Windshield Repair Forum

I've watched a dozen videos today, and read over the NWRA prep exam questions. I like to refresh my memory to make sure I am not picking up bad habits. How many of you pop a bullseye on a star break. I do, only if I think it is needed. Some of the videos are stating that the legs need to be tied and looped. I repaired a bullseye this morning and it was above 95% invisible and left only a small blemish where the inpact point was. I couldnt see a sign of the legs after the repair from any angle. This is not common for me. Normally I will see a faint outline of the legs. Just curious what you guys have to say reference poping a bullyseye.

you are right,,, You are old school. VERRY OLD.

I drill and pop when required.

I have found when using heat from inside you do not need to add resin or even use an injector to get the legs to look like they are filled.

screenman wrote:I drill and pop when required.

I have found when using heat from inside you do not need to add resin or even use an injector to get the legs to look like they are filled.

AGREE! Heat can be very deceiving!

I'm new at this but so far I have had no luck with using heat. It always makes the legs in the starbreak disappear. Then in a few minutes they reappear. A few days ago I was doing a repair and a leg wouldn't fill I used heat and of course it didn't work. I then released barrel pressure almost to the point of the end seal leaking. The leg filled nicely and I had a very happy customer.

The rubberband method is obsolete. The Spring Hammer is great and is consistent. It works at any angle and the results are almost the same each time. Pull the slide back and press release pin. The cap can be used to ensure you have the correct drill depth.

14u2ponder, completely wrong on every count. What happens when glass warms up? wow! it expands filling the space that had air in before with, yep! glass. The legs reappear when the glass cools back to the ambient temperature and the air fills the space left. Fact.

Warm a starbreak up and leave it, in tests we have found that some legs can stay shut for a very long time, certainly a lot longer than 5 minutes. Which is the reason the heat sink was invented to speed the cooling process down.

A leg will not create backward pressure, the air trapped in the end as you compress that air can do so, until released that is.

Show me a system that advocates heat and I will show you the reason not to use heat, glass will expand before you noticeably change the viscosity of the resin with heat.

Creating a bullseye will certainly help to open up some breaks, not all need it but from some it is a must.

What do you expect me to do keep quiet when I see or hear about something I feel is being carried out poorly. 80% or more of windshields being repaired are being done extremely badly in my opinion, I get called out daily to repair windshields that poorly trained people have attempted before.

Do what I do go back to your practise glass and carry out the experiments I have over many years and then come back again.

Candyman, the rubber band system was for making practise damage, never for opening up a starbreak etc.

14U2PONDER,


I am going to be very blunt and totally honest honest with you. I am not being sarcastic or am I trying to be rude. I am just very tired of people in this trade doing poor quality work.

You need to forget everything you thought you knew about windshield repair and start over with some professional training. You don't seem to understand the basics of how glass breaks, how heat affects glass, or how a repair should fill. There are a lot of "experts" out there telling newbies to heat the glass to get it to fill. They are absolutely wrong in every case. The glass must be cool to fill. You only use heat to dry moisture out of the break before you fill. I think you will find this job much easier with proper training. Please get help. The moderators of this forum may have info on traing in your area. They are always willing to help if you ask them, right guys?

14U2PONDER;

Bravo! Once again the know-it-all bloviators are put in the bag. Wouldn't you expect that Screenman, being a Delta distributor would at least be familiar with Delta's "best practices"?

Cheers;

Puka Pau

Puka, Delta and I have often not quite been eye to eye on all our techniques.

Right here we go to try an simplify things a bit.

First could you answer this very simple question, what happens when glass is warmed up?

When and if you can answer that question I will explain the way that heat can restrict the flow of resin.