Need some help from the pros

Post your windshield repair tips, questions, advice! Note there is a sub-forum specifically for business development questions.
Ghostteck
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Need some help from the pros

Post by Ghostteck »

So my issue is I cant seem to get a seamless finish. I am doing repairs on a windshield I bought for practice and it comes out great, the only issue I'm having is the final phase where you cure and scrape..... I always seem to get a little black dot which is killing me. Now to create these cracks/ bullseye/ combination cracks I drilled into the glass using the depth gauge on the spring hammer and then used the spring hammer or screw driver and hammer to create my "cracks". I don't know if its because I'm drilling and thats why I'm getting the black dot when i finish or what.. any help is appreciated thanks. Please see the picture for reference.

Image
4.5" Crack before The green crack is on the back
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4.5" crack after the blue arrows shows the drill holes that I used to anchor the crack... I cant seem to get them to blend correctly. the crack you see there is on the inner layer
Image
Starbreak before
Image
Starbreak after
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Combination starbreak crack bullseye before
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Combination starbreak crack bullseye after.. im still left with two black dots where I drilled to anchor.
screenman
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Re: Need some help from the pros

Post by screenman »

Well for starters the bottom one did certainly not need a drill any where near it in the first place.

1. Watch your drill angle, most people have a habit of drill slightly upwards, meaning you are left with a pit impossible to fill.
2. I take it you are using pit fill, if so check carefully when applying the curing tab that no air is left in it, a magnifying glass is a useful tool.
3. Do not push down on the tab but let it float onto the pit resin.
4. if there are any air bubbles pick them out with the corner of your tab or a very sharp probe.
5. If all this fails and you are sure about the drill angle, try curing the resin without putting a tab on for a minute or so.
6. A tiny spot left after a 5 inch crack is repaired is salable although not desirable. You have after all restored the structural strength.
7.Now before you start any more practise repair soak them in water first, this will bring you closer to the real world.
8 I would have hoped that your trainer would have explained how glass breaks, how the damage runs etc, by the looks of your drilling into a middle of the cones they have not done so, this is where training helps.

A drill spot is seldom completely clear when finished, although yours have a little room for improvement I have seen lots worse.

I wish you luck and thank you for posting pictures as it makes our life a lot easier.
Ghostteck
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Re: Need some help from the pros

Post by Ghostteck »

screenman wrote:Well for starters the bottom one did certainly not need a drill any where near it in the first place.

1. Watch your drill angle, most people have a habit of drill slightly upwards, meaning you are left with a pit impossible to fill.
2. I take it you are using pit fill, if so check carefully when applying the curing tab that no air is left in it, a magnifying glass is a useful tool.
3. Do not push down on the tab but let it float onto the pit resin.
4. if there are any air bubbles pick them out with the corner of your tab or a very sharp probe.
5. If all this fails and you are sure about the drill angle, try curing the resin without putting a tab on for a minute or so.
6. A tiny spot left after a 5 inch crack is repaired is salable although not desirable. You have after all restored the structural strength.
7.Now before you start any more practise repair soak them in water first, this will bring you closer to the real world.
8 I would have hoped that your trainer would have explained how glass breaks, how the damage runs etc, by the looks of your drilling into a middle of the cones they have not done so, this is where training helps.

A drill spot is seldom completely clear when finished, although yours have a little room for improvement I have seen lots worse.

I wish you luck and thank you for posting pictures as it makes our life a lot easier.

Screenman thank you very much for the advice, I'm going to try and fix my drill angle.. I drilled at a 45 degree angle as instructed but I must have messed up my angle somewhere along the way. Thank you again, I'll let you know how it goes...

what do you mean when you say soak them in water first? like spray water into the cracks?, I have the evapoator so I normally run my evapoator over each crack for about 1 mintue so dry out any remaining water from cleaning the glass.
screenman
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Re: Need some help from the pros

Post by screenman »

Yep! fill them with water as much as you can, if you are somewhere like me for 52 weeks of the year you are going to get wet damage. So IF IN DOUBT DRY IT OUT.

Let us know how you get on, I love the fact that you are practising and trying to get good before going out on the road, too many do not do this.
Ghostteck
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Re: Need some help from the pros

Post by Ghostteck »

screenman wrote:Yep! fill them with water as much as you can, if you are somewhere like me for 52 weeks of the year you are going to get wet damage. So IF IN DOUBT DRY IT OUT.

Let us know how you get on, I love the fact that you are practising and trying to get good before going out on the road, too many do not do this.
Yea i have to make sure my quality of work is up to my standards and that I get accustom to the equipment. Thanks for all the advice, I'll take some more pictures and let you know my progress. I am trying to think ....I do not push the pit resin out because when I use the blades to finish the windshield I am scraping off quite a bit of resin to finish up. In any case, the more practice the better, I'll let you know. Thank you!
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Mr Bill
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Re: Need some help from the pros

Post by Mr Bill »

Try sticking a needle into the drill hole and then drip the pit filler onto the needle so it runs down the needle and into the hole.
At this time you can dislodge any bubbles with the needle while it is still in the hole.
screenman
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Re: Need some help from the pros

Post by screenman »

Do not forget to keep the pit fill warm, this will help any bubbles rise to the surface.
bill lambeth
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Re: Need some help from the pros

Post by bill lambeth »

You can feather your pit in if you have bubbles with a little practice.
Ghostteck
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Re: Need some help from the pros

Post by Ghostteck »

Its not even that, I'm having trouble with the end of the repair..... I make everything look great(cracks starbreaks bullseye combination etc) but at the end I get a black dot where the pit resin was applyed, "where the orginial drill hole was created"... Is there a trick to get the drill hole to be less visible? I have to create small drill holes to make the bulleyes and then take a screwdriver and hammer to make cracks and things to practice on... is it because I'm drilling that i am running into this issue. Thanks
screenman
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Re: Need some help from the pros

Post by screenman »

It is so hard to see from a picture what is wrong, I am not sure why you need to make a bullseye to get damage to repair we never do.

You will always see a mark where the pit was, in your case the pit would have been the drill hole, try making some damages without drilling first.
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