Headlight reflection after tinting

[asterix]

Hi All,

I had my Genesis tinted with LLumar 35%. I love the look, but the thing I don't like is the distortion on the rear window, even after letting the tint cure for several weeks. The headlights of cars behind me are reflecting on the rear defroster lines when I look in the rearview mirror. Does anybody else who tinted their windows have this problem? If you don't have this problem, what tint did you use?

 

[GripperDon]

No and it is a German tint film. I always get the name wrong but it is something like Uber Updyke. I am sure someone will help me out here and input the correct name.

 

[ASHDUMP]

My tint looked like that only for a couple days if that. I do know what your talking about but unless you've possibly had rain for a couple straight weeks I wouldn't know what to tell you.

 

[OBCT]

No and it is a German tint film. I always get the name wrong but it is something like Uber Updyke. I am sure someone will help me out here and input the correct name.

Glad to help: Hüper Optik

[link]


EDIT: I also love our tint job (see sig) which does not cause any reflection, but it's pricy and still only available in California.

[link] (scroll down to "NANO-TECHNOLOGY")
[link]

 

[FIAT]

I had the same distortion for about 4-5 days after tinting with 35% ceramic.
Thought what have I done. Give it a week or so and it should be fine. My tint is Sun-gard ceramic and it looks great.

 

[Mark_888]

Llumar makes a lot of different films (standard dyed, premium dyed, charcoal, metallic, ceramic/sputtered, etc), each with various VLT percents, so 35% by itself does not indicate which Llumar film type you have.

Depending on the film type, the amount of curing time can vary significantly, but I would contact your installer to see what they say. To speed up drying time park your car where it gets plenty of sun on the rear glass and crack open some side windows if possible.

It is possible that the installation was not done correctly; however, I assume you used a reputable installer who will fix things if it is their fault.

 

[scottdk]

Hi All,

I had my Genesis tinted with LLumar 35%. I love the look, but the thing I don't like is the distortion on the rear window, even after letting the tint cure for several weeks. The headlights of cars behind me are reflecting on the rear defroster lines when I look in the rearview mirror. Does anybody else who tinted their windows have this problem? If you don't have this problem, what tint did you use?

What you may be seeing is defogger Distortion -

At night you may notice that the light from headlights will reflect off of the defogger lines. This is caused by the film having to bend slightly around the raised defogger line, it varies from car to car, and there is nothing that can be done about it.

I think in time, many people get used to it. Hope this helps

 

[ctrcbob]

I also have the 35% LLumar film on my windows, however did not use the metalized film in the rear window. Non metalized used in the rear window so that there would be no problems with radio reception.

In addition, scottdk is correct about light reflecting off the defogger lines.

 

[asterix]

Thank you all for the great feedback. I checked the defogger lines and indeed, they are raised and thicker than other cars that I've owned. I will go back to the installer on Monday and provide him some of the feedback that I received. I am curious if a different tint (type/material/darkness) would make a difference in the reflection. Just wondering if everybody who had the rear windows tinted, experience the deflection that Scottdk mentioned. Do Hüper Optik and Premier films bend the light around the raised defogger lines?

 

[Mark_888]

Thank you all for the great feedback. I checked the defogger lines and indeed, they are raised and thicker than other cars that I've owned. I will go back to the installer on Monday and provide him some of the feedback that I received. I am curious if a different tint (type/material/darkness) would make a difference in the reflection. Just wondering if everybody who had the rear windows tinted, experience the deflection that Scottdk mentioned. Do Hüper Optik and Premier films bend the light around the raised defogger lines?

You don't yet seem to know what kind of film you have (dyed, charcoal, metallic, ceramic/sputtered, etc). Some films take much longer to dry than others (especially the metallics and ceramic/sputtered) because it is harder for the moisture used during installation to pass through the film. Two weeks may not be enough to cure for high-end films.

I have Formula One Pinnacle 50, which is a ceramic film. I haven't noticed the problem you describe, or at least it certainly has not bothered me enough so I would remember.

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[Mark_888]

I have Formula One Pinnacle 50, which is a ceramic film. I haven't noticed the problem you describe, or at least it certainly has not bothered me enough so I would remember.

OK, now that I have had a chance to ride in my car at night, I see that my memory is not so good. The defogger lines are made more prominent from headlights of other vehicles, and to some extent even street lights.

This is definitely normal for a reflective tint film like metallic or ceramic (sputtered), but I don't know about dyed films, since I have never used that kind of film on my cars. I definitely do remember that the "problem" is worse when the tint job is freshly applied, and dissipates after awhile (I don't know if two weeks is not enough time for a high-end film to completely cure), but it won't completely go away either. The same effect occurred on my previous car w/tint also, and obviously never bothered me.

 

[scottdk]

I don't think it's going to make much difference on the type of film used to avoid this issue, but a metallic film does reflect more light and may or may not make it more apparent.

 

[ASHDUMP]

To follow up on what I mentioned above, I do, still have some distortion out my back window but it is not nearly as bad as it was when my car first got it installed. I don't think it will go away 100% but it will get better.

 

[Mark_888]

To follow up on what I mentioned above, I do, still have some distortion out my back window but it is not nearly as bad as it was when my car first got it installed. I don't think it will go away 100% but it will get better.

I don't have any distortion, just reflections off the defroster lines when a bright light hits them from behind. It is not a big deal to me, and I don't even remember if there were any reflections without the tint film.

 

[ASHDUMP]

I don't have any distortion, just reflections off the defroster lines when a bright light hits them from behind. It is not a big deal to me, and I don't even remember if there were any reflections without the tint film.

Distortion might have been a strong word. What you mentioned above is what I'm talking about.

 

[asterix]

Today I had a nice conversation with the installer of our LLumar film tint. It turns out that it is a dye based tint. He mentioned that the angle of the rear window effects the degree of headlight reflection. A steeper rear window will cause more of a reflection. I can only confirm this by comparing it with an SUV that we had tinted a few years ago. That vehicle did not suffer from any headlight reflection. Personally, I don't think that the rear window of the Genesis is that steep, but I can see what he means. He said that it can take 6 weeks for this particular film to fully dry.