ATX_Windshield_Repairs wrote:Not sure if it's cool to mention this, but I was at Harbor Freight over the weekend and they had these Dryers on sale from $14.99 to $12.99....I know that they sell a lot of cheap stuff there, but they do have some useful things sometimes.......
I just picked up one of these heaters and had David run a few tests for me using our mobile battery system. As suspected, the battery did not have enough power to power it very long. The heating element only got to 98 degrees F at the peak, and the glass was only warmed from 61 degrees F to 74 degrees F in 4 minutes, and reached a peak high temperature of 74.5 degrees F at 5 minutes. At 7 minutes the glass temperature was holding at 74 degrees F but the battery was spent so the fan died and the test was discontinued.
David will run another test using a fully charged car battery to see if we can improve on those numbers a bit as I'm not sure that the performance we saw would be sufficient in colder weather. Hopefully the larger battery will help considerably.
One thing I did like about this particular model is that it comes with a removable base with two holes in it. David is going to mount some suction cups in those holes so it can be mounted directly to the glass. I think that will work well but will have to find the right cup to match the weight and vibration of the heater.
Will provide update after more testing, but so far it looks like the one Chad and Frank are using provides more heat.
Oh yeah, I was pleasantly surprised to find that this heater is much smaller than it looks in the photo and the handle folds inside making it a reasonably compact unit.
I was glad to see that you posted this Brent, because although I did post the picture, I haven't had the opportunity to purchase one yet. Probably because I haven't needed it yet here in Austin, Texas
I'm originally from Tacoma, WA and grew up in Denver, CO........Texas is totally different ball game!
Anyhow, can't wait to see what your final results are, because I would rather pay an extra couple bucks for something that works.
I just bought this little heater from harbor freight and tested it out, It is about 35.0 outside now and after 10 min. it got to about 70.0 is that warm enough??? I was thinking about using it after I used the torch to keep the temp. what do you guys think?
FrogKnowledge wrote:I just bought this little heater from harbor freight and tested it out, It is about 35.0 outside now and after 10 min. it got to about 70.0 is that warm enough??? I was thinking about using it after I used the torch to keep the temp. what do you guys think?
70 degrees is warm enough as we recommend getting the windshield between 70-90. Just make sure your resin is close to the same temp as the windshield.
I have actually thought about doing the same to the other Dryer I purchased and posted a pic of. (Mount Suction Cups to the Handle)
I have came to notice that it likes to move around a litlle to much on the glass. So suction Cups wiopuld do the trick. I will have to pop it apart and drill the holes in the handle to do so!
Ill let you guys know what it turns out like!
Chad E. Clewis
President
GLASSTIME Windshield Repair & Headlight Restoration
Please do. The small suction cups that we use on our lights did not work very well on the dryer that we purchased, and I have not heard back from Shawn and David about the larger cups that I asked them to try. With the model you purchased you may need three or four cups. I'm thinking at least one on the handle, one on the barrel, and one in the center. Or maybe you don't need one on the barrel if you want it to point down toward the glass. I'll try to dig up the dryer that I have that is similar to yours and try the same thing using different sized cups. It will be interesting to compare notes.
I have the blow drier that Time2Shine posted on sept 18th, I have mine mounted on a crack expander, however mine has been blowing fuses on customers car lately, this morning it was 18 degrees out with the wind blowing at 20 miles through the parking lot, felt like 0 out, how ever after a few min. the fuse was blown. With out it, it took 45 min. for the defroster to warm the window up enough to start working on the glass and that was with using my dry star.
Is anyone else blowing fuses with the driers????
I have not had any problems with blowing fuses , using my hair dryer! However I did melt my 10' Coiled Extension Cord using it in conjuction with my Hair Dryer.
My issue right now is creating a Solid Placement of my Hair Dryer to the WS. I use 2 Small suction cups with hooks on them. One I hang the Hair Dryer from it and the other I use behind it as a stopper, Due to the fact the Hair Dryer wants to move backwards away from the point of direction I want the heat to travel. This suction cup placed behind the Hair Dryer keeps it from moving creating a stopper.
Would you be willing to share with us how you mounted your Hair Dryer to your Crack Expander!
Sorry to pull off topic!
Chad E. Clewis
President
GLASSTIME Windshield Repair & Headlight Restoration
What I have done is mount the drier on a crack expander, I mount it about 6 in. above the repair, I point it at the repair to heat the glass up slowly, Thats the only way the drier work anyway. No I don't use the drier to remove moisture just warm the glass, I use a dry star to remove the moisture. I do use the vehicles defroster to warm the glass, I don't use high heat at full blast, just do everything to get the glass up to 70 degrees so I can start the repair.
I'm sorry I didn't answer how I have it mounted on the expander. All I did is place it on an old OptiKleer crack expander / bridge, because it's also a bridge it sit's a little higher with the larger suction cups, placed some foam on the bridge to angle the drier towards the glass, then wrapped the handle above and bellow the switch with electical tape.
