Moisture in the crack

[NuVueGlass]

Hello everyone,
I am new to the industry and would appreciate all the help and suggestions that are offered. I am still training before I hit the streets (I have a whole junk yard to train in). I have a great many questions for the many experts in this forum so I guess I will get started now.
Do you clean the repair area first? If so, how do you remove the moisture created by the cleaning solution? Is the moisture removal the same for long cracks as it is for chips? If not, what is the difference?
Thank you ALL in advance for your help.

[Mike Allen]

I always clean the area I will be working on before any of my equipment touches the windshield. I also clean the entire windshield, inside and out, when I am done. As for moisture removal, Delta Kits sells a moisture evaporator and other companies sell dry out solutions but I don't know who. I have not had to worry about moisture yet myself but I do have an evaporator from DKI just in case.

[Bois]

I use a dry paper towel to clean the area around the break making sure dirt doesn't enter the break. I do this primarily so the bridge assembly will adhere to the glass. After the repair is cured I clean the shield with wet solution.

I do the same whether its a chip or a crack. If I suspect that a crack has moisture I will; 1) let the sun evaporate the moisture if I have time, or 2) slowly move a moisture evaporator along the crack to dry it out.

Dale...

[Glasseye]

Over here in wet world, water contamination is common. My personal favourite to draw moisture from the the repair is acetone ( available from chemist shop) but make sure you wear nitrile gloves because it does the same to your skin. Dabbing the impact point with a paper cloth dipped in acetone is the way I would recommed.

[toab]

Thats funny because I have heard that that acetone that you are talking about is kinda hard on the pvb middle layer and thats why I also quit useing it to clean my injector as it was destroying the seal.Now I just use iso alcohol or rubbing alcohol and I will maybe get some denatured stuff.I used to use acetone to clean my spray guns when I was in the autobody repair bizz.

[NuVueGlass]

Thanks for the information!!!!!!

[glassfixerCO]

Another way to dry chips is to get a manual vacuum pump (like the kind mechanics use to bleed brake lines etc.) put the end of the hose--if it has a small suction cup attached--over the chip and pump the air out. While it's still attached and on vacuum use a mini torch to heat up the chip from the inside (only for a few seconds), the vacuum you've created will speed-up the evaporation process. For cracks, you can use a can of compressed air to blast out some of the moisture and then a hair dryer on high setting for about 5 minutes.

[screenman]

We have found that it is better to heat the glass from the outside.
This is because you do not have to heat all the way through the inner glass and then the PVB before getting to the moisture. Heat then vacuum and allow to cool and repeat if required. Also heating from inside will increase the chance of crack out, If you wacth carefully when appling heat inside you will see the damage expands for a very short time before it starts to contract. When heating from outside this does not occur.

The fact that Yvan is no longer on this forum is a loss to all of us in this industry. He has a lot of knowledge that will be missed, although not everyone agreed with him I can be sure most would like his business success.