Star Breaks

[Anonymous]

I just purchased a windshield repair kit from Glass Mechanix, and I was wondering if someone here could help me.

I am having trouble filling all the way to the ends of the star breaks. It looks like the middle gets filled in, but the farther out it goes, the less it looks filled. Any suggestions?

John Franklin
WRS

[Guest]

John:

Welcome to our board! As you can tell, it's pretty new around here, so thanks for posting anyway! To your question:

It sounds to me like one of a couple things could be happening.

#1, you could be running out of resin by the time it gets to the edges of the star break. Consult your manufacturers suggestions as to how much resin to put in.

#2, and this is my best guess, is that the resin is starting to cure before getting to the end of your star breaks. If it starts to cure, resin cannot flow farther and your repair stops. Your best bet would be to get an ultraviolet shield, which will cover your repair and not allow it to cure until you are ready. Glass Mechanix does have some type of ultraviolet shield, so if you are not using one now, you may want to pick one up. Also, in a pinch, a towel or something like that will work adequately, even though it still does allow in a certain amount of ultraviolet light.

Thanks!

Jeff Higgins
Delta Kits, Inc.
jhiggins@deltakits.com
http://www.deltakits.com

[Anonymous]

John,

Another solution to completely filling star breaks is to drill halfway or a little more through the outer laminate and then pop a mini bullseye (practice-practice). This almost always results in a completely filled star break. Janvil sells a mini bullseye maker that works great.

Mike Burstein
Dominion Windshield Repair Inc
http://ChipDoctor.homestead.com
Made link work

Edited by: deltakits at: 9/10/02 6:02:01 pm

[Guest]

Chipdoctor,

Excellent tip! Sorry to have to edit, but the link came back with a 404 error due to the / at the end..

Jeff Higgins
Delta Kits, Inc.
jhiggins@deltakits.com
http://www.deltakits.com

[Anonymous]

I am really new to this business but, I have found that multiple cycles between pressure and vacuum seems to get me the best results. Take your time and keep cycling back and forth.

[Anonymous]

John,

I think all the suggestions given to you were great, I think your problem is one of these factors. (1) resin drying before it reaches the end of the leg. (2) Your tools not pulling enough vacuum in the first part of the repair.(3) Not flexing the resin into the leg far enough. You might want to try a little butane lighter when you are on the vacuum stage. I hope this helps.

Jeff
http://www.Socalwindshieldrepair.com

[Anonymous]

John;

The correct link to Janvil is www.janvil.com. You can contact them @ 1-877-452-6845 or order @ /www.janvil.com/Janvilstore1.htm

[Anonymous]

What viscosity resin are you using? The thicker the resin, the harder it is to get it to flow into the tight ends of the legs, although with the higher summertime temps, that is less likely to be the problem, it is still worth considering.

[Guest]

The vast majority of windshield repair suppliers sell both bullseye makers and star break makers. If you like your supplier, I would check with them first...

[Anonymous]

I read you reply on repairs for star breaks and noticed you mentioned making use of a butane lighter on the vacuum stage.

Just wondering why? I am really new to this and see this as an opportunity to learn some of the theory.

MItch