Allow me to introduce myself...

[StarQuest]

Screenman,

I'm not looking to debate you at all. You made a statement and I just asked a simple question.....If a power vac and pressure system is so bad, why did this system win over all others last year at the 2006 Las Vegas Repair Olympics, which covers the entire U.S.?

[cazador]

Screenman, thanks for your to the point explanation.
Now I understand that the leggs of a star or chip are beneath the surface of the glass. Indeed , after setting the bridge , I've pushed with the scribe on the legg to make the resin flow to the end of it , after the vacuum cycle ,while the injector is in the pressure cycle. Because of the direct sunlight here in Conroe , I installed an UV shield on my bridge and don't cope with pre-cured resin anymore. Problems solved !

[screenman]

StarQuest I did take the time to answer your question.

Please can someone tell me ,when they do these competitions do the make the damage wet like it is in the real world? how do they make every damage excactly the same? as we know each time glass breaks it breaks in a slightly different way. Or is it just the luck of the draw with the damage you get to repair. In other words how scientific is it. I would like to set something like this up in the UK.

[Matty]

Screenman,

The technician olypics is more about technician appearance, professionalism, educating the customer, protecting the vehicle, following recommended practices,etc. than the repair itself. Although the repair is factored into the score it is just a small part. The winner didn't necessarily do the best repair. The last place finisher didn't necessarily do the worst repair.

[screenman]

Thanks for that answer Matty it is very helpful.

[SGT]

Curious who where the sponsors for 2006 and if that might have swayed the vote as well. In 2007 it looks like Glas Weld (Power Vac) is a platinum sponsor. I am not saying this happened in 2006 but lets not pretend like this sort of thing does not happen. Sometimes the actual event could be smoke and mirror's for the real intent...BIG BUSINESS. The contestants are the puppets in the show and they paid to be in it to boot.

PS. All you Glas Weld fans I certainly not knocking there products as I believe they are also quality tooling and resins. It is just how judging things sometimes work. Especially if the judges are not impartial.

[screenman]

Will anyone list the advantages as they see it of a remote pump system, please. I wait to be educated.

Vacuum part maybe, but you can get that from a $35 mityvac.

[StarQuest]

Brian,

There was no manufacture judge present for the system that took top honors. They were asked to attend but decided to declined out of concern being viewed as bias.

As Matt already pointed out, the scoring system was highly based on presentation skills more than the actual repair quality. That being stated, I'm sure the repair quality of this particular system the technician used....was still up to par with all others.

I wasn't present for this event but to answer Screenmans question, did they introduce moisture into damage? No, not that I'm aware of but it would have been nice to add that to a WSR competition along with some 6" crack repair.

[StarQuest]

Screenman,

"Will anyone list the advantages as they see it of a remote pump system, please. I wait to be educated."

I believe this a new post question, so lets list it as such.