Windshield Repair Forum

Hey, thanks in advance if you respond to this :]
At what point do you anchor a crack?
I've always been a bit unclear about this, like is there a magic number that says "Your at 6 inches, gotta drill now!"
Cause there are cracks on your star breaks all the way to then 10 inch cracks...just wanting clarification.

Also, I seem to be successful with all chips, but the cracks that emenate from the impact point don't seem to go away and leave a noticeable skeleton of hairlines. Does this mean I just need to let the bridge sit on it for a lot longer?

groofop wrote:Also, I seem to be successful with all chips, but the cracks that emenate from the impact point don't seem to go away and leave a noticeable skeleton of hairlines. Does this mean I just need to let the bridge sit on it for a lot longer?

When repairing cracks from inside looking out at different angles you will always see something. Looking from outside in... it should hardly be noticeable (unless you trapped air). Cosmetic results will vary with age of damage. I very seldom do long cracks that are over 30 days old.

groofop,
When do you anchor a crack? - if cracks are from a star break and are no longer than say 1" or 25mm., these should repair ok without having to anchor them. If cracks have run 2"+ or 50mm+ from the point of impact ( POI), then anchoring them would be the safest option. All windscreens have built in stresses ( compression and tension) from the result of manufacture. The expansion and contraction of the glass, caused by temperature change, combines with these stresses to make the crack continue to lengthen if not stopped until it reaches a point where the the stress is no longer strong enough for the crack to travel or it has reached the edge of the glass.

leaving noticeable skeleton hairlines - no repair is completely invisible, my best advice would be for you to post some before and after pics. on this site and get advice from your fellow repairers on the finished repair regarding expectations. Don't forget, when you are advising a potential customer on the outcome of the repair, particularly if they have little knowledge of the process, emphasise that you will be preventing the damage from becoming worse, play down the resulting cosmetic appearance so that any improvement will be seen as a bonus by your customer ( setting the customers expectations).

DryStar wrote:When repairing cracks from inside looking out at different angles you will always see something. Looking from outside in... it should hardly be noticeable (unless you trapped air). Cosmetic results will vary with age of damage. I very seldom do long cracks that are over 30 days old.

Thank you, this helped as well.

Glasseye wrote:groofop,
When do you anchor a crack? - if cracks are from a star break and are no longer than say 1" or 25mm., these should repair ok without having to anchor them. If cracks have run 2"+ or 50mm+ from the point of impact ( POI), then anchoring them would be the safest option. All windscreens have built in stresses ( compression and tension) from the result of manufacture. The expansion and contraction of the glass, caused by temperature change, combines with these stresses to make the crack continue to lengthen if not stopped until it reaches a point where the the stress is no longer strong enough for the crack to travel or it has reached the edge of the glass.

leaving noticeable skeleton hairlines - no repair is completely invisible, my best advice would be for you to post some before and after pics. on this site and get advice from your fellow repairers on the finished repair regarding expectations. Don't forget, when you are advising a potential customer on the outcome of the repair, particularly if they have little knowledge of the process, emphasise that you will be preventing the damage from becoming worse, play down the resulting cosmetic appearance so that any improvement will be seen as a bonus by your customer ( setting the customers expectations).

Wow, thank you so much! I'd "like" this post if it was facebook.

Yea, I will post before and afters, maybe I'm setting my own expectations too high. All the work I've been doing has been on practice windshields (thank God) so I'll do a repair right now with a before and after(s).

Also, just in case you happen to know, does doing a repair on a almost 90 degree angled windshield (RV camper) effect the hydraulic abilities since the resin is more in the injector chamber instead of the end seal?

groofop wrote:Also, just in case you happen to know, does doing a repair on a almost 90 degree angled windshield (RV camper) effect the hydraulic abilities since the resin is more in the injector chamber instead of the end seal?

Since you are using a Delta Kits injector I'll answer this one. The key is to make sure the end seal is full of resin. In most cases you do this by using your leveling screws to create a slight angle for your injector and using a few extra drops of resin. Some technicians like to bottom load, in which case our screw type injectors are a little easier to work with, but a large part of my mobile business was vertical truck and bus windshields and unless it was an inverted (top angled out) windshield I never found the need to bottom load.

Brent Deines wrote:

groofop wrote:Also, just in case you happen to know, does doing a repair on a almost 90 degree angled windshield (RV camper) effect the hydraulic abilities since the resin is more in the injector chamber instead of the end seal?

Since you are using a Delta Kits injector I'll answer this one. The key is to make sure the end seal is full of resin. In most cases you do this by using your leveling screws to create a slight angle for your injector and using a few extra drops of resin. Some technicians like to bottom load, in which case our screw type injectors are a little easier to work with, but a large part of my mobile business was vertical truck and bus windshields and unless it was an inverted (top angled out) windshield I never found the need to bottom load.

Hi Brent,

Newbie question...whats "bottom loading"? Im assuming thats simply putting the resin in the injector through the bottom prior to placing the bridge on the windshield, but Im thinking the "assuming" things isnt a good idea in this business? Why would someone use this technique?

Im sure this will get covered when I get to Eugene for training but Im attempting to learn as much as possible first!

(Looks like Ill be bringing some old threads back to life with newbie questions, sorry)

Shurte wrote: Newbie question...whats "bottom loading"? Im assuming thats simply putting the resin in the injector through the bottom prior to placing the bridge on the windshield, but Im thinking the "assuming" things isnt a good idea in this business? Why would someone use this technique?

Your assumption is correct! Top versus bottom loading depends on what equipment you are using and the way you have been trained. Here is a good post in regards to your question Why use an eye dropper?.

Hi Korey,

I've recently being servicing a fleet of coaches with the Delta WSR Kit.

These Mercedes have a vertical split screen. When I repair them, I've found that putting more resin in makes the resin leak out above the threads and gets everywhere.

I never tried bottom-loading - by that you mean to put the injector in a little first, drop the resin in the end seal and then as fast-as-you-can screw it into the bridge and over the damage?

I can't see how that works?

Can you offer any advice on these vertical screens please? That question goes out to everyone too

Cheers,

Pommy

It is important to use a dropper or small syringe to load the injector with resin. Insert the dropper or syringe as far into the injector as you can so that the resin goes directly into the end seal. The use of a squeeze bottle or trying to count drops from a dropper will result in most of the resin ending up in the inside threads of the injector, rather than in the end seal.