Good to BAD

[clay507]

I repaired several breaks. Well we I removed the injector the star break looked good. I cured the break and went to my next repair.

The next repair was a bulls eye. I repaired the break and it too
looked very nice. I was proud of both repairs.

Well the next day returned to the car lot to finish some other breaks. I noticed that these two repairs did not look very good. They looked like the
repairs of a 2 year old. What do you think.

Clay

[Repair1]

Are you using heat??

Brian

[GlassStarz]

I have to think heat as well heating the glass swells it and when it contracts a short cycle repair didnt really fill completly. I find if you heat to fill the legs then let it cool while the injector is still on it fills better.

[StarQuest]

Clay,

Just another thought. Are you sure you didn't have moisture traped in the repair? Also to much stem pressure can sometimes cause a problem.

[DaveC]

Personally, you perceive that the repairs looked like they were made by a two-year-old, the best suggestion: Grow Up

Actually, you (IMO) are displaying the "qualities" of a good WSR tech. Personally, while my repairs, to my customers, seem wonderful.... I seem to always be over-critical and wonder how/what I could have done to make the repair "even better!"

Contamination or not, vacuum or not, you've probably restored structural integrity to the windshield, but the aesthetics lack a bit (in your opinion).

Just keep on "Keepin' On!"

[clay507]

I used no heat. It was a very nice day! Around 69-72 deg


Clay

[GRT]

Hey Clay, you said they looked good when you did them. How good? 80-90% clarity. Then they looked really bad, like how was there lots of black in them or were the legs very visible. What did the Bullseye look like cause that should tell the tale of what went wrong. Just need more details.

[clay507]

OK the Bulls eye... At the top of the break it looked gray/black. And the bottom looked clear.

The star break around the center looked black going out the legs but
the legs were filled.

clarity was about 70-80% but now 20-30%

Clay

[GlassStarz]

I would have to say moisture or contamination of the resin then maybe the pit resin hadnt dryed? I used to use wd stuff and it seemed to turn yellow or dark if i didnt cure right. your givin me a headache stop it I did 10 reo=pairs on 5 cars in 7 degree weather and i havnt felt my toes or ears for hours maybe i will think clearer when i thaw out (what kinda kookoo goes to a car wash on days like this?)

[GRT]

Clay, could be lots of things. Every once in a while I will get a bad repair just because of the gremlins. I think everyone does whether they admit it or not. What I used to do in the early days when this happened was this. Write down every step of that particular repair. Did you miss a step that you usually do? Sounds like there was air still left in the bullseye. Black means trapped air. Not enough time on the vac/press cycles. Maybe the injector was too tight on the glass. Did you use enough resin? And then the dreaded question of should you cure while under pressure or not. (This one has a thread all to its own). As you can see it could be lots of different things. The main thing is learn from it. Get you procedure down to where you doing all the steps needed to do quality work and it becomes second nature to you. You will still have a bad repair now and again. Just move on. My opinion on contamination is it is just an excuse to accept bad repairs. Don't get me wrong, it happens but not that often. You have what it takes to be a Great WSR Tech or you wouldn't care about how your repairs look, and thats what counts in this business.
Sorry I couldn't be more help.

P.S. If you have a repair manual and or video, go back through and write all the steps down and use as a cheat sheet, just to be sure. At least you will have a constant to start from when the gremlins are around.