Spring Plunger Freezing Up:

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candyman
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Spring Plunger Freezing Up:

Post by candyman »

After more than four years doing WSR's I had my DK Spring Plungers freeze while in the tool kit in my office. I clean mine after every repair and put it in the slots in my tool kit. I normally keep them in my offfice when not on the road. I went on Vacation 2 weeks ago and they were fine. I went to do a WSR job Wednesday, and both of the spring plungers were frozen. I got one working within a few minutes using denatured alcohol & a pair of vice grips. The other I soaked in Denatured alcohol, then acetone for 24 hrs. Then I used a pair of vice grips and channel locks to pull them apart and that didnt work. I called Bruce at DK. He said UV light caused it, from the sun or a UV lamp. I keep that new pen UV light under the tray they are kept in. I remember leaving the tray out in my office for about 6 hours while I restocked and organized my box, just before vacation. Bruce also said I was suppose to leave the tip showing instead of being retracted into the cylinder relieving the pressure off the spring. I had been doing the opposite all these years. I must have gotten that information wrong from jump street. I ordered a new spring plunger and the new B150. Just a word of caution for some of you that may also be storing it wrong, or leaving them out in the open area while working with your storage kit. I always thought if the injectors were clean this problem would not occur. I though wrong. Now its costing me. You guys have a great weekend. Candyman
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t4k
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Re: Spring Plunger Freezing Up:

Post by t4k »

Sorry to hear about your plungers.

My rule of thumb is this: if you can see without man made lighting, there's UV present. :shock:

Keep you tools covered at all times!
GlassStarz
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Re: Spring Plunger Freezing Up:

Post by GlassStarz »

Not sure why they havnt figured out how to build one that doesnt do this. :oops: lets face it delta leads the industry in many ways you would think they would have overcome this problem a long time ago?
Nomad
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Re: Spring Plunger Freezing Up:

Post by Nomad »

You might try lacquer thinner, soak for a day or two. It is much more aggressive at dissolving resin and won't hurt the stainless tool. It will take paint off your car or most anything else so be careful with it. Your nitrile gloves generally won't last long either but wear them anyway, just a heads up.
screenman
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Re: Spring Plunger Freezing Up:

Post by screenman »

GlassStarz wrote:Not sure why they havnt figured out how to build one that doesnt do this. :oops: lets face it delta leads the industry in many ways you would think they would have overcome this problem a long time ago?
They have invented a way, it is called keep it away from UV. They also make the superb alloy non sprung loaded injector which is the one I use every day.
candyman
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Re: Spring Plunger Freezing Up:

Post by candyman »

Screenman. I ordered another spring plunger. I also ordered the new B150 with the non spring injector. Is that the injector you are refering too. Why would an injector freeze if it has been cleaned after use? Does it still contain enough residual resin to cause this when subjected to light? I must have been lucky in the past. I normally, once a month, clean out my box and reset my tray with new blades & mylar squares. I set that tray in the open on my desk or on my bar to do this. I just thought of something. I set that tray on the bar checking something out prior to my vacation. I have those low hanging Bar lights that have the high heat intense bulbs. I dont normall have it on but I did that day for my granddaughter. That very well could have been my source of UV. I wont make that mistake anytime soon.
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screenman
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Re: Spring Plunger Freezing Up:

Post by screenman »

That is indeed the one I was talking about.

I would imagine it would only take a small amount of resin left in the to set, after all we know how strong the stuff is. Must admit that in all the years I used the spring loaded it did not happen to me, this would have been down to pure luck as I tend to not be the tidiest person when working.

Not sure about the overheads being a source of UV though. I feel T4K makes a very good point about UV though.
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Brent Deines
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Re: Spring Plunger Freezing Up:

Post by Brent Deines »

It has been our practice for many years to include cleaning instructions, including the instructions for which position to leave the injector in, with every injector, every bridge assembly and every complete windshield repair system we sell. In addition, we go over how to properly clean and store the injector several times in every training class and have gone over it several times on this forum over the years.

The only thing that will make a spring loaded injector "freeze up" is if there is resin trapped inside. The way resin gets trapped inside the injector is typically when a spring loaded injector is inverted after the repair has been complete. We also watch for this in training classes and instruct technicians to always set the bridge and injector right side up after a repair has been completed.

I won't speculate as to how resin got inside candyman's injector or why the cleaning process he used did not remove all the resin, but suffice it to say resin was left inside the injector after his cleaning process and it was not stored according to the instructions supplied with the equipment. I fail to see how that is an equipment failure but I do hope his post will help educate others as to the importance of proper cleaning and storage of windshield repair injectors of all makes and models.
Brent Deines
Delta Kits, Inc.
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revive
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Re: Spring Plunger Freezing Up:

Post by revive »

I always give every bit of injector and bridge a real good scush of compressed air after a job ...after I had to order new injector from Graham a couple of years ago :oops:
candyman
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Re: Spring Plunger Freezing Up:

Post by candyman »

I use denatured alcohol. I separate the plunger & injector and place both in a plastic container full of DA. Then I wipe them down after about 2 min in the solution. I do this after each repair. It worked fine for more than 4 year , until I went on vacation a few weeks.
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