Moisture! Moisture! And more moisture!

[Anonymous]

Mike here from Alabama, where el-nino has been playing havoc on the glass repair business. Well guys it is just plain and simple. Business has been very slow lately. During Feb. it rained 5 out of 7 days each week it seemed here, and was cloudy and gloomy all others. I don't know about you guys but most people in my area either don't keep their cars in a covered area or they are like me they drive everyday. So the cars get very wet and very dirty lately. I service 4 car lots 2 by which are very large and have large turnovers. It has been rough trying to keep up with them due to the weather and the season where car lots are gearing up for tax refund sales. After that long introduction my question is, what are your views on moisture removers and are there simple items that are not as expensive like a hair dryer or just your bic lighter that can remove the moisture. You gotta understand it isn't usually this wet for this long down here. Or maybe I just haven't noticed it that much before I got in this business. I have been in the repair business for 18 months now and love it. I'm just trying to iron out the kinks if you know what I mean.

[Anonymous]

Hi Clear View,
I got to see Deltas moisture evaporator. It works pretty good. A lot of kit manufacturers sell the same basic tool. all it is, is a glorified car cigarette lighter. Delta Kits has this for $85.00. Part number is DS100. A small investment for something that will last. (Maybe you can upsell the moisture removal! )

[Anonymous]

Clear View,

A couple of the popular ways available that will accomplish the task are the moisture evaporator or dryer, a mini butane torch, a heat gun a lighter for use inside the car,

Moisture Evaporator: is nice because it supplies radiant heat from an element as you introduce it. Alternate your heat and cooling cycles and don't let it rest on the windshield while using it to avoid breaking down the PVB or causing a crack out. I use the DELTA moisture evaporator and use 10-15 second heating cycles while moving it in a circular pastern approx. 1/4" to 1/2" from windshield until moisture is removed between cooling cycles.

Mini Torch / Heat Gun: these introduce forced hot air to the area. These will also do the job just fine but will also very easily have negative effects if not used properly. The butane torch will also have a carbon burn off build up which will vary depending on use. Depending on the temp range and supply rate of the torch or heat gun I would hold the unit a couple of inches away from the glass using alternating heat and cooling cycles in a circular pattern and based on the unit lower the heating cycle times.

Bic Lighter: while this will get the job accomplished it is not as user friendly at least in my book. This will also require the same approach basically but one added negative effect from this method is carbon residue from the burn off. Although this may or may not be visible and could effect appearance of the repair.

Alcohol: while I use 99% isopropyl alcohol for pre-repair cleaning, it has evaporative qualities and if there is any miniscule moisture still left it might remove it.

Sunny days are coming










Pay it foward,

Brian
www.safeglasstechnologies.com

[email]"info@safeglasstechnologies.com"[/email][/email]

[Anonymous]

Brian, where can I get 99% alcohol?

One that note, have any of you found another chemical or method that really works great?

Removing moisture (completely) is the biggest problem I think we have in WSR. The common methods work only to a degree or only on certain kinds of breaks, and worst of all they can easily crack the windshield. A bullseye can be dried out easily, but most stars are just the opposite.

Maybe I am too cautious, too afraid of making a chip crack out, but I have yet to find a really effective way to dry star type breaks. I have heated some to 250 degrees several times and it still did not remove all the moisture.

Who has the know how to make a portable microwave chip drier? I would pay a thousand dollars for one. Really.

[Anonymous]

Hey Dustin,

I borrow this from work. The companies name is Crown, out of Pearland, TX 77581. Sorry no #. It is 99% Isopropyl Alcohol a mild to medium grade solvent. I am not sure if it is for sale to the general public but I would'nt see why not.

I would use all heat related methods first or you might be able to roast marshmellows. This stuff will flash on you very quickly. I like it becuase there is almost none if any residule left after it evaporates. I do not use this as my first line of defense for moisture though. There are other chemicals that might produce better results for evaporation but might preform negativly over all. Acetone, MEK(Methyl Ethyl Ketone) are two of them but I am not sure if they would breakdown the PVB or what kind of residue is left that might not be compatible with the resins. I guess that is another good question to ask the suppliers or manufacturers for those of us concerned. I will see what I can dig up and you do the same, and then post the findings. There are others that we use in aviation but they are not user friendly on the body.

I guess another answer I will try to find out is what temp the PVB starts to break down with heat. This might eliminate the daisy problem if you are monitoring the temp. during the drying phase. Who knows, maybe I am just making WSR more technical than it really is. What can I say...

Hey this microwave dryer...I could see alot of men frying their family jewels with this.

If anyone has the information on the food for though in this post please post for us all.

Anyway, I hope this helps.


Pay it foward,

Brian
www.safeglasstechnologies.com

[email]"info@safeglasstechnologies.com"[/email][/email]

[Anonymous]

My input is: Alcohol is a definate NO NO... Most of the suppliers recommend that you clean your injector and other tools with alcohol..Using this statement as a guide, one must consider that: Alcohol, even its fumes will break down the resin. So, if using alcohol to dry a stone shot out, your repair will not hold or last.. Try JanVil, they sell moisture remover, and pressurized dri-air. I personally use a mini butane torch. It produces high heat really quick and is easily maintained. (available from Snap-On, Mac Tools, etc.) Once you develop the technique of drying with a torch, its a breeze. As for carbon build-up, I use another JanVil product, they sell for cleaning cracks and shots, it safely lets you clean up any carbon without jeporadizing the repair area with resin un-friendly chemicals.

[Anonymous]

Just incase it is not known.....a byproduct of COMBUSTION is MOISTURE!!...So any flame would need to be done from the INSIDE for sure.

[Anonymous]

Dustin,

Drop me an email if you want more info on this Isopropyl Alcohol. I believe the decomposition by-products of Isopropyl Alcohol as it evoporates are Carbon Dioxide and Carbon Monoxide. It evaporates rapidly. I also, based on my limited research found its non-compatible compounds. I did not find acrylics to be in the group in it's evaporated state. Suppliers, your input please.

Based on my limited research so far I think if you use Isopropyl Alcohol wisely and let it completely evaporate, the by-products left based on the MSDS/TDS (Material Safety Data Sheet & Tech Data Sheets) should not effect the resins. This does not mean your resins are compatible with alcohol in its liquid state. It must be fully evaporated. Your supplier should be able to give you a more accurate answer on that though.

Glassdoc, makes a good point and verifies my earlier statement. I would not use this as your primary method of chip drying, but as part of it in the chip cleaning phase(If used properly) you should have no adverse affects based on what I could find so far.

Note: I am not an authority on alcohol, it's by-products and acrylic compatibility. This is just what I could piece together so far.

I am still looking into the other questions about the PVB.


Pay it foward,

Brian
www.safeglasstechnologies.com

[email]"info@safeglasstechnologies.com"[/email][/email]

[Anonymous]

I don't recommend using alcohol guys. If the alcohol touches the PVB it will melt it. Ask anyone who cuts laminated glass for a living. We have reasons for the advise we give as do other manufacturers. If you disagree, that's fine, but you might want to ask us why we give the advise in the first place.

Heat is the only thing that should be used to evaporate moisture. Torches and hair dryers may work, but take a very long time. You want a tool that is designed for the task at hand. If you don't like Delta's moisture evaporator, there are several others to choose from. Heating from the outside works best because that is where the moisture is. It's very difficult to get enough heat from the inside of the glass without damaging the PVB, and you have twice as much material to heat before getting to the moisture.

Brent Deines
Delta Kits, Inc.

[Anonymous]

Brent,

Thanks for the follow up on the PVB. Do you have any suggestions as to what substitutes would not affect the PVB for cleaning purposes? Speciffically, what are the compounds if any?

Pay it foward,

Brian
www.safeglasstechnologies.com

[email]"info@safeglasstechnologies.com"[/email][/email]