My first repair

Post your windshield repair tips, questions, advice! Note there is a sub-forum specifically for business development questions.
Guyb
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My first repair

Post by Guyb »

I finally got to do my first repair since Delta Kits training, on my daughters car. They had a rock hit up near the mirror causing a star break. There did not seem to be an open hole for the resin but I cleaned the impact the best I could. After 5 cycles on the repair I wasn't happy with the repair. To me it didn't look like any resin went in. I did a reload and attempted again using thumb pressure inside to help the flow. I didn't use heat since the repair was so close to the headliner material. I still was not happy and didn't want to damage my daughters windshield doing any drilling or additional break. I cleaned up after the repair and told her I was sorry I couldn't do any good. After my daughter got home she called her insurance company and they sent out Safelite to do the repair. The Safelite guy said there was nothing he could do because it had already had a good repair and he could find nothing structurally wrong with it. Guess my expectations were higher but I did a good enough repair that Safelite approved.
screenman
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Re: My first repair

Post by screenman »

Could we have a picture?
ChampionCHIP,wsr
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Re: My first repair

Post by ChampionCHIP,wsr »

if you'd see the safelite repairs here in nj you would not believe him. never ever have I seen such not good repairs even repair 101 like a bullseye, good luck
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Brent Deines
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Re: My first repair

Post by Brent Deines »

I agree with screenman that before and after pictures would be helpful but they don't always tell the whole story either. Something that concerns me is that you said you couldn't see detect an "open hole" for the resin to flow into and you did not see the resin flow into the legs of the star break, yet you decided not to drill in fear of damaging your daughter's windshield. You also mentioned the reason you did not heat the inside of the glass due to the proximity of the headliner.

1) The windshield was already damaged. You either have to commit to doing what is necessary to repair it properly or leave it alone.

2) Although I rarely find it necessary to drill there are times when it is necessary to do a proper repair. In the case of a star break you would likely be able to use a very small bur and drill less than 1mm into the glass to provide the access you need to get the resin flowing. Not only would the end result be cosmetically more appealing than an unfilled star break but more importantly the properly filled break would not crack out.

3) You didn't say what the temperature of the glass was so I can't comment on the need to heat it or not but if you did find the glass needed to be warmed up to optimal temperature it would be best to heat from the outside with a hair dryer rather than from the inside. Not only does that eliminate the possibility of damaging the headliner but heating from the outside requires less heat and is always preferable to heating from the inside. If you attended a Delta Kits training class I'm sure they went over the reason lighters are used in the classroom (noise), but that is not our general recommendation and this time of year most repairs probably don't need heat except to dry out the damage, which should never be done from the inside.

I hope I don't sound condescending, that is certainly not my intent. Your first repair in the real world can be intimidating, especially if it does not go as you hoped it would. It is possible that the Safelite technician was correct and the repair you performed was sound. You might have too high of expectations and frankly I'm impressed that he did not try to sell you on a new windshield. On the other hand, it is also possible that you did not get the damage filled correctly. Learning to see subtle changes in the appearance of the damage, especially in the legs of tight star breaks is extremely important in properly assessing the quality of a completed repair.

I always recommend getting a practice windshield and repairing a number of different types of damage before testing your skills on a customer's car, even if that customer is a relative. The more practice the better but you should feel pretty confident in your skills before you start working on other people's cars. For some technicians that confidence comes with just a few practice repairs and with others it takes dozens to feel comfortable.

Finally, please never hesitate to call Delta Kits before or during a repair. There is often quite a bit we can do to help if we are on the phone with you throughout the repair process. Sounds like you have high expectations, which is good, so get some practice glass and hang in there. We're here to help anytime you need us.
Brent Deines
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RonLove
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Re: My first repair

Post by RonLove »

Just a tip for new guys, as I am one myself! I thought recently that possibly going to a junk yard and explaining my situation may lead to some free practice glass. I feel that this would expose an individual to real auto glass and a multitude of break types! I don't know if any or all shops would allow this, but I know I live in a rural area, so around here everyone is probably laid back, I know my local lot would probably saw come on in! Hope this helps someone, I feel that practice with out as much pressure will allow you to really get into a comfort zone.
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Mr Bill
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Re: My first repair

Post by Mr Bill »

If the resin didn't look like it was flowing, I would have drilled it and popped a bullseye to create a pathway for the resin.
I have a little macro lens which clips onto my smartphone and allows me to take a closeup photo of the chip before I begin the repair.
You can always refer to the "before" photo to see if there has been any actual improvement after repair.
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screenman
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Re: My first repair

Post by screenman »

Nice picture, and now you have given me another reason to spend money.

I would cap one of those pits before filling, maybe even the largest one and work from the smaller one if it was to large for the injector seal. Now I know you knew that, but maybe we have a tech looking in that did not.

Can we have some more photo's please.
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Mr Bill
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Re: My first repair

Post by Mr Bill »

How about this one ?
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Mr Bill
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Re: My first repair

Post by Mr Bill »

For those members who would like to buy a closeup lens:
The following link shows the type of lens kit I used.
I paid about $10


http://www.ebay.com/itm/like/2221237498 ... noapp=true

The lens kit has several different lenses and I just used the macro lens and discarded the rest.
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Brent Deines
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Re: My first repair

Post by Brent Deines »

I always wondered how well those worked. I'm impressed! Thanks for the pics and for the link.
Brent Deines
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