pit filler degradation

[toab]

Have been seeing some of my old repairs in the shop lately.Customers have not been complaining yet but I have been noticing that while the repair resin is holding up nice inside the repair the pit filler on top seems to be either oxidizing or reacting with the washer fluid causing the pit filler to look cloudy and sometimes almost scabby in appearance.these repairs are sometimes around 2 yrs old now.Any body else seeing this premature aging in their old repairs??Lets be honest now fellow techs.

[Frank EU]

Interesting question! It is also interesting to see that your question has been sitting here with 31 views but no replies. Being a full time windshield repair tech for sixteen years (repairs only), I too have a few times experienced this problem. So allow me to be the first here to admit that it happened to me and that, depending the number of repairs you do, over time we all will see this happening one day. Being a repairs only vendor we depend on one thing and one thing only....properly performed repairs. Therefore we precisely register all the details of repairs we perform -it allows us to recognize whether the repair is ours or not. And yes, I too have experienced Pitfiller to drop out the impact point after some time. Not only we've seen this happening at repairs performed by others, also some of our own repairs ''failed'' and showed a poor pitfilling. This problem may be caused due to several factors, such as the quality of your resin, the conditions under which the repair was performed (ie; the wheather conditions -no morning dew, rain, snow or any other moisture), the techs' repair procedures (such as cleaning the pit before applying pitfill resin, long enough curing with UV Light -not sun light), the quality of the material being used (did the resin already discolor in the bottle, age of product, has the bottle been properly closed after you used it, the type of kit you use and where do you store your kit after working time etc.)

There are many reasons for Pitfiller to cause problems. Those problems may occur after a few weeks, some months or even some years and vary from discoloration to falling out. Fortunately, we can always overcome any Pitfiller related problem, but as always, it is best to do things right in the first place the first time. This post describes the problems, how to prevent those and what you can do to fix the problem.

No Pitfiller present
Sometimes, we see repairs without any Pitfiller. At first sight, it appears that no pitfiller is being used at all.
But that really is too hard to tell, let alone to claim this towards your customer. Why, what has happened? There is not just one reason, there are more and there may also be a combination of factors causing the problem. Below are, in a random order, a number of probable reasons why you sometimes may come accross repairs where the pitfiller appears to be missing.

No Pitfiller being used
Let’s indeed start with a very likely reason for missing Pitfiller...., it has not been used in the first place.
The technician may just have forgotten to finish his job properly, we don’t know and it does not really matter because the problem needs to be fixed right? The good news is; the problem can mostly easily be fixed. Just dry and clean the impact point, use your scribe or drill to remove all debris and loose glass fragments, use UV Resin Solvent to clean and degrease the impact point, dry out the impact point totally but carefully. Add the Pitfiller of your choice, place the Film Tab and use the 12 Volt Curing Light to cure. Scrape off the excess, polish, clean the work area and your done.

Water repellants like RainX
The ingredients in water repellants cause big problems for us. Unfortunately for us; no resin will properly bond to the glass because of the water repellent ingredients (sometimes that is Silicone or Teflon).

Material
In general we can say that there is not such a thing as ‘’the best resin’’.
There certainly are some poor products around, but any individual technician will name his own favourite brand or resin viscosity. We use a thick Pitfiler, this is because we have found that a thicker resin:
-is more cost effective to be used,
-brings a better filling,
-offers a very strong finished surface.

This being said, many companies (even respected widely recognized household names) do not use a, specially formulated and thicker than normal repair resin, Pitfiller. Instead they use the very same resin as used for repairs.

Price of material vs quality
Buying the most expensive resin does not guarantee a perfect repair. Likewise, the cheapest Pitfiller does not guarantee a bad repair either. Use your test windshield to test, test and retest and play around in order to learn.

Wheather conditions
It may have been raining, when the impact point was wet, for whatever reason, chances are very likely that the resin (Pitfiller) was not able to stick to the glass. We all know that moisture and resin just don't match. After some time, it just drops out and there is your repair without Pitfiller.....

Insuficient curing
The Pitfiller should always be properly cured, using the 12 Volt Curing Light.

Repair procedures
The most likely reason boils down to the repair procedures being executed by the technician.
Are all repair procedures been carried out like they should have been? If not, cutting corners will beat you one day.

Pitfiller discolored
Another problem is discoloration of pitfill resin. Some resins tend to discolor easier than others.
Some Pitfillers will turn yellow or even brownish, over time many if not all Pitfill resins will discolor eventually. Also the surface may get dirty quickly (black or grey). This is caused by using a non-sharp razor blade, leaving an uneven finished surface.
Dirt, oil and other stuff will build up in there, causing the finished spot to get unsightly.
Just use your drill or scribe to remove the ‘’old’’ Pitfiller, refill and Cure.
Use a sharp razor blade scraping off any excess material and polish for a shiny and smooth finished surface.

I realize that the above is not answering your question completely...., come on guys, drop a few additional lines here....

[mzcollins]

One way to help clear up a cloudy looking pit filler is to use an acrylic polisher (comes in a tube like toothpaste) you can buy as "motorcycle windshield polish" from your local motorcycle shop. Depending on the size of the pit and how it looks after I "block" it. I will use a little "pit-polish" (thats what I call it - motorcycle windshield polish) I put a little buffing wheel in my drill and buff it, after the repair. It helps take some of the cloudy look away. While the repair still remains a little visible, it seems to help a little.........The quality of the pit resin helps too.

[screenman]

The reason I declined to comment on this is due to the fact we only went over it a couple of weeks ago, so quick search would send a lot up. As for pit polishing, smaller is definatley better as it is only when the polish is nearly dry that it does its job. I polish using an amount about the size of a pin head and with the end of my finger, just rub until dry. Many old vets have been impressed with this method. In fact I still use and have on every job the same 50ml bottle I started with in 1988. Pits will always degrade in comparision with the winshield, pit fill is a softer product than glass, until they can make a pitfill that will set the same as glass we will always have that problem.

[GlassStarz]

If i read the question right his problem is they are turning color or breaking down on the surface it has been my experience living in areas with big weather changes that they break down some mfgs are better than others I used the Windshield Doctor stuff for a little while and found thier pit filler turned yellow used some from a company in Colorado that didnt stay in the pit well when it had been below 0 deg for several days

[jayjacque]

The larger pit ones to me seem to be the kind prone to what is described in the OP. I had a few fall out last winter. This year I am taking Brent's advice to make sure to cure longer. But I did have one the other day that still had some shrinkage and the polish was not shiney anymore. I remembered it from 4 or 5 months ago, a pretty big ugly one. Could be weather change has something to do with it. Anyway just did a scrape and partial re-do. Guess that's part of it when you take those kind on.

[Brent Deines]

Resins are acrylic, so the surface will breakdown over time, but it should take longer than a few months. The climate does make a big difference. Just look at what happens to headlights in hot sunny climates or other weather extremes. Even the best quality polycarbonate headlights that are factory coated with UV protection can begin to breakdown within a year or less in some instances. On a windshield you you add wear from wiper blades which can be greatly accelerated by dirt, sand, and other debris that the windshield is exposed to as the blade is operated.

[Ridge Runner]

Screenman,
This old dog learned a new trick. The finger tip method of applying a small amount of polishing compound works great.
I've been using it since your post.Thanks!

[screenman]

I am glad someone reads the things I put up, thanks for your reply.

[jayjacque]

I've been using less also since Screenman's fingertip post. That 2 oz. bottle of polish I have I think is about a 15 yr. supply LOL