Cold westher crack out!!

[rottdawg]

:eusa_wall
I had a lady come in today with a simple combination break.....So I thoought:eusa_wall
I had the suv warmed up & the windshield temp felt correct(between 70-90.) It was 20 degrees out with a strong cold wind. I hooked up the injector and about 4 minutes into the first pressure cycle, I put just a slight flex on the back of the glass to flex of the small legs. I swear I barely touched the back of the glass!! Two new legs shot about 3 inches to the left and 6 inches to the right...:eusa_wall
I used the syringe/capilary fill method shown to me in Eugene training and it looked pretty good. I told the customer what happend and offered for her to call the insurance company and stop my payment if she wanted. She of course said "no, no" but also seemed,to me anyway, upset. I took here out and showed her the windshield and she was very pleased & told me she had already refered me to a friend of hers while she was in the waiting room and it looked MUCH better. I only hope that the small bullseyes I popped stop the crack.
Does anybody have any clue what I may have done wrong to create the crack out? I swear that I didn't push too hard & my injector pressure seemed what it should have been. I am bummed that this happened this soon into my venture. I sat there for what seemed forever all slack jawed. What a crappy way to end the day.:eusa_wall

Kevin

[mrchip]

ROTTDAWG..PULL YOURSELF TOGETHER!!!!!!...it can happen..when you fall down you have to get up and over it ..sounds like you did nothing wrong this is your first and will not be your last..it's happened to me to...some things are not under your control..glass can be touchy..at least you did the right thing by fixing the lines to the best of your ability instead of throwing in the towel...ypu've joined the club!!..put a smile on your face:eusa_droo :eusa_droo

[maxryde]

rottdawg, Broken glass can be very stable or very touchy, if the conditions you described are accurate that it is sure that the ws was going south in a hurry. If you did your job correctly then it's a saved shield. She could have gotten a replacement and had a new chip come breakfast too!!, so not to worry.

[Dave M]

Rottdawg,
A couple questions.......You say that a " lady came in today", do you have a shop? Or, was that just a figure of speach and you had to warm up the w/s outside with the defroster?
Also, why did you flex the back of the glass while under pressure? By the back of the glass, do you mean from the inside of the vehicle? If this is what you did, in my opinion that is what cracked the w/s. Applying slight pressure over a crack (from the outside) while in pressure cycle will allow resin to flow faster into that crack. Applying pressure from the inside on a warm w/s can cause further breakage.

[Sneck]

Just blame the crack out on the windshield installation. Sometimes a windshield is installed incorrectly leaving added stress on the glass.

Just kidding... but it sounds good.

[rottdawg]

I am working out of a car repair shop across from a busy mall. It's a fantastic location with a ton of cars driving by each and every day. I did do the repair outside due to all of the bays being full.
Anyway, Yes I did touch the inside of the glass and caused the break. If I was going to use a crack expander, would that go on the outside of the windshield? If thats the case, my bad and my mistake. But I swear, I hardly even touched the inside of the glass. It was not much more then when touching the glass to check the temp. If applying presure on the outside of the glass would it be in front or behind the aplication of the resin? My main concern is doing this as little as I can in the future.
Thanks again guys & gals
Kevin
ps I'm better now Mr Chip...Thanks:eusa_wall

[Dave M]

Rottdawg,
When or if you use a crack expander, that would go on the inside of glass. Applying pressure (with probe) on the outside of glass, next to the injector and directly over the crack that you are trying to open up to allow resin to flow. Do not slide or move your probe, just lift off when finished. Sometimes this may require a couple probe pressures if crack is not filling to the end.
If you have not used a probe in this manner, practice first on used windshield.

[rescue]

Twenty degrees out? You ought to be sittin by the fire drinkin hot chocolate! I was taught that 32 degrees and up is acceptable (not Delta training). Even if you warm up the windshield on the inside, then you have a very large temperature spread between the outside. Say 70 degrees inside and 20 outside is a 50 degree spread! Perhaps that has an effect on the glass?

[tooldini]

That could be an issue. I did 3 chips this week when it was only 22 outside and they turned out great. I was very careful and took my time. I got the shield up to about 50-55 degrees. Just let me equipment do most of the work which takes longer but I think that may be the safest way instead of flexing and probing all the time like I do on nice days.

Jeff

[Shepard]

Don't stress about it, it happens to everyone. After you have 500 windshield repairs under your belt you will have way fewer "oops" moments.

I only screw up less than 1% of the repairs, and I always give the client a little disclaimer before I start about windhsield repair being a practice, kinda like a doctor... some broken legs fix up perfectly and others don't. They bring you a broken piece of glass, and they leave with a broken piece of glass. We fix it as best we can, and if we are not happy, we do just what you did and offer not to charge.

I bought three windshields for folks during my first month working, then I learned better... Some days it seems all windshields don't repair well, other days I am doig perfect repairs in 10 minutes each...