Practice begins today

[ColKlink]

We recieved our kit yesterday, so today will be spent attempting repairs on the practice w/s that I rounded up. Have it all set up just about the same height and angle as one would be on a vehicle.
I have been doing some research and making some inquiries, and have about 10 repairs lined up to do as soon as I feel that we are ready. All my prospective clients know I'm in start up phase and are understanding that I want to get comfortable so that I can do the job right for them.
I thought about maybe advertising a special introductory price to pick up some more, but may not need to. I have gotten 3 referrals from the customers that are waiting already.
Getting a little excited about this, just have to resist temptation, be patient, and do things right.
Any suggestions?

Colklink

[tyler99]

It sounds like you have the right idea --Get training first and be patient.

If you do an excellent job, those referrals will likely lead to more referrals.

[toab]

Don't forget to try all different situations includeing out in the cold if this applys to your geographical location.

[Sneck]

Spray the windshield with water (simulated rain). Inspect for moisture in the break. Remove the moisture and keep repairing and getting all the practice you can.

[screenman]

Can I suggest that you try a lot of your practise repairs on wet damage, as dryout is the first part of any repair in most areas. You are very unlikely to be shown this in most schools. In the UK I think I am the only trainer that makes every damage wet before I let the trainee carry out the repair. However I do suggest you maybe do the first 6 or 10 repairs dry just to get used to the equipment.

Doing repairs in the real world is way harder than the class room.

Good on you for wanting to learn.

[ColKlink]

Well,
Spent about 3 hours working on bullseyes and star breaks. I had mostly mixed results, however I am encouraged with how well the equipment worked. I do have some questions.
Bullseyes went well for the most part, only problem seemed to be a dark spot about the size of the drill hole. The star breaks, some the small cracks didn't all fill, and others the center didn't fill right I didn't think.
Couple of things I noticed, some times there were bubbles going outside of the injector where it meets the glass, why?
What is causing the dark spots?
I didn't try a crack, thought I would get these under my belt and go from there. I wanted to take some pics, but forgot the camera in my haste to get started. I will take some pics tomorrow, and post them here for any critique.

[Sneck]

Hi Col Klink

Above all suggestions, If you continue to have problems, please consult your equipment supplier for tech help. But in the mean time, here's my two cents worth...

some times there were bubbles going outside of the injector where it meets the glass, why?

Your seal was not flush with the glass or the seal was not tight enough against the glass, or your seal has a defect, or the impact damage was larger than your seal. You are basically losing pressure. Be sure to level the bridge with the glass. Even being off by a little can sometimes give the results you describe.

The dark spot that you have left over is simply air that has not been removed. If you must drill, taper the drill hole a little - kinda like a "V". This helps keep the air from being trapped in the drill hole. You might be getting the air trapped in the drill hole during the final process of adding pit filler and a curing tab. Watch how you apply the cure tab - sometimes the pit filler will not stay in the drill hole. Use a sewing needle to break the surface tension and that will allow the pit filler resin to stay down in the drill hole.

If you have any other black spots in your repair, you need to do some more vacuum cyles, or even flexing the break with your probe. I have great success sometimes when I put the probe down the throat of the injector and flex the pit. If you try this approach, you may need to buy a long skinny probe to fit down the throat of the injector.

Keep up the practice.

[toab]

Sounds like the black spot where you drilled was caused by touching the pvb inner layer with the bit(educated guess thanks to the repair veterans on this board) As for the star breaks ..finess,patience and probing seem to be the answer here.Some guys use a little heat during therepair and some guys are dead against it. Some techs will cure the star break while still under pressure after all the star legs are filled and if they have trouble filling any legs they will sometimes pop a mini bull at the end of the offending leg.I'm new at this too but I'm learning lots from the pro's here.They are a fairly helpful and friendly bunch of people.I'm guessing the dark spots are air in the break that has a different refraction of light than glass and resin..especially since you talked about your bubbly injector.Practice practice just like I have to do.Good luck.

[repare-brise]

Colklink

There is one statement that you made in your last post that causes concern, you are talking about drill holes in bulls eye's. personaly I drill only a small percentage of breaks, and I have never drilled a bulls eye. I don't know what equipment you are using, but I doubt that they reccomend drilling of bulls eyes.

Star breaks ocaisonaly require drilling. I find that the smaller the break the more likely drilling will be required.

One other little thing, the breaks you are creating on your practice shield are not always indicatif of real life. Once you get comfortable with your tools, take a day and go to you local recycling yard and ask if you can repair some WS's, this will give you experiance on real life breaks, ones that are big, small, wet, contaminated, dirty, ect and it will give you more experiance on "reading" dammage.

Also before Graham must tell you, please fill out your profile(who, what, where , why, when), it will help in getting you answers that are relivent to your situation.

At Your Service

[toab]

Yes where you are will help determine what climactic conditions that you might experience.Don't worry ..we don't bite..(speaking for myself of course)