First Day of Practice

[CrackFixKY]

No better way to start of the week than a little practice with my new Delta Kit. I know many other, inlcuding myself, wondered about where to get some practice glass so I can talk about this first.

I started off by going to some collision places because there are serveral around my house. Went to 2 and they both didn't have any, however, one of the places asked for a business card as they are looking for someone to fill chips and cracks (Cha Ching!)

Next I stopped by an auto glass store, the lady up front said they just throw them in the dumpster and I should feel free to browse through it. Then she asked why I was wanting it. I told her what I was doing and she quickly changed her mind and said the glass was all shattered Oh well, no loss. Later, I called up 2 other auto glass shops, told them I wanted some of their old windshields...They said they would just set some out for me to pick up in the morning, easy enough.

Next I hit up the auto salvage lot. I live in a city so there is only one salvage lot around. Told the owner what I was doing and he let me go to browse through the lot, but I had to show him which car I was going to do just in case they needed the glass. Found a 00' Saturn with what looked like a bullseye. His friend walked out with me to check out the car and was interested in what I was doing. Come to find out he owned a small car lot about 20 miles away and had a vehicle with 2 chips! But on to the true practice.

I did the normal set up and started the process. Just as I was injected the resin is when i noticed that it was a combo. I went through a complete cycle, but I could still see the legs, and when I finally gave up I pulled the bridge off and I could still see the whole crack! It was like I filled the bullseye but not the star...So now I was a little aggitated. I decided to drill a little, did that and did another cycle (adding more resin) to no avail. Even used some heat and thumb pressure in the back and front. I couldnt even see resin flowing in the legs. Sadly, after an about an hour and half I just gave up. I called tech support and tried their things but I just couldnt get it too fill! Anyone have anymore advice? I know stars have been discussed before. And when i drilled it mad the cracks look even worse.

So that was my first day, had some sweet and some bitter. Any advice on the star though? I am beginning to think that maybe the legs werent connected but they were so fine that it would have been heck to drill and fill.

[Bois]

I know that this type break (combo) has been discussed many times on the forum and techs have tried all sorts of tricks to get the legs filled with little success. I have to wonder if we're jumping to conclusions (that the legs are not filled)? I work on chips with legs that many times don't appear to have been filled with resin - but they are. These are usually small, tight legs. I make sure that there's no air (black) and then cure. Most of the time the legs dissappear after curing. If not, I re-work the leg.

Dale...

[tooldini]

I know what Bois is talking about I have some that do the same thing. How long are your vacuum and pressure cycles. If I see many or longer legs I leave my pressure cycles for up to 9 minutes and vacuums around 7 minutes. Also make sure you clean the crap out of your pit before you start( I mean really dig into it and remove all glass chips) I always cleaned my pits with my probe but found that really making sure it is totally clean makes a big difference.

Jeff

[rescue]

That's a great story. I did my first 3 repairs last week.

The first one was a bullseye. I started around 6 pm and had to work quickly because I knew it would be getting dark around 7 pm. Things were looking pretty good but I was kind of distracted because the guy was talking to me. When I finished 3 cycles I decided that it looked good and started to cure. After about a minute I noticed that I was still in vacuum, not pressure! Always cure under pressure! I quickly switched to pressure and completed the cure. Turned out well, but it was getting dark so who knows? Collected a check for $65 and went home.

The next day was a small combo on a brand-new BMW X5. Easy job I thought. Well the owner opened up the car and went back to work. My first mistake - the car was in the sun, with the windows up and the windshield was slightly warm (not hot, but warm). I drilled for good access to the break and completed 3 vacuum/pressure cycles. Then I cured and filled the pit. Well, it looked horrible. I don't know what happened but I have some theories. The customer was not happy either, so I told him that there was no charge for my efforts. He mentioned that this particular windshield had a special "rain sensor" that automatically turned on the wipers. And that he would have to get a $2,000 replacement from the BMW dealer because of the special sensor. I looked up the price at Safelite - they are quoting around $500. I spent a lot of time trying to think what I could have done wrong - did this special rain sensor interfere with the repair? was the windshield too warm? The break was in a difficult spot - just below the rear view mirror - and the car sits up very high. I had to open the doors and stand on the vehicle floor to reach it. I guess I need some more practice.

The third repair was a stress crack on a VW. Started at the lower right corner and went into the windshield about 6". Problem was that the windshield was very close to the dash on this particular vehicle - so no room for crack jacks. I drilled the end of the crack to keep it from spreading. The owner was very helpful - he applied pressure to the inside of the windshield while I filled the crack. Turned out OK. He was happy. I charged him $65. He said that was a bargain and gave me $75 cash!

Not bad for my first week, but I still feel bad about the guy with the BMW!

[GlasWeldTech]

Rescue,
I doubt the rain sensor was your problem. Some Chevy's also have these rain sensors.

[StarQuest]

Have to be honest with some of you guy's just starting out.

At times some of you new people in repair really do scare me by the questions you ask! Working on insured BMW's and other high end cars without having any idea as to what went wrong or by not having hundreds of prior repairs under your belt to help you figure out what you did wrong.

You don't practice on these type of cars or these customers starting out! Why? Simply because it will cost you!

Networks and insurance companies will and can exclude you from their listings for just one major complaint. If you get 2-3 of these complaints...your done!

If your new to this biz....please get your training, practice and experience through fleet, rentals, used cars delearships or other. That's the best place to start!

[CrackFixKY]

I got a practice winshield today from a small replacement company. It already had a chip so I started to repair it, then legs filled up pretty well, they were just very faint. Is this normal or can some of you all get them to fill completely?

[Glasseye]

Rescue:
F.Y.I. the rain sensor is not in the glass it is only attached to it. It would not affect the repair and vice versa the repair would not affect the operation of the rain sensor as long as the damage was not in the sensing area of the glass ( usually a round lens area surrounded by obscuration ). I would recommend that you explain to the customers before you start that a glass repair may not be completely invisible when complete, but emphasise the benefits. i.e. no further damage will occur from that breakage saving him that
$2,000 ?????? replacement.

[screenman]

Man how much I agree with Starqwest. Get some proper training and practise.
As for timing pressure and vacuum is it filled or not filled that is the question, every single break is different from the other any person that trains you to time each cycle is off their trolley.

Learn to recognise whats happening do not just guess. 7 minutes on vacuum have you even got a vacuum or are you talking reverse pressure cycles which only take a couple of seconds on most equipment.

The idea is to pressure until movement of resin stops and back off until movement stops and repaet until full.

Every person I will not use the word tech that goes out and does rubbish repairs devalues our trade, Not wonder in a lot of areas you only get paid peanuts peolple think all repairs look the same so if they have seen rubbish first time they will not have any faith in screen repairs.

Wow sorry about the rant but I love my business and it is getting ruined by people that will not put the effort into doing and learning the job properly.

I will say goodbye because I am sure I have upset someone enough to get me pulled.

[tooldini]

Don't wanna sound stupid screenman but you are the only person in the business I have ever heard mention reverse pressure cycle. I use glas weld equipment and backing the injector screw all the way out till it stops then pulling up and turning slightly would normally be a vacuum cycle. Since I am still learning like you say you are, and am not in a hurry, I just set my timer for that long as I monitor any activitiy in the damage and tweak if needed. Does not mean I just sit and wait for the buzzer many many times I end it early or leave it longer its just a base point. From what I see out in the field my repairs are better than most so having a base point on vacuum and pressure times can't be that bad. I was basically just saying that he needs patience that sometimes time will fill a stuborn leg. I don't hate you screenman

Jeff