The skill/equipment/efficiency balance

Post your windshield repair tips, questions, advice! Note there is a sub-forum specifically for business development questions.
GlassStarz
Senior Member
Posts: 1951
Joined: November 12th, 2003, 6:11 pm
Enter the middle number please (3): 5
Location: Southern California

Re: The skill/equipment/efficiency balance

Post by GlassStarz »

Not sure any system uses just vacume. Science is simple though if you create a vacume any liquid pushed into it will flow better. Resulting in those pesky stars filling to the end. This is what the untrained guy is doing when he heats a star. As it cools it creates a vacume pulling it to the end. We all know the average ding dong adds heat after he is almost done resulting n just closing the leggs and they come back later. If he had cooked it before started the repair old school style it might actually work. We all know why you dont want to use heat. The old guys in the bronze age of our industry heated the glass first before trying to push in the resin using the old screw down style pistons. It worked but many were broken in the process.
User avatar
Brent Deines
Moderator
Posts: 2449
Joined: September 24th, 2003, 7:54 am
Enter the middle number please (3): 5
Location: Eugene, OR
Contact:

Re: The skill/equipment/efficiency balance

Post by Brent Deines »

I prefer to do repairs on warm glass. While I do agree that "over" heating the glass closes cracks and causes an array of problems, I very strongly disagree that warming the glass to a suitable working temperature is the wrong thing to do. It's also no secret that when a viscous fluid like motor oil or windshield repair resin warms up it flows better so it's not too hard to figure out that breaks will fill faster if both the resin and the glass are warm rather than cold.

If any warming of the glass closes cracks we would have to conclude that windshield repairs could not be done in the summer time and glass should always be cooled to the lowest possible temperature before repairing. That is simply not the case! While my preference is to repair glass that is in the 80-100 degree range we all know that in the real world most of us will be doing repairs on glass that is considerably colder and hotter than that. Although not always possible, whenever I can I warm the windshield to as close to 80 degrees as I safely can before I start a repair. If I can't warm the entire windshield I will at least try to warm an area several inches around the damage and keep it warm throughout the repair process. I find it speeds up the repair process considerably and results in better repairs. My preference is to warm the windshield and resin first but as long as the the break is dry and the glass is approximately the same temperature as the glass when I start I find no fault in warming the glass after I start the repair process. I've done it thousands of times when time is a premium and had no problems as a result of doing so.

Now let's talk about moisture. Many of us have to deal with moisture on a daily basis. The best way I have found to remove the moisture is with heat but intense heat on very cold glass is obviously not a good idea so warming the glass before removing the moisture is a common sense move and one I practice religiously with excellent results. I agree with screenman that the glass should be cooled down after removing the moisture or even if the windshield is into the triple digit temperatures before repairing it, but to say that heating the glass is not good practice is simply incorrect.

Heat can be very beneficial when used correctly regardless of the type of equipment you are using, and can be very detrimental when used incorrectly regardless of the type of equipment you are using, so let's not mislead people into believing that just because they choose to use heat in certain circumstances they don't have the right type of equipment or are doing repairs incorrectly. Every windshield repair technician in the northern USA or Canada certainly knows better, as do thousands of technicians all around the world where drastic temperature changes are a common occurrence.

For me it always comes back to this. While we may not agree on equipment or methods, I've been doing this for 26 years and have have very few failed repairs or customer complaints. I can do repairs reasonably fast and I've seen enough of other peoples repairs to know mine are in the top percentile. Because of that I have always charged a premium for my services. If you can say the same you have my respect and I'll never try to convince you that you are doing something wrong. There is more than one way to skin a cat!
Brent Deines
Delta Kits, Inc.
Image
GlassStarz
Senior Member
Posts: 1951
Joined: November 12th, 2003, 6:11 pm
Enter the middle number please (3): 5
Location: Southern California

Re: The skill/equipment/efficiency balance

Post by GlassStarz »

Obviosly im not talking about warm glass. But rather those who hit it with fire and you cant seriosly think it anywhere near normal hot day temps after ding dong hits it with a torch. Everyone preffers warm glass thats when it works correctly. HOT is what fire gives you.
screenman
Senior Member
Posts: 3192
Joined: February 25th, 2004, 1:44 pm
Enter the middle number please (3): 5
Location: uk Lincolnshire
Contact:

Re: The skill/equipment/efficiency balance

Post by screenman »

Fire can give you warm, you just got to adjust it properly. I am not against warm glass, the problem lies more in warming too small an area, to small an area and the chip or legs will close up as the glass expands and pushes against the cooler surrounding glass, warm a larger area and it all expands leaving the legs of the break still open. This is very easy to show in a nice new starbreak made in your practise glass without introducing resin to the break.
GlassStarz
Senior Member
Posts: 1951
Joined: November 12th, 2003, 6:11 pm
Enter the middle number please (3): 5
Location: Southern California

Re: The skill/equipment/efficiency balance

Post by GlassStarz »

It depends on where you live every one I work on is 70 f or more. Where I was going you said well many heat stars thinking they helped it. Closed the legs 3 days later the customer calls complaining it came back.
puka pau
Member
Posts: 157
Joined: November 1st, 2010, 4:05 pm
Enter the middle number please (3): 3
Contact:

Re: The skill/equipment/efficiency balance

Post by puka pau »

In addition to Brent's post of 11/11 on this thread you all can refer to his post of 6/25/2012 in the "Star Break" thread. After you all have read and considered what he has advised you might read Screenman's posts on 11/9/13; 5/28/13; 3/20/13; 2/1/13; 6/24/12; and 6/25/12 among others. Point being, there are some who know what they're talking about and then there are others who just like to exhaust hot gas. As always, it's up to you to decide who's who.

Cheers;

Puka Pau
GlassStarz
Senior Member
Posts: 1951
Joined: November 12th, 2003, 6:11 pm
Enter the middle number please (3): 5
Location: Southern California

Re: The skill/equipment/efficiency balance

Post by GlassStarz »

The Pope and Galileo some folks refuse to believe sceince :twisted:
screenman
Senior Member
Posts: 3192
Joined: February 25th, 2004, 1:44 pm
Enter the middle number please (3): 5
Location: uk Lincolnshire
Contact:

Re: The skill/equipment/efficiency balance

Post by screenman »

I am being stalked.

Puka you surely do have some problems going on there.
screenman
Senior Member
Posts: 3192
Joined: February 25th, 2004, 1:44 pm
Enter the middle number please (3): 5
Location: uk Lincolnshire
Contact:

Re: The skill/equipment/efficiency balance

Post by screenman »

Puka would you like to explain to us less enlightened what you see wrong with my post on this line from 12/11/13, thank you.
GlassStarz
Senior Member
Posts: 1951
Joined: November 12th, 2003, 6:11 pm
Enter the middle number please (3): 5
Location: Southern California

Re: The skill/equipment/efficiency balance

Post by GlassStarz »

:lol: not sure where he was going there myself. Many are taught to cook a star that isnt filling. This will close the ends and give you a good looking repair. A couple days later it will look like Poop.
Post Reply

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 38 guests