MY FIRST CRACK OUT!!

[dgarza]

Ok yesterday I cracked out my first windshield. I know everybody here has told me it will happen eventually but I guess I was just hoping not to me! To make matters worse it was my grandmother-in-laws!#$%#$. Ever since the training in Oregon I have done very well repairs so it was very shocking to say the least. It was a very small butterfly and the cracks on both sides were barley 1/4 inch. When I put the injector in and started applying pressure both cracks ran out about 1 more inch each and stopped. Still short enough for me to fill from the originating point so I did and they filled nicely. I even left it on a couple extra minutes to make sure the resin would stay in. I took the bridge off and did a pit fill and scrape and it looked really good. As I was cleaning off the dried resin I notice one crack had ran out another 2 inches!! The only time this could have happened is when I was scraping the pit resin off cause they were good while it was curing. I even let the cure go for about 10 minutes and had tape over both cracks. This chip was right under the windshield wiper to begin with and this new crack that ran out went straight across one inch then down towards the frame another inch. It stopped about

[Julie]

I can't really help you out on what you did wrong. I think there are some windows that just want to keep cracking.

But I can commisserate with you on the fact that it was a relatives window. For some reason if we broke a window it was always a relative or neighbor...one time it was my own!

[cure4glass]

dgarza,
Two things come to my mind.first, the temperature of the glass, and secondly, too much pressure.The glass should be cool to the touch when repairing.It is possible that the crack was'nt completely filled to the end when you began curing and the additional pressure applied while scraping could have been enough to send it on it's way.Was the initial damage close to the edge of the windshield? It seems to me that these are sometimes more sensitive and pose a greater threat.

[cure4glass]

dgarza,
I re-read your post and see that it was initially right under the wiper..Excuse my oversight.When i have one within the first 2 or 3 inches of the edge I watch it like a hawk because as mentioned earlier, these particularly tend to be sensitive to pressure and heat.

[dgarza]

well the car was sitting in a garage and I pulled it out in the sun to do the repair so I dont think there was too much heat. It was very close to the bottom edge though.

[gt_repair]

dgara

1st: I would have left the car in the garage to keep the temp under control.

2nd: Look VERRY close at a crack, They sometimes are what I call hiden cracks. Meaning, that is was already crack most of the way and the heating up of the glass did not help...

If you have good eyes, you can see at the end of a crack it it has been cracked and is just ready for a reason for it to be opened...
Some times you can push a tad bit on the inside or the outside and see it want to open then when you let go it will close up. Look VERRY close at that point to find the hinden crack....


Just my .04 cent . Keep the change

[dgarza]

yes at first I wanted to leave it in the garage but I just cant see what im doing enough to do that. The sun really lets you see the whole crack. and yes I think the fact that it was bigger than I thought and that it was so close to the edge of the windshield helped it crack out.

[Mark]

dgarza


Take a look at my post from a couple weeks ago Re break near the edge. I had the same thing happen. What a horrible feeling to watch a ws break right before your very eyes. And what killed me was it was a TINY bat-wing break. I almost missed the sucker it was so dang small. Glass is a funny material with no mind of it's own I am finding. I now use a magnifying glass (very strong for these eyes) and look with a flashlight if I need to find any crack, I know that will not stop a runner from happening but maybe I can see what may have been hidden before. Also if a crack has a pointed end I have been told that means it has not shown you where it has stopped. In other words the whole length of the crack may not be visible to us.

I learned from others here on the forum to WATCH closely anything near 4-5 inches from the edge all the way around. I was trying to do two repairs at once. Now I will only work on one at a time if in the critical area, or in the FRIT area (the dark colored area all the way around the WS)
So good luck. I was told by the friend that taught me how to ride dirt bikes, if you never fall down you are not riding hard enough. not sure what that has to do with WS repair, but thought I would put it in.....

I am very new at this and have a lot to learn yet, however I find it a very enjoyable business to be in.
Mark