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car tints + plexi + % of tint

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RandyT:

What percentage of transmission you need will depend on the effect you are looking for.  

If you go dark enough, the bezel becomes unnecessary, plus gives you the benefit of hiding the actual orientation of the monitor regardless of the orientation of the game.

The auto tint will work, but there are a few problems.  Unless you are really good with that stuff, bubbles and poor uniformity will be a problem.  But perhaps a bigger problem will be the color cast.  Some of the tint has a purplish cast to it that will probably be disturbing and difficult to adjust for.

Now for transmission percentages.

The dark gray smoke plexi that I originally suggested for use measures between 14% and 16% in the visible spectrum (I have the proper instrument and checked it.)  BTW, the transmission does not appear to be affected by thickness.  It appears that the formulation of the acrylic is altered to give the same specs regardless of material thickness.

The lighter shade is somewhere around 40%, but you will need a bezel if you use this stuff.

The automotive tint has it printed on the box, and comes in a number of shades and colors.  But a dark smoke or "limo" tint at around 20% will probably be a good solution if you decide to go that route.

Good Luck!

RandyT




DrewKaree:

I would go with Randy's suggestions (since he said he measured the light transmission)

Window tint isn't that hard to apply.  I've never had an issue with appying it, as I had to install decals in restaurant windows often, and did three cars, as well.  I NEVER got a bubble, as long as I followed some simple instructions.

1 - Find a spray bottle.  Fill it with COLD water (cold water will cut down on some of the bubbles in your mix).  Add about a TABLEspoon of dishwashing liquid.  Shake to mix

2 - Spray the HECK outta the material you're looking to apply to, and peel a section of the backing away....put the material on and start.

3 - Continue to pull the backing away as you hold/place/move your tint into the position you want.  If   the tint is moving reluctantly AT ALL, spray more mix underneath until it does.  

4 - Once your tint is in place, find a tool to smooth any bubbles to the edge of the tint and off your material.  They make tools to do this, but you really don't need anything other than a plain ol credit card.  

Now that you've found a tool, spray the heck out of the side of the tint that you will be using the tool on.  Start smoothing.  Again, any reluctance at all, add more spray.  Continue to do this until the bubbles are gone

5 - Get a BRAND SPANKING NEW razor blade.  They're so cheap that you'd be a complete fool to use anything else.  Even an "I've only used it once" blade might have something stuck on it that could screw up your new tint job.  You'd hate to find that out around the time it starts to peel up and tear your tint in the area you want it to STICK on!

Trim the tint from the areas you don't want to have tinted.  Spray the whole tinted area one last time and go over it with the credit card lightly to finish the edges off

Doing the three cars using this method, I've NEVER had that ghetto bubbles-in-the-middle look or the stupid double-overlay stripes.  Using this method allows you ample "open" time to work with the material, and if you need more time, just add more spray.

The stuff is cheap.  If you don't like the tint % you bought, peel it off and pick a different %.  Start with Randy's 20% suggestion and go from there.

Rom:

Thanks for the replies. Would of been easier to go with a tinted plexi but like eveything with my cabinet I've had to be different.

Vol:

One thing of note:  Automotive film tint is usually designated with the percentage of light transfered through it.  So 5% tint would only allow 5% of the light to transfer through and will be much darker than 25% tint.

screaming:


--- Quote from: RandyT on April 04, 2004, 10:02:39 am ---But perhaps a bigger problem will be the color cast.  Some of the tint has a purplish cast to it that will probably be disturbing and difficult to adjust for.

--- End quote ---

  Any brand recommendations?

/Steve

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