windshield coating??

[Brent Deines]

Do any of you guys remember GM's grand idea of putting a plastic film on the inside of the glass back in the mid 80's? Actually I think the idea spawned in Europe, and Ford was the 1st company in the US to give it a whirl, but GM was the only one that really tried to market it, and it was a huge flop. There were so few of them made that I never saw one come through my glass shop, but recently bought a car for my son that still had the original plastic coated windshield in it. It was so scratched up, that you could hardly see through it. The previous owner was also a smoker and the plastic appeared to have sucked up the smoke as it was very yellow, and after I replaced the glass the car actually smelled better!

I have only had one customer tell me they ran across a plastic coated RV windshield, and that was just recently. His main complaint was that it was difficult to drill through as the bur kept clogging. I made some calls to a friend that sells RV glass, and was told that sometimes manufacturers apply a temporary coating on the glass to protect it during transport. In fact I wrote about it in the September/October issue of The Wise Crack.

I continued to research the subject to see if I could find out which manufacturers were applying the temporary film, and ran across a press release that announced that MADICO had developed a film that they were applying to the outside of RV windshields as a permanent protection. I used to tint windows so I am familiar with MADICO films, and some of them are pretty good, but this idea has disaster written all over it. I just don't believe there is a plastic film that can resist scratching well enough to stand up to windshield wipers, blowing sand, flying rocks, and other normal everyday occurrences that windshields are exposed to. I mean really, if GM and Ford cannot come up with anything that will hold up on the inside of the glass, it seems very unlikely that MADICO will be too successful putting a film on the outside of the glass.

However, if it is cheap enough, RV owners may be willing to have it replaced every couple of years if they are convinced that it actually helps guard against stone damage. That's a big "if", but because RV windshields are so expensive I can see how owners might be tempted to give it a try.

Does it really protect the glass? Films help guard against stone chips on paint, but only small chips. A big enough rock will still make a dent. It then stands to reason that if you used a thick enough film, it may protect the glass against the smaller stones that hit the glass, but will not likely protect against the larger ones. Also, the softer the film the better it protects, but soft films are also much more susceptible to scratching and contamination. I don't think we have a lot to worry about yet.

[sydfloyd44]

Brent, what a nightmare. Especially for us in states where they had to scrape off the inspection sticker every year and then they came to us to "just fix it". Argh!!

As far as the windshield coating, the one I am speaking of is made by a manufacturer of windshield repair equipment and supplies which is the heart of their business. As far as being spoken of on the forums, you're right, it is free speech, but the moderators (delta) have honored his request which I agree with. Wish I could just come out and say it but anyone can just google "windshield edge crack manufacturer" and it is right there.

[Brent Deines]

Sydfloyd44,

I didn't even think about the inspections stickers, etc. I'll bet there were a lot of unhappy customers who probably paid a premium for an inferior windshield.

I knew who you were talking about from your first post, but that is only around the edge of the glass, and it sounded to me like new2thebiz was talking about a coating that covered the entire windshield. The only coating that I have heard of that is used for this purpose is the new Madico film, and as far as I know use of that product has been pretty much limited to use on RVs.

I was also trying to honor the request of the manufacturer that asked not to be named on this forum as you suggested, so the more hints that are dropped the more chance there will be that I will have to close the thread at some point. I wish that were not the case, but we try to honor all such requests. Luckily there have only been a few.

The main point I was trying to make was that I think any coating, whether a film, a spray on, or some other form of application, is fraught with problems. That's just my humble opinion however.

[harrellbenjamin]

Sydfloyd44,

I didn't even think about the inspections stickers, etc. I'll bet there were a lot of unhappy customers who probably paid a premium for an inferior windshield.

I knew who you were talking about from your first post, but that is only around the edge of the glass, and it sounded to me like new2thebiz was talking about a coating that covered the entire windshield. The only coating that I have heard of that is used for this purpose is the new Madico film, and as far as I know use of that product has been pretty much limited to use on RVs.

I was also trying to honor the request of the manufacturer that asked not to be named on this forum as you suggested, so the more hints that are dropped the more chance there will be that I will have to close the thread at some point. I wish that were not the case, but we try to honor all such requests. Luckily there have only been a few.

The main point I was trying to make was that I think any coating, whether a film, a spray on, or some other form of application, is fraught with problems. That's just my humble opinion however.

Just curious..............Why dont some MFG.want their products discussed on a Forum for Industry techs?? Is it that the "Smoke and Mirrors" will be revealed?? You would think that if you had a quality product this would not be a problem.

[Brent Deines]

All manufacturers like their products being discussed if everything is positive, but when negative comments come out we are often asked to remove the negative comments. It doesn't work that way here. You have to take the good with the bad, so if someone asks to have a negative comment about one of their products removed, we let them know that if we do so we will also remove all other posts discussing their company.

It's a difficult decision sometimes. There are lots of positive comments about Delta Kits on this forum, but there are also some negative comments. Would I like to delete all the negative comments about Delta Kits and all the positive comments about the competition? Absolutely, but that is exactly what killed many other windshield repair forums.

The manufacturer in question had both positive and negative feedback so I was surprised by their decision, but I certainly respect it.

We are getting off topic a bit, so I hope we can swing this thread back to the original subject and let sleeping dogs lie.

[StarQuest]

Back to Madico ClearPlex Windshield Coating!

The very first thing I'd like to say having over 8 years prior experience in the glass tinting market. Madico does put out some quality film products. I've used them, been happy with them and so were my customers. That being said, I don't have a problem with them introducing a windshield film coating at all.

It probably does perform as advertised! I copied this from their home site...ClearPlex?

"This invisible window film increases strength by adding a protective coating to your windshield, reducing the occurrence of rock chips, stars, pitting and bull

[Brent Deines]

StarQuest,

Since you are one of the few that have experience with this product, what is your opinion of it's susceptibility to scratching from windshield wipers, sand pitting, road debris, etc? I have replaced many windshields just because of sand pitting and wiper damage. A little dirt on the wiper blades puts fine scratches in the glass, so it seems unlikely that any film will fair too well, and will be much more difficult to buff out than glass.

[StarQuest]

To be honest Brent,

I've only had limited experience with this type of coating. I couldn't say with any certainty how well the long term effects would be with wipers, dirt or other. My buddy who operates a full glass and accessory shop has only offered this to customers recently. Most of his customers are high end or RV owners who apply this coating to help avoid those nasty little nicks on shield. This coating will provide that from happening to glass surface but the film coating still shows signs of hits and nicks. (which can't be fixed unless new coating is applied)

Could scratches or scuffs be polished with this coating like glass? I highly doubt it but can't confirm that without some polishing testing. In the past I've worked with Madico films that were highly resistant to normal cleaning but they were all inside applied. This outside film application is subject to much higher daily abuse. I guess only time will tell.

I've acquired a nice full sample to work with on my own vehicle. Let you guys know how good this product holds up after in 2-3 months. I average 130 miles per day so it shouldn't take long to report back.

[cazador]

ive heard that some chip repairers are applying a special coating on the windshilds to keep them chiping again. can anyone give me any info on this? thanks.

You"re not wanting to liquidate your income in a few months , do you ?
Comeon man , smarten up !
O"Ralleigh had it on their counter , me being a good customer, I asked them to trash it and guess.......... they did !
They know I'm in the windshield repair business and wanted to keep my business !

[cazador]

Aren't we in the windshield repair business? Why would windshield repair techs. want to sell a product that is supposed to help prevent damage?

Splitpit, you've sometimes some funny remarks, but always to the point, like this one, why would anyone advertise something like this not creating any future business and kill an income. Read my reply on this subject above, Pura Vida , Ed