Windshield Repair Forum

First the windshield goes into the shade for a few minutes, then I put a piece of Scotch packaging tape over the chip and spray about a 2 foot square area with filtered water - very lightly several times until the water stops evaporating. Wipe the water - pull the tape - fix the chip.

GlassStarz wrote: I like to keep a diluted alcohol water mix in a spray bottle the alcohol will gently cool the glass (spray surrounding area not the chip alcohol may not be good for the chip
I keep a big towel to put over everything keeps the hot sun off the glass you just cooled

Hey, that is old school! It is the way we were told to do things many years ago! But I/we no longer use it today.

I never spray water or any other liquid on hot glass. Rapid temperature changes are too risky in my opinion. In fact I never spray anything on the glass until after the repair is complete. If you do just be sure you cover the chip first as others have indicated. JMHO of course, but I sure seem to have a lot fewer crack outs than a lot of technicians on this forum. In fact I can't remember the last time I or anyone in my shop has had one. If you are careful crack outs should be very, very, rare.

GlassStarz, I would be very careful about wearing anything like cotton gloves that could trap resin next to the skin. Finger prints are easy enough to remove but if wearing Nitrile gloves that shouldn't be a problem. I know sweating hands in the Nitrile gloves can be uncomfortable, but from a safety stand point they should always be worn when working with resins and should be discarded after every repair and/or if they get punctured.

I was talking about the actual skin because the glass is hot burn your fingertips and nitrile gloves do nothing to prtect against heat last year working in Fresno at 115f the glass was much warmer than that took a lot of tricks to get it cool enough I dont usually spray the glass I spray a paper towel and wipe till its cool use a umbrella to shade and turn on the air if possible where I am now its not that severe thank goodness

I agree with you Brent. Spraying anything on a hot windshield isn't a good idea. Even luke warm liquids can cause too rapid of a temperature change. I prefer covering/shading the area and having a little patience while preparing to do the repair. I can't remember really ever burning myself badly on a hot windshield either. I guess I'm just cautious and can tell when one is hot enough to cause that. And yes, we had around 30 days of 100 degree plus temperatures last summer. I have done over 12,000 repairs and have only had 2 that cracked slightly on hot days and fortunately I was still able to repair them! During the warm weather season I always look for ways to get vehicles into the shade whenever possible.

GlassStarz wrote:I was talking about the actual skin because the glass is hot burn your fingertips and nitrile gloves do nothing to prtect against heat last year working in Fresno at 115f the glass was much warmer than that took a lot of tricks to get it cool enough I dont usually spray the glass I spray a paper towel and wipe till its cool use a umbrella to shade and turn on the air if possible where I am now its not that severe thank goodness

We are on the same page then. I have never found the need to protect my fingers from burning, but admittedly I have not worked in 115 degree weather for several years, and have never spent all that much time in temperatures much over 100 degrees. After all these years in the Northwest I would probably melt.

Spend all day working a car lot in the direct sun at 115f cant get in the carsand start them(wouldnt want to crawl into the hot car anyhow) your little IR thermometer stops at 180 and thats what its pegged at . After a few your fingertips are pretty sensitive.And by the way this is where you learn not to lean on the cars after a while its a habit

What I usually do is use my Hood Protector and cover the WS. Continue to watch and monitor it with my thermometer (IR).
When I get it to normal working temps I will apply my Heat Exchanger to the break. Within a minute or so I am ready as well as the glass to begin the process.

I done some experimenting once. My vehicle had been sitting in the sunlight nearly all day at one of our Fleet Locations. Before I left I placed my bridge on the glass just to see what would happen. Honestly I was more curious if the seal would hold up. To no supprise the seal actually got a little sticky as if the heat from the WS melted it.

So if it can do that to a seal imagine what it would do to resin if injected into a hot void??? I have read posts here where the resin has actually boiled on others

So cooling the glass properly before the repair process is key! vise versa heating the glass as well in the winter.

I do agree with another post here, I believe it was Brent?

I too prefer working on glass more so in the summer than the winter. However in the winter I enjoy it for the fact we all have an instant AC on us at all times!

JMHO,

Take Care!

The material that we use to make Delta Kits end seals is injected at around 482 degrees Fahrenheit or 250 degrees Celsius. They may soften slightly in the heat you are working in, but it's not too likely that you will ever see one melt. The suction cups we use are made from a different material, but they too have a very high melting point. Even the Nitrile gloves we sell have a working temperature of up to 230 degrees Fahrenheit or 110 degrees Celsius, so when you start to see the tires melting on your car you may also start to see a problem with your Delta Kits end seals.

Being originally from Phoenix I do know how hot the glass and metal on a car can get so I agree 100% about leaning on a hot car. It's bad enough just grabbing the door handles to get inside on a hot day. It gets so hot it's not even any fun to ride a motorcycle; it's like being in a blast furnace. Thank God for AC when you live in a place like that. Of course the winters are fantastic!

In the valley the hood protector would do much good so much dust in the air everything is coated you would have to wash every car before doing the repair dirt under a protector doesnt protect much