When to drill??

[silverliningdetail]

Hey all,

I have spent the last few weeks researching the forum. Thank you all so much...there is a ton of great information!!! However, I wasn't able to find info specifically to my question. After going back and forth, and back and forth again, I recently purchased equipment from Liquid Resins and attended the training course they offer. We were able to cover many of the basic concepts to WSR, including the proper drilling technique. However, I'm still a bit confused as to when exactly I should be drilling. Are there certain characteristics of chips and cracks that I should be looking for that will tell me, yes this needs drilling first? I realize every situation is probably going to be different, just seeing if there is a common thread to be looking for. Thanks again!

Matt

[Brent Deines]

Using Delta Kits equipment and resins you will rarely have to drill. To test prior to starting the repair I use a probe and gently press on the impact point. If I see movement in the airspace and/or in the cracks radiating from the impact point I am confident that I can fill it without drilling. Generally speaking that means if there is damage to the surface at the impact point I won't have to drill. On very rare occasions I find that I can't get the break to fill without drilling, but that is less than 1% of the time.

That may or may not be the case with the equipment and resins you are using so I would recommend following the advice you received from Liquid Resins or maybe some of their users will address the issue on this forum.

[silverliningdetail]

Thank you Brent.

[shepardh1]

I use Delta resin and a standard aluminum injector. I never drill bullseyes or flower combinations that have a 1/32" circular flake missing, but I drill almost everything else. I often see repairs on windshields that were done by other companies ( I don't know what system they use, but I bet it incorporates making a seal, sucking out air and forcing in resin). I frequently pressure test these repairs and find that the resin did not flow to the end of all legs. I then have to drill at the end of each of the legs and backfill them, making the area uglier.

I can typically make a repair look good without drilling, but after it cures and I do the pressure test with a probe, I often see some flexing. This is why I almost always go for strength over beauty and drill most stars. There are many folks on this forum that say they rarely drill, and perhaps some of them are able to match my 997/1000 success rate on repairs. I also suspect that some out there are not filling stars properly.

As a side note, I offer free re-repairs, even if competitors did the original. I live in a small town and over 50% of my buisness is from repeat clients, so it is well worth re-repairing a hack's star in order to gain lifetime loyalty. To clarify, I am certain that some repairmen do excellent repairs without drilling, so I am not saying that the non-drillers are all hacks!

[cracksinlagos]

You have to inspect the break very well because some impact points do not access the star or bull's eye beneath it, you may have to drill so that your rasin can flow into the ends of the cracks.

[Nomad]

When you have a star, many times there will be a small bulls eye in the center that connects to all legs. At least you hope it does. Just clean out the pit and fill. You may have to drill a star leg that doesn't fill, generally from the far end, and pop a bulls eye. Half moons may have a pit that is disconnected from the rest of the break, I drill halfway between the pit and the edge of the break and pop. I never drill bulls eyes. On stars, crescent breaks and flies wings that have a small impact point but look like they are probably quite tight, I drill and pop. Sometimes if I am unsure if the break is open or will take resin I'll go ahead and drill, but hold off on the slide hammer until I'm sure I need to use it. After trying to inject, the resin will make drilling nearly impossible if you determine later it should have been done. I use extremely small drill bits. If I drill into the impact point most times it (the hole)is very hard to find when I'm done. That's why I use these small bits.

I drill and pop the ends of long cracks. Most times I can drill the center of a horseshoe and fill the whole thing nicely. Sometimes you have to drill the ends, especially if they are quite long. Some time ago there was some discussion on filling horseshoe breaks and Brent had a real good suggestion about pit filling the surface before starting to fill. I expect that would come up on a search.

I flex a leg on a star to fill as well as I can get it, then switch to vac and flex again and hold for a few seconds. Then switch to pressure and hold the flexing pressure with the probe until the resin runs to the end of the leg. I may have to repeat this. This procedure gets rid of a lot of trapped air. I rarely have to drill individual star legs.

[clearquest]

I say it has been time to drill for years! With huge oil reserves in the US and too big of a reliance on foreign oil why isn't this nation self reliant?? With $3.30 a gallon gas and no end in site, I say drill, drill, drill!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[SanAntonioWindshield]

I use Delta resin and a standard aluminum injector. I never drill bullseyes or flower combinations that have a 1/32" circular flake missing, but I drill almost everything else. I often see repairs on windshields that were done by other companies ( I don't know what system they use, but I bet it incorporates making a seal, sucking out air and forcing in resin). I frequently pressure test these repairs and find that the resin did not flow to the end of all legs. I then have to drill at the end of each of the legs and backfill them, making the area uglier.

I can typically make a repair look good without drilling, but after it cures and I do the pressure test with a probe, I often see some flexing. This is why I almost always go for strength over beauty and drill most stars. There are many folks on this forum that say they rarely drill, and perhaps some of them are able to match my 997/1000 success rate on repairs. I also suspect that some out there are not filling stars properly.

As a side note, I offer free re-repairs, even if competitors did the original. I live in a small town and over 50% of my buisness is from repeat clients, so it is well worth re-repairing a hack's star in order to gain lifetime loyalty. To clarify, I am certain that some repairmen do excellent repairs without drilling, so I am not saying that the non-drillers are all hacks!

Question? You stated you re-repair other companies breaks? I thought once a repair was seal it was final?

[mend master]

I re-repair attempted fixes on a regular basis. The $20 guys screw up more than I can get fixed sometimes. Most of the time, these hacks don't flex, don't remove the moisture, and rarely pit fill, let alone polish. A lot depends on the type of break you encounter. You will drill if you expect to actually repair it, no matter what equipment you're using. You have to gain access. Flex all around and look for movement and to see if any of the legs (star or combi break) are connected. Sometimes you can drill and strike a bullseye at the end of a leg and properly fill the voids. Sometimes you have to drill and strike a bull somewhere between two legs if close enough. No two repairs of this type seem to ever be the same. Its a case by case basis. You can't fill something thats filled, but you can extract trapped moisture and fill any voids just like any other repair. Sometimes you can clean their crap resin (this type of "tech" NEVER uses good stuff) out of their drill hole (because they ALWAYS drill), with your probe, then pitfill and polish as usual. The end result is not normally going to be as pretty as it would have if you'd gotten there first, but it will look better and actually be better than it would have been otherwise.

[WindshieldScott]

I re-repair attempted fixes on a regular basis. The $20 guys screw up more than I can get fixed sometimes. Most of the time, these hacks don't flex, don't remove the moisture, and rarely pit fill, let alone polish. A lot depends on the type of break you encounter. You will drill if you expect to actually repair it, no matter what equipment you're using. You have to gain access. Flex all around and look for movement and to see if any of the legs (star or combi break) are connected. Sometimes you can drill and strike a bullseye at the end of a leg and properly fill the voids. Sometimes you have to drill and strike a bull somewhere between two legs if close enough. No two repairs of this type seem to ever be the same. Its a case by case basis. You can't fill something thats filled, but you can extract trapped moisture and fill any voids just like any other repair. Sometimes you can clean their crap resin (this type of "tech" NEVER uses good stuff) out of their drill hole (because they ALWAYS drill), with your probe, then pitfill and polish as usual. The end result is not normally going to be as pretty as it would have if you'd gotten there first, but it will look better and actually be better than it would have been otherwise.

I am fascinated at this concept because I too operate in a small town. So you will do ANY re-repair, even if you didn't do it, for free?

I just want to make sure I understand you premise. Thanks! I might have to try this after I understand it properly.