Hot Weather Repairs

[BushWacke]

Hey Guys, I've been in the windshield repair business for a few years now. Down here in South Louisiana, Summer temperatures can easily rise into the upper 90's and even 100's and stay there for weeks at a time. I have had a few chips crack out on me due to the hot weather and was wondering if there are any tips you have as far as cooling the windshield town for the time to do the repair? Some of these cars sit in a parking lot all day long which allows the windshield to become extremely hot and this makes me very skeptical about even attempting a repair. Any advice would be appreciated.

[crewskb]

Hey BushWacke, I feel your pain. I work in an area where temps reach well into the 100s during the summertime ... and there is a unthinkable shortage of nice, lovely shade trees on the asphalt truck lots (aka, George Foreman's Grill set to HIGH).

There are several posts, many of which are recent, that address the subject. General concensus favors the paper towel (or rag) and alcohol. You place the towel over the windshield and spray it with regular alcohol. It seems to suck the temperature out and the alcohol evaporates naturally off the windshield.

[GlasWeldTech]

Bushwacke,
Whose tooling (brand name) are you using?

[BushWacke]

I am using a Delta Kit.

[GlasWeldTech]

Can't really help with your tooling unless you are using to much pressure-either injector pressure (tightening against glass) or leveling screws. Open doors and roll down all windows to try and get air circulating and go SLOW. If the glass is really hot,facing into the sun, and I can't get the keys, I will re-schedule the repair for another time.

[SGT]

Hey Guys, I've been in the windshield repair business for a few years now. Down here in South Louisiana, Summer temperatures can easily rise into the upper 90's and even 100's and stay there for weeks at a time. I have had a few chips crack out on me due to the hot weather and was wondering if there are any tips you have as far as cooling the windshield town for the time to do the repair? Some of these cars sit in a parking lot all day long which allows the windshield to become extremely hot and this makes me very skeptical about even attempting a repair. Any advice would be appreciated.

BushWacke,

I will assume you cool the windshield down before you attempt your repairs.

If you are not already, when you set up your DK bridge and injector assembly, try to be sure not to have to excessive tip pressure. Try turning the injector till it just seats on the glass, then give it another 1/2 to 3/4 turn. Then use the leveling screws as needed to level the bridge. You can check height at the 3 corners or look at the tip seal to see that it looks symetrical all the way around. Depending on the radius of the windshield you may need to back off on the injector while working with the leveling screws level the bridge. I like to keep the injector just tight enough to keep it from leaking.

Vertical glass is a little different, you need to turn the injector until you create a slight pitch, just enough to keep the resin at the tip and then use the leveling screws to create a good seal. You wont be able to have the bidge level in these scenarios due to the pitch created by the injector. I like to keep the injector just tight enough to keep it from leaking in this application as well.

Also if you manually assist the injector during pressure cycles becareful not to create to much pressure. You are basically creating a hydraulic lock and with the weakest link being the glass, it will crack out.

There are other factors as well that can contribute to cracking out an attempted repair. Give the boys over at DK a call to further assist you as you supplier.

Hope that helped.

[johnnyone]

Try blocking the UV... Open the car windows... this will start a kool down to workable temps.

[uncdawg]

One trick i have picked up for cooling a hot windshield is to turn on the ac in the cabin if possible and that will cool the glass to a workable temp, also try to park out of direct sunlight.