Drystar

[splitpit]

I don't think that with the type of radiant heat that these produce it is necessary to circle the damage. I would think that you are better off to concentrate the heat on the damage alone.

[screenman]

I would never circle that far out, the larger the glass area you heat the longer it will take to cool. Keep it small keep it quick. Most legs that run when overheating will stop as soon as they hit cool glass.

[splitpit]

If your goal with radiant heat is to try out the damage, I see no point in circling the damage at all.

[InventorOfDryStarPatent]

Hello from Colorado and welcome to the forum Barry!

You sound like someone that would be interesting to chat with about all areas of windshield repair. Could you expand on what you said about using the drystar to remove air bubbles?

I live in a very dry climate where moisture is so seldom an issue that I rarely use my drystar. One other thing you mentioned made me stop and think though. I normally use my torch (on a cold w/s) to heat a "circle" 3-4 inches around the chip. I use my hand to gauge how warm the glass has gotten by feeling the glass. If it's warm but not hot where I jerk my hand away, well, that's my precise and scientific method, LOL.

What you said has me thinking about using this tool more.

When drying out water from a break in glass,I have learned thru experience that more is not better. The less heat the better.
When getting out air bubbles from a bullseye or combination that will not come out in a pressure cycle or a vacum cycle ( I have learned that if air doesnt come out after a few seconds of vac or a few minutes of pressure then its not coming out with the injector anytime soon and my time is money) I relieve the pressure and slide the bridge over and heat the drystar and put it on the break for 2-3 seconds and the air bubles come out instantly. Then slide the bridge over on it and re-pressure untill temps are equal, then cure. DO NOT OVER HEAT THE CHEMICAL.
I do not use vacum hardly ever at all, more force is developed thru the pressure cycle where the air is DISPLACED by the chemical.
I have come to realize the "fact" that it is more important for the surfactant in the chemical to match the surface tension of the glass then ANYTHING else. Including the cps viscosity of the chemical,injectors used or the planetary alignment. The thicker the chem.= less shrinkage = better lasting result. With the correct surfactant and mix, the thicker chemical will go where the thin stuff can not! I never spent more then a few minutes on 99% of all breaks! Never. After 15 seconds or so of pressure,if I see a leg not filling, I pop the break(make sure the glass is cool) and re-pressure, im done! I fix any break in minutes with lasting results.
Please keep in mind there is only so much you can do about shrinkage because of the acrylic acid that does the bonding.
But it can be minimized to the point of not being an issue.
To sum it up,Its all ABOUT THE CHEMICAL, NOT THE INJECTOR.
With the correct chemical anyone can do great repairs with an experienced trainer.

[splitpit]

Bada bing, bada boom and your done in a few minutes?

Sorry but my experience and my training tells me that it's not quite that simple!

[screenman]

Now I could not agree more with your last line. Do not tell some of the guys on here you pop and I bet you might even drill sometimes. Keep your head down buddy there might just be some flack coming. Many thanks for spending the time and effort it requires to make the job easier.

[splitpit]

Not sure who you are addressing screenman?

[jayjacque]

That's some very interesting stuff, radical to say the least, but makes sense. Barry how much of that applies to starbreaks, or is that a whole different ballgame?

[StarQuest]

To sum it up,Its all ABOUT THE CHEMICAL, NOT THE INJECTOR.

Bada bing, bada boom and your done in a few minutes?

Sorry but my experience and my training tells me that it's not quite that simple!

[InventorOfDryStarPatent]

That's some very interesting stuff, radical to say the least, but makes sense. Barry how much of that applies to starbreaks, or is that a whole different ballgame?

I do not heat stars to get air out,only to get the water out.I want the legs open, when I heat the star the heat expands the glass and closes the legs off.If I heat all the glass with the defroster then thats ok because its all equal but takes added time.With star breaks it is even more important to use pressure rather then vaccum, you get more force with pressure.If one of the legs dont start to fill in 15 seconds,I pop it and finish in minutes.I will drill the star first before any chemical is present, I drill 3/4 of the lenght or the dental burr diameter.If the star fills, im done, if one or more of the legs is not filling in 15 seconds, I use the inside wall of the drilled hole and place my carbide scribe on the inside wall of the drilled hole and tap to pop a slight rainbow.
For stubborn legs, I push on the leg while pressure filling to open up the crack and watch the chemical flow in in seconds!
I have 10 bridges/injectors that I used.
When I had muliple repairs going, I would use as many bridges/injectors as needed at the same time. I did so many of these things so fast that I learned when I was done, I would need to write the bill, drive to the next dealer, walk the lot, fix there glass, write the bill, go to the 3rd dealer, repeat, go back to the 1st dealer and get signature and p.o.
I did this thru sept.2001
They started to freak out, I was making more money then they where.
Also, I didnt let them know what kind of car I had in the garage and did not let them know what kind of house that garage was attatched to and definatly not tip my hat on the acerage the house sat on and hope they dont check public records and find out about all the rentals also!I lost some accounts due to jealousy, but got them back when they changed jobs.


I drove a beater honda civic to my accounts in the winter and used the car or goldwing in the summer.
I would go to the super market and buy 100 party trays of the finest cold cuts and cheese with bread, Cases of liters of coke/pepsi hand them out to the sales and service department on rainy saturdays and christmas.
I got more retail insurance work along with the used car department then I could imagine.