Plate glass repair

[maxryde]

My brother and I were out going B to B yesterday and ran across this lady and her husband who would like to have their plate glass repaired. It was unusual because we were 30 miles apart and I spoke to her and he to him at about the same time. The problem is the windows are double pane with bb holes from a neighbor kid. The glass is 40 x 96 so I know it will be expensive to replace. I cannot repair as is ( no way to get to the inner side of the pane.
Solutions? :eusa_thin

Scott

[Jeremiahswindshieldrepair]

I don't understand why it is inaccessible? Is the crack on the backside of the glass where you can't reach it? If it is just a regular chip on the front of the plate glass then it can be fixed just like normal ... if the BB went all the way through you can tape a curing tab to the back of the window (if it is accessible) and then do the chip like normal. If that is possible you have to make sure you tape it up there pretty solid or it will come right off.


Good luck

[maxryde]

That's the problem no access with out removing the glass. Double panes. And the bb didn't go all the way through just a bull with no laminate to hold the inner cone of glass in place.
Oh, and thanks for the input Brian. Scott

[Delta Kits]

Maxryde,

Is this insulated glass? Does it have an air/gas layer between the two pieces of glass? If so, it shouldn't be repaired. The inside of the glass will fog up, making it useless to try to repair.

If i'm picturing it wrong, let me know.

[maxryde]

You have it correct but it is an old style of double pane with aluminum frame, no gas. There is also some bactierial growth in the inside of them. We discussed these issues with the customer. They are selling the place and still interested in repair. We declined, but it raised some interesting conversation that we were interested in persueing. How might a person solve this issue if the problem arised again and do the job in a manner that would be appropriate
as a permenent repair. Our best solution so far would be to hog out the hole to allow a small piece of crack tape on an applicator(tweezers or the like) precharged with resin and curred in place and then fill and cure leaving the tape behind. This is an issue as well as the eventual microbiologic growth that would follow. So we see that short of removing the glass from the frame to repairing it is not repairable. This is why I started the thread.

[jonnyques]

Just a thought. Could you put the window on some saw horses upside down. Preload the injector and then mount it on the upside down glass. Slowly put the injector into a preasure cycle. Looking from the top you could see when the resen was at the top or (backside of the first pain). Hold the preasure at this point and turn on the UV lamp, curing from the back side of pain 2. The cured resin would now be the plug. Now remove the bridge, flip over the window, and look at the brake. No doubt you would have to drill to any unfilled area but that would be the same as doing an old WS repair. Anyway thats my brain storm as were throwing ideas out there! Who knows it could work??

[StarQuest]

Scott,

I asked my partner (who also has 25 years in glazing) about this situation and he suggested to not even attempt to remove this double window pane unit to repair unless you plan on replacing it. Something I'm sure your not interested in doing. Working with plate glass of that size can be very dangerous. The slightest flex in a weak point of this glass could result in serious injury. I understand these people are trying to save money but I wouln't touch this one with a ten foot pole;)

[repare-brise]

Johnny

Great suggestion, if I may add, use a medium to thick resin(another company sells resin designed for this purpose exclusivly, do your research), and be prepaired for a long cure(curing through another pane of glass slows down the process, as does not being able to use a curing tape on the inside). If you are very slow in adding the pressure, the resin should flow into the break nicely, and level out with the surface, once you are satisfied then start the cure. Also make sure you have enough resin in your injector to fill the break completeley.

Merci

[StarQuest]

Iyvan,

Would you honestly remove a 40" by 96" sealed double window pane unit to attempt repairing a few BB bullseyes and chance having it break during removal? Aside from the obvious, the first problem I see is without having done this before your chance of having favorable results are very slim.

Some repair jobs are better left alone......and I do believe this one qualifies.

[mafsu]

The only reasonable thing I can see to do is to put some pit resin on a cure tab place it over the damage, cure it, then remove the tab. Probably not what your customer is looking for.