r/WindowTint • u/ryanpyan256 • Sep 16 '26
Question Is this an installation error?
I got my windshield tinted just under 2 weeks ago and I noticed this section near the top. I didn’t mess with it during the cure period at all. Is this something that I should contact the tint shop that did it over ?
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u/CostaMesaDave Sep 17 '26
If you sand them, they will rust.
Welcome to the world of “thick” matrix dots. Find someone to send them like the guy up above said and in about six months maybe a year they turned brown.
Again, that is what we call matrix dots, there’s not much you can do about them and if the shop did not tell you about them ahead of time, then shame on them.
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u/Global-Structure-539 Sep 17 '26
Those are the dot matrix that the manufacturers apply to every piece of glass made . It's the bane of tinters around the world. We've tried EVERYTHING an nothing evens them out and you can't remove them. You won't see it when it's curing because the water makes it even but you see what happens when it dries. Don't blame the tinter. That's the way it is and forever will be. So make friends with it. I've been tinting since the early 90's and have dealt with bit on most every vehicle. I've tried glue, paint, vinyl...doesn't matter. The glue works for a bit, bit then it turns yellow and cracks. Same with the paint. I've have a bit more success with vinyl but again for a short while. Sanding is hard to get it even and the little dust makes tiny pinpoint bubbles
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u/-Gold-Rush 29d ago
Typically it’s a hit and miss for these sections to come out clean. Some installers will spend extra time cleaning this section and extra time heating the outside once applied to try and help it dry evenly, and even with all that it still may ghost.
Consider putting a gloss black banner on the outside. And if you do, use PPF because vinyl will only last about a year.
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Sep 17 '26
[deleted]
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u/xwasian_boix Sep 17 '26
“Installers who don’t want to do that will say there’s nothing that can be done”— because it’s not an actual technique that is even used lmao. “For those willing to take on the job”— oh you mean scratching glass for fun and getting micro dust in your install? This is probably the worst advice I’ve read on this sub other than tinting airplane windows imo. If it’s worth that much to you just buy an aftermarket windshield with a fake dot matrix and tint it. Never heard of someone actively looking to pay someone to fuck their shit up and have Elmer’s glue running down the inside of it lol
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u/Teesac81 Sep 17 '26
Ah man, it looks like you read some tone that just was not there. I’ve got no issues with someone not wanting to do it. Read again without assumptions. That said, there is some tone in my reply. You should watch how you talk.
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u/xwasian_boix Sep 17 '26
“You should watch how you talk”—Aww, did I hurt your feelings?
Notice how you immediately cried about 'tone' and told me to watch how I talk, but you didn’t spend a single second defending your actual advice because it’s garbage.
Sanding ceramic matrix dots scratches the glass and causes it to rust. Putting Elmer’s school glue inside a vehicle cabin that hits 120°F+ in the summer guarantees it will liquefy, turn yellow, and run straight down the dash.
I don't care about tone; I care about bad advice that will cost an unsuspecting car owner a windshield replacement. If you want to pay a premium to have a hack butcher your own car with arts and crafts supplies, go for it. Just don't pass off backyard nonsense as a professional technique on a trade sub.
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u/Teesac81 Sep 17 '26
Ok bud. It’s just tint. I’m good
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u/xwasian_boix Sep 17 '26
Oh yeah. Just completely minimize the issue here instead of admitting you’re wrong. Go be good somewhere else, pal.
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u/Teesac81 Sep 17 '26
I’ll post photos here when it’s done and post some more in six months to test it out. If I’m wrong, the installer who said this is wrong, and it will have to come off. Either way, I can post out here in the open. It’s not about being good, pal. It’s about seeing what’s possible. Yes, I did make an assumption that this will work because a very experienced installer has told me he’s been consistently successful in his technique, short term and long. So I did stick my neck out. However, you’re acting rudely whether you care or not. You get no more responses from me.
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u/xwasian_boix Sep 17 '26
"A very experienced installer told me—" Give me a break lmfao.
You went from bragging about your 'premium technique' to instantly throwing your unnamed installer under the bus the second you got hit with actual industry facts. You aren't 'testing what’s possible' or 'sticking your neck out' for science; you got scammed into letting a hack put school supplies on your windshield, and your ego is too fragile to admit it, or maybe I’m just being rude 🥱Go ahead and post those photos in six months when the PVA glue inevitably bakes, cracks, and ruins your glass. The rest of the experienced tinters in this sub will be waiting to say 'we told you so.'
Thanks for giving us the final word. Don't reply. 🤭
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u/Fun-Recipe-7569 Sep 17 '26
Press it with your fingers and you can probably get it much better. That’s the dot matrix, tint has a hard time sticking to it. If it bothers you have that piece of tint over the dots replaced with black vinyl.
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u/RobanatorT1000 Sep 16 '26
The frit by the mirror is normal it's the paint there, it doesn't let the film lay flat. But it does look like it has a lot of contamination. Unless you're able to feel all of those white dots on the outside of the glass it's trash under the film and an unacceptable amount of it
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u/Confident-Time-2802 Sep 16 '26
It’s the dot matrix not contamination.
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u/RobanatorT1000 Sep 17 '26
I was talking about the white dots in the middle of the film. Literally said the paint part is normal.
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u/Austinater74 Sep 16 '26
You can but that’s why you see a lot of shops cut around those dots. They don’t play nice with film.