Drystar

[InventorOfDryStarPatent]

Originally Posted by jayjacque

That's some very interesting stuff, radical to say the least, but makes sense. Barry how much of that applies to starbreaks, or is that a whole different ballgame?

I do not heat stars to get air out,only to get the water out.I want the legs open, when I heat the star the heat expands the glass and closes the legs off.If I heat all the glass with the defroster then thats ok because its all equal but takes added time.With star breaks it is even more important to use pressure rather then vaccum, you get more force with pressure.If one of the legs dont start to fill in 15 seconds,I pop it and finish in minutes.I will drill the star first before any chemical is present, I drill 3/4 of the lenght or the dental burr diameter.If the star fills, im done, if one or more of the legs is not filling in 15 seconds, I use the inside wall of the drilled hole and place my carbide scribe on the inside wall of the drilled hole and tap to pop a slight rainbow.
For stubborn legs, I push on the leg while pressure filling to open up the crack and watch the chemical flow in in seconds!
I have 10 bridges/injectors that I used.
When I had muliple repairs going, I would use as many bridges/injectors as needed at the same time. I did so many of these things so fast that I learned when I was done, I would need to write the bill, drive to the next dealer, walk the lot, fix there glass, write the bill, go to the 3rd dealer, repeat, go back to the 1st dealer and get signature and p.o.
I did this thru sept.2001
They started to freak out, I was making more money then they where.
Also, I didnt let them know what kind of car I had in the garage and did not let them know what kind of house that garage was attatched to and definatly not tip my hat on the acerage the house sat on and hope they dont check public records and find out about all the rentals also!I lost some accounts due to jealousy, but got them back when they changed jobs.


I drove a beater honda civic to my accounts in the winter and used the car or goldwing in the summer.
I would go to the super market and buy 100 party trays of the finest cold cuts and cheese with bread, Cases of liters of coke/pepsi hand them out to the sales and service department on rainy saturdays and christmas.
I got more retail insurance work along with the used car department then I could imagine.

[Dave M]

Barry,

What resin did you use? I use a mini torch for drying out my breaks, using a 3" circle closing in on the break. Have not broken or enlarged a break using this method. I still have my drystar but sees limited use since cracking a few!

[splitpit]

Is it important to hide your ego when dealing with others Barry?

[screenman]

DaveM, could you please explain your reasons for heating up a 3 inch area. I can see no reason so it would be nice to try and understand your point of view. I have stated many times my reasons for only heating a small area, so it would be nice for somebody to give the reasons why their way is better.

[Dave M]

Screenman,
I'm certainly not saying my method is better! I forget who or when this method was told to me, it's been a few years.
When I used the drystar or mini torch directly on the break I was getting to much cracking out. I asked about that problem either on this forum or another and was advised to try the other method (heating a 3" circle working into the break). Remember, I work in Maine and these w/s are extremely cold and brittle, even after bringing vehicle inside.
It seemed like the shock to the glass (heat from torch or drystar) was causing the cracking out. By heating the glass 3'' around break gradually working in would cause less temperature shock to the actual break and therefore, no cracking out.

[SGT]

Originally Posted by InventorOfDryStarPatent

Hi everyone, my name is Barry Slavin Jr. I Invented the DRYSTAR in 1987 .
I started repairing windshields in 1981, retired in sept. of 2001.
I would like to donate some of my free time in answering some questions you may have about the use of this tool in drying out wet breaks.
Best Regards.

Thanks for joining and sharing your knowledge with us. I am a fan of radiant heat over forced heat and use the drystar. My method may differ from most for drying out as I do not allow the drystar to actually touch the windshield. Instead I preheat the drystar, hold it just barely off the windshield, do 3 cycles at 18-20 sec., let the windshield cool in between cycles and keep the element pinpointed over the damage. I have had very good success with this method but am curious what you think.

1. Did you hold your drystar directly on the glass?
2. Did you put the drystar on the glass and then start the heat cycle to allow it to gradually increase to avoid a thermal shock?
3. How many cycles did you use on average?
4. What was your cycle durations?
5. What is the temp that drystar reaches?

I would like to hear more about how you use this tool for other purposes especially air pockets. What is your recommended cycle/ duration for this technique.

Brent maybe you could jump in to advise on the effect extreme heat may have on the resin, at least DK resin if the drystar was used to remove air pockets as Barry describes.

Thanks again for spending time here with us.

[InventorOfDryStarPatent]

Originally Posted by Dave M

Barry,

What resin did you use? I use a mini torch for drying out my breaks, using a 3" circle closing in on the break. Have not broken or enlarged a break using this method. I still have my drystar but sees limited use since cracking a few!

Dave:
Keep in mind that a break that is so sensitive to cracking out will crack no matter what.
If a drystar will crack a break, that same break will crack with a torch, It will just crack much easier, the window of forgiveness is less with a torch.

One of the first shields I broke was at a brand new audi/porsh account.
first time there and broke a window on a $75,000 car.
I handed the owner a check for the broken glass.
The rest is history.
He would help me find breaks to fix.

I never used resin, I allways used polymer.
My chemist retired just after I did.
I sold the remaining 5 gallons of go go juice along with my repair co. in 2001.
Kept in a dark, cool, dry place, the shelf life was indefinatly.

[SGT]

Originally Posted by InventorOfDryStarPatent

Dave:
Keep in mind that a break that is so sensitive to cracking out will crack no matter what.
If a drystar will crack a break, that same break will crack with a torch, It will just crack much easier, the window of forgiveness is less with a torch.

One of the first shields I broke was at a brand new audi/porsh account.
first time there and broke a window on a $75,000 car.
I handed the owner a check for the broken glass.
The rest is history.
He would help me find breaks to fix.

I never used resin, I allways used polymer.
My chemist retired just after I did.
I sold the remaining 5 gallons of go go juice along with my repair co. in 2001.
Kept in a dark, cool, dry place, the shelf life was indefinatly.

There has been quite a bit of debate over knowing how a resin performs lately. If you had your own chemist you must be very concerned about the resin performace. What do you mean when you say you never used a resin? Could you explain the difference and why you selected it.

[InventorOfDryStarPatent]

Originally Posted by SGT

Thanks for joining and sharing your knowledge with us. I am a fan of radiant heat over forced heat and use the drystar. My method may differ from most for drying out as I do not allow the drystar to actually touch the windshield. Instead I preheat the drystar, hold it just barely off the windshield, do 3 cycles at 18-20 sec., let the windshield cool in between cycles and keep the element pinpointed over the damage. I have had very good success with this method but am curious what you think.

1. Did you hold your drystar directly on the glass?
2. Did you put the drystar on the glass and then start the heat cycle to allow it to gradually increase to avoid a thermal shock?
3. How many cycles did you use on average?
4. What was your cycle durations?
5. What is the temp that drystar reaches?

I would like to hear more about how you use this tool for other purposes especially air pockets. What is your recommended cycle/ duration for this technique.

Brent maybe you could jump in to advise on the effect extreme heat may have on the resin, at least DK resin if the drystar was used to remove air pockets as Barry describes.

Thanks again for spending time here with us.

#1 yes and no, I touch the glass with the edge of the ring thats on the element and keep the other 99.9% of the ring off the surface, it also helps stabilize it easier.
#2 I heat the drystar first till I see the element start to turn slighty orange then put it on the glass. If one is worried they could turn it on at the same time as you put it on the glass as you describe and then just add another cycle. that would be a bit gentler and safer but will add 20 seconds to the dry time! there are small varients, sounds like you have it down.
# 3 1-2 cycles on average.
#4 20 second durations.
#5 orange, I forgot what temp. the color orange represents,

#6 1 duration of 2-3 seconds for air bubbles, element orange when applied,if that doesnt do it, I resort to pressure curing.
Hope that helps.

[splitpit]

Aren't most resins polymer?

Special chemist of your own mixes it in 5 gallon buckets?

Hmmmmmm