Suface chip - no visible break

[Boris]

I've had few jobs where there is a surface chip on the glass but no visible break or bullseye. Looks more cosmetic than damage. Sort of like a paint chip.
Seems all it would need is pit filler. Is there anything to do to make sure there is no break? I did flex around the area & checked from inside. Do you do any work on these or just tell the customer no work is necessary right now?

[RHughes89]

That's a good question, we found in the past that if you pit fill these the customer invariably comes back for future pit refills on the spot if it comes out or becomes roughed up from scraping snow off the w/s etc... I will be interested to see how more experienced forum members respond and what do they charge for this.

Ron

[Boris]

As far as retail, you can explain what they can expect & if they want to pay a few bucks that's up to them. But what about insurance jobs? That seems like the ricky one.

[Dave M]

Flexing around the chip (from the outside) should give you a good idea if there indeed is a break requiring your repair skills. FYI...remember moisture can hide a crack by eliminating the air, so use caution when probing around the impact point.
As a rule I do not repair small chips because that is all it is, a chip. You would not be repairing the chip only filling it temporarily. However, rules are made to be broken. Some rental agencies will have me fill the chips for their turn backs or if a customer insists that a medium/large chip be filled I will do so.

[Clarity Glass]

I would probe the chip to check for a tight crack or moisture. If it is just a pit and I'm not real busy I will offer to fill it free of charge to make it look better and reduce likelihood of wiper streaks. My business is all retail so this for me is goodwill. Take care of the customer and they will return and talk positively about your business. Occasionally the customer will tip a couple bucks out of appreciation for honesty and taking care of them, but I definitely don't expect it.

[ChampionCHIP,wsr]

You should be able to tell if there is damage that may spread by probing as you did. We do the same as Clarity Glass and fill surface chips for free. It takes less than 5 minutes and the customer loyalty it builds is priceless. We never bill insurance companies for surface chips or for anything else we would not charge a cash customer for.

I like to clean with a probe and then use a little low viscosity resin prior to the pit resin to make sure resin gets down into all the fine scratches. This not only improves the result cosmetically but helps the pit resin adhere better (more surface to bond to).

[ternaP]

i do surface chips every day for dealers, they have paint chips fixed for cosmetic reasons, same for windshield. thats how i pitch it.