AGRR advice

[Dave M]

This month' Auto Glass Repair and Replacement mag has a nice feature written by Delta's sales rep Matt Larson and tech tips by Walt Gorman, owner of A-1 Windshield Doctor.

One technique that Matt and Walt touch upon is an area that seems to be such a gray area in our business. Or should I say, one of many.

Matt says in regards to moisture in breaks, "One thing technicians should be cautious about using is dry-out solution. A lot of technicians use it, but most of these solutions are either alcohol or acetone based, which can destroy the windshield laminate. I wouldn't recommend using them."

Walt says "If the surface of the glass is covered with water, put off the repair because there is little chance water can be removed. If the surface is dry, sometimes an injection of alcohol may help clean out any water lurking in the site."

One would think that since windshield repair has been around since 1972, that we would have a definitive answer to this one!

[Layne]

Do they recommend denatured or will isoprophyl do?

[screenman]

If Walt is right when he says do not repair when the screen is wet we would not have repaired a screen in the last 4 months. We have had rain or heavy morning mist all that time.

I know moisture is our biggest enemy but with time and patience and the correct method you can dry anything out.

I do not think screen repair would last for long in the UK if we only did repairs on dry days.

[Hooky]

Just wondering what you guys think. How long does it take to dry a typical chip out? It's been raining here for 3 days and supposed to rain for 4-5 more. I need to learn how to dry em out.
Thanks

[screenman]

Each break is completely different in terms of dry out times a bullseye can take a few minutes, a starbreak up to 20 minutes depending on size and shape etc. A long crack depends again on size and shape. All these times have many dependables.

One of the hardest is some combination breaks you can sometimes get the outer area of the damage dry but still leave the small inner legs wet.

I am sure there will be some people out there who can dry out in 2 or 3 minutes it would be fantastic if they would open up and let us know how they do it although I doubt this is possible.

I have seen so called skilled technicians tell me they have dried out when in fact there is still moisture in the damage they just could not see it.

Moisture the biggest enemy of a screen repairer.

[Delta Kits]

One would think that since windshield repair has been around since 1972, that we would have a definitive answer to this one!

We've been through this debate a ton of times on this forum. Frankly, I cannot understand why this is still an issue.

Dry out solution has alcohol. Alcohol melts laminate. To me, it's end of story. Using a moisure evaporator works much better, and does NOT melt the laminate (when used properly).

Obviously, using heat on a break increases the risk of a break out. When used according to instructions though, this risk is not significant.

[screenman]

Jeff I think drying out keeps raising its head is because it is the hardest part of screen repair I have more people ask me questions on this subject rather than anything else.

Because I work in the field as well as train I have not lost the importance of this not that I am saying you have. Why do so few kit and training systems mention drying out I think it is because it is so hard to achieve satisfactory results evertime using the equipment we have available at this time.

Personaly I use mainly heat and vacuum as well as compressed air and sometimes on a real problem one a bit of acetone I agree this does soften the pvd but is this just cosmetic or does it effect the overall strength of the screen, no one seems to be able to give me the answer to this.

[mafsu]

Jeff the problem is this half the experienced techs and wsr suppliers say never introduce a solvent into the break it will damage the pvb( I adhere to this opinion). While the other half says Yeah Go Ahead, it's the best way to get the moisture out. A prime example of this is in this month's AGRR which has one article by your own Matt Larson saying don't use dry out solution on page 38. Turn to page 42 and you have Walt Gorman saying to inject isopropyl alcohol into the damage to lower the boiling point when the water is heated. So even though I have formed my opinion on this until I see some better way, there is a lot of confusion as to which is the correct method. By the way I base my opinion on not seeing any real world difference when adding alcohol to the break and I don't wantto add any fuel to the debate that started a while back about spalling.

[Dave M]

Screenman,
I agree with your last posts but personnally have never used dry-out solution.

Jeff,

I do NOT use alcohol as a dry-out solution and never will. I never use any kind of dry-out solution.
My point or reason for my original post was that in the same magazine written for windshield repair and replacement, two experienced people give two (2) different views on the use of alcohol as a dry-out solution.

Walt recommends using isopropyl alcohol in his tech tip.

[gold star wsr]

I seldom need to use dry out methods, but when it is necessary, I use the drystar tool. However, regarding acetone/alcohol softening the laminate, I do have a question: I know that the laminate may becme discolored, and they they soften while the liquid is in contact with them, but do these products cause permanent weakness in the laminate, or does the laminate return to its original strength once they have been evaporated? Paint and plastics can be softened, but they return to hardness once the agent has evaporated. Would the same be true of the laminate?