cleaning out a chip area

[MJDShield]

With the up coming winter season I am Looking to find out the best way and or products to use to clean a chip out that has road salt grime in windshield? Thanks Mike

[sgailey]

Hi MJDshield,

Unfortunately, there seems to be limited resources in the forum regarding the removal of contamination.

In the thread below, the author suggests using naptha for cleaning out dirt:

windshield-repair/834-repair-rule-1-a.h ... t+solution

Besides that one reference, I was unable to find any other posts on the topic.

The introduction of any element (besides resin), is a hotly debated subject in the windshield repair community, as past threads prove.

A year ago a mechanic here mentioned that he used an air compressor & nozzle attachment to blow a stream of air accross (not directly into) the pit of the ding. This, he said, creates a low-pressure zone just outside of the break and pulls out foreign matter from the break.

I have tried this on water & dirt contaminted breaks, and it works like magic. If it is a break with large-radius conical damage and significant contamination, you can actually observe contamination (usually mixed with water) cycling and escaping from the break. Make sure the compressor you are using is properly maintained before trying this. It is not uncommon to find compressors that have large accumulations of fluid in their lines--- not particularly something you'd want inside finding it's way into the break.

On older dings, dirt remained inside the break regardless.

Use a cleaner at your own discretion, but it would be wise to read this thread before making the decision.

I would also love to hear anyone's experience with cleaning out dirt, wax, soaps, etc. from breaks.

[MJDShield]

Thanks for your input. I looked too and found only this article. I would think there would be little dirt if break just happened, but hadn't tought about if they ran thru some winter weather with melted snow/salt grime and used wipers how that would effect. Guess I'll have to do some experimenting . Thanks Mike

[Brent Deines]

I find that it is pretty rare that much contamination other than liquid makes it past the very surface of the break. Even small particles tend to get "filtered" out by the crushed glass at the impact point, and are easily removed with a probe. Fine particles of dust that do find their way into the air space of most breaks are so small that they are rarely visible once the repair is completed, and do not compromise the integrity of the repair. That is far preferable to using any type of solvent that may damage the PVB and or leave a residue that is incompatible with windshield repair resin.

Blowing air across the break works reasonably well, but I still find that using a moisture evaporator works the best for removing liquids. At the repair Olympics a couple of weeks ago one of the technicians spent about 20 minutes with a torch removing the moisture that could have been removed in 20 seconds with a moisture evaporator.

Before the advent of moisture evaporators I blew air across the breaks, using an inline filter just before the nozzle to filter out water, oil, and other contaminates that accumulate in the tank and hose of an air compressor. Again, it worked reasonably well for removing moisture, especially in warm weather, but I never found that it did much to remove contaminates from a dry break, but then again, I never really found that to be much of an issue in the first place.

[sgailey]

Thanks for the reply, Brent!

A good deal of breaks up here end up with large, deep pits. Combine that with a bit of road grime and wiper usage and it seems like an environment conducive for contamination. Next opportunity I get, I will photograph a badly contaminated ding.

And I agree--- there does seem to be an exception for most dings with normal-size pits. Just on the big 'uns.

[Brent Deines]

I always find it interesting when other techs have problems or experiences that I just don't seem to come across. The only time I have a seem to have a problem with contamination, other than liquid, is in very old large breaks, and the biggest problem with those is that the glass begins to separate from the laminate.

I started repairing windshields in Montana, and I think we had every kind of weather condition imaginable. Oregon has just about every kind of weather condition as well, although here in Eugene we see very little real hot weather, and very little snow. Where I seem to get the most road grime is when traveling over the passes where they cover the roads with crushed lava rock or pumice. It turns into a red dust that seems to get everywhere. Being a skier the paint and glass on my own vehicles get covered with rock chips.

Seeing photos is always helpful, I look forward to seeing yours.

[Bois]

Speaking of contaminates...
What do you guys do when a car dealer paint letters on their windshields and cover rock chips? When I'm able to notice the break I scrape off the paint but some remains in the pit. I've never attempted to repair one.

Also, I had a gentleman ask me if I could repair a 12" new crack this past weekend. The rock chip that caused the crack looked strange to me. Upon inquiring if anything had been done to the break the customer told me he put some WD-40 on the crack. The crack looked clean but I passes up on the repair thinking that the repair would not last. WD-40 and resin probably don't mix well.

[GlassStarz]

Thats an old auction car trick car dealers used to do put a dab of transmissin fluid or WD it seeps into the chip so it doesnt get noticed at the auction. It contaminates the chip and makes it unrepairable
As far as the paint razor off the paint and use a Qtip with alcohol to cleen the chip the stuff is thick and doesnt get into the glass then repar as normal

[Brent Deines]

I've heard about used car dealers and auctions filling chips with WD-40 and other things from someone that used to do it before windshield repair became popular, have been lucky enough not to have run across the problem myself in the field. Frankly I had hoped that it was not being done anymore.

To remove the paint I generally just use my probe to remove the paint from the surface chip, or if the pit is large I use my drill. I agree with GlassStarz, the paint is quite thick and drys quickly so I have never had any problem with it seeping deep into the break.

[GlassStarz]

If the stuff has been applied awhile ago you will notice discoloration in the laminate (sometimes white) the petroleum breaks down the layer I see it evey so often some of the old time shister used car guys are still around