any water left on.

I'll polish that old cover as soon as I can. Haven't done it yet - other stuff to do. Then the real test will begin. The triple coating I've put on my side covers and forks should be considered anecdotal for now.