I am comfortable doing chip repairs, but on long cracks, it is hard to get the resin to flow along the inside of the crack. How many drops of resin should I use in my Delta B300 bridge for say, an 8 inch crack? Should I ever have to reload the injector during a repair?
I am using Premium bond resin. Is there a resin which gives better results? I find that applying resin to the surface of the crack is wasteful, since the resin wants to run down the windshield.
Also on another website, there is an animation sequence where the repairman moves the bridge along the crack and fills a couple of inches at a time. Do you need to drill a new hole every time you move the bridge? I would appreciate any input on this subject.
"Ordinary people spend their lives getting out of tense situations.
"A windshield repairman spends his life getting into tense situations!"
Mr. Bill... I like your quote...
"Ordinary people spend their lives getting out of tense situations.
"A windshield repairman spends his life getting into tense situations!"
I believe that Delta has the best equipment and repair process for rock chips. My repairs turn out the best using their equipment.
However, for long cracks, I use the old style plexiglass Glass Mechanix equipment. You will need to spread a lubricant such as vaseline on the windshiled along the crack but don't get any close enough to the crack that would contaminate it.
The older plexi-glass Glass Mechanix equipment that I am talking about does not have an air-pump suction cup. Instead, it has standard suction cups so that when you apply the bridge to the glass (on top of the vaseline) you can "slide" the bridge and injector assy along the crack while keeping pressure in the injector. It really works great.
You certainly would NOT want to try any suction cup pump style suction cup using vaseline because it would contaminate the air filter system.
I have done long crack repairs as long as 24+" inches before, but they have to be clean and new.
Im quite sure that Delta's injector could work quite well, but it would need to be adapted to a bridge that uses 3 standard suction cups so it could "slide" with lubricant along a long crack.
If Delta does have long crack repair equipment, I have not seen it. But like I said, their injector should would excellent, but the bridge would have to be mounted with standard suctions cups only.
With the use of vaseline alowing you to "slide" the bridge along the crack (as described in my previous post), you will NOT have to re-drill. It is helpful to apply 1-drop of resin on the leading edge of the seal touching the glass to lubricate it and allow it to slide without the resistance of just the rubber seal against glass.
How many drops of resin for a long crack??? Generally one or two drops per inch.
We definitely do not recommend sliding any bridge to do long cracks. Each time you move the bridge, it flexes the windshield, allowing air back in the break.
There are technicians on here that still use this technique, so this thread won't be an argument about whether it does or doesn't allow air. I'm simply giving my opinion.
If you'd like to check out our long crack techniques, you can do searches for them on the forum, or give me a call for tech support and i'd be happy to walk through it with you!
With a Delta injector you can using a wicking method or drill and fill. Sometimes I use a combination of both. The ingenious design of the Delta injector shines through when the resin is all pushed into the crack and you need to reload with more, the Delta injector does not introduce air into the crack. Try another style of injector and when all the resin is pushed in, air goes in behind it.
I am having a problem understanding you on this one I use plastic esprit/Novus style injectors and you can refill them from the top whenever you require I have used Deltas injector but cannot figure out any advantage when doing a crack please explain more .
When I need to slide an injector along a crack I do not use a bridge I just hold the injector in my fingers I find this methods allows you to move with very little flexing of the screen. Also I always apply curing film over the part of the crack I have already filled under this I apply some resin so that if the screen does flex all it draws in is more resin.
33,000 + screen repairs over 18 years and still learning.
Over
I use two different injector systems, Delta and one with a bottom loading screw type which retains some air over the resin in the cylinder. Take a guess who makes it. When you fill the crack and the load of resin has gone in, the air under pressure will go in after it. Big no no. Its only good on small cracks.
Delta's will let you continuously reload 8-10 drops at a time without introducing air into the break. It produces a seamless flow no matter how many reloads you have to do. You can also wick resin from the top by capillary action after the repair has been started. Any stubborn air bubbles can be removed by drilling with a .024 bit down to the bubble then hit it with the injector leaving very little scar to the repair.
1/3 of our business is crack repair. We can do fast effective crack jobs using Delta resin and GT CR resin. GT wicks easier but Magnibond seems tougher over time. We use magnibond on the impact point and on the mini bulls eye stop every time. We use GT CR on the body of looong cracks. Anything 3-12 inches we use just magnibond on the whole thing. I used to use crack jacks all the time but almost never do now. They cause distortion to the repair and are rarely needed if you have a great drill bit to gain access to stubborn parts and leave little scarring.
I use the Glass Mechanix system with success. Jeff's concern about flexing is a real one, but also can be easily overcome buy proper technique and a minimum of practice(or better yet training). As Screenman mentioned covering with curing tabs eliminates stray air. As for GM crack the injector, reloading is not realy a big issue as it can hold over 20 drops of resin(good for about 30inches of crack).
I have used it without the bridge on RV with cracks on the corner(90 degree bend with 4inch radius) of the WS, but by hand any injector will do the job. As for crack jacks they are not needed if your resin has a good wicking action, and they cause more distortion if used during the curing cycle(glass cures bent).
I have never done a crack repair by holding the injector by hand. Apparently that has success because I have read about others using the hand-hold method.
It seems like it would be very akward, like you would need a third arm for applying curing strips as you go along, and without the use of a bridge, it seems to me that it would be difficult to hold the injector perpendicular to the glass by hand. But like I said, I have never actually tried it.
I have an old windshield out my garage; I will try the hand-hold method on it several times before I actually do one in the field.
I have seen the term "wicking" used on posts in this thread and others. Can anyone describe exactly what "wicking" is. I understand what cappillary action is. Is "wicking" the same thing?
After reading all of the info on this thread , I went to the nearby glass shop got a practice windshield, and worked on my technique. Today I did a crack that was probably 24 inches for a neighbour kid . Piece of cake! The kid who owned the car was pleased. His dad came over and thanked me.
Thanks for all the help guys!
:eusa_clap
