Windshield Repair Forum

Hello!

Well, today I joined the ranks of Delta-Kits equipped windshield repair technicians! I own a automotive service centre and have added chip repair to our service offering. Today, though our shop is closed, I popped up the caravan canopy and voila!, I was in business...

Since receiving training on June 22 from a local Delta-Kits distributor, I've been practising and built up enough confidence (though I must admit to some apprehension) to "go public" today. :icon_neut

So that I might ease into the business a bit, I decided that I would not do any crack repairs until I had more practise, hoped that I would not have to work on any high end vehicles and not work on any chips that I had not practised on. NO PROBLEM! :eusa_hand

NOT! :eusa_wall

My first inquiry was a 8" crack repair request. My second repair inquiry was a Porsche with a horseshoe chip (no I hadn't practised on one!) So what did I do? Dove in head first!

I should stop here and state that it is fully my intention perform the highest quality chip repairs and will continue to improve, practise and train to meet my expectations for repair,.... but I had to start somewhere...

The crack repair started out well as I performed the repair as I was trained to do. I was trained to stop feeding resin into the last inch of the crack, cure the resin to that point, then drill midway in the last inch of the crack and repair the last inch as if it was another chip. I had difficulty getting resin into that last inch so resorted to drill the end of the crack, popping a small bullseye and filling from there. I got a very nice result in 80% of the crack and believe that I have the crack stopped though a portion of the crack did not appear to fill. The client was satisfied that the run was stopped and that's what she was looking for.

The 2 1/2" Porsche horseshoe was a one year old crack that, in my newbie opinion, turned out very very well. I drilled at the impact point which was roughly 1" from the visible crescent. After multiple vac/pressure cycles only maybe 20% of the crescent took resin, so i tried a little heat on the inside of the windshield then fed resin along the crescent crack. This procedure worked well and filled 98% of the crescent crack. I applied curing tape over the crescent crack and finished by removing my towel cover and pressure cured, filled the pit and polished.

Other than 9 practise repairs today on friends vehicles, as well as 3 flat glass practise repairs, these were the only paid repairs I completed today. I look forward to more repairs tomorrow.

I want to say thanks to everyone on the forum for the opportunity to be trained by people with tons of experience. I appreciate any feedback you may have on the previously described repairs, as it is my goal to be expert at this work. I know I have much to learn especially discerning the proper approach to the drill or not drill issue. My trainer says drill 90% of all chips to ensure proper fill. I also think I should schedule training in Eugene to bolster my skill as I get going in the biz!

Sorry for the lengthy message...

Kindest regards to all!

Marc Lemieux

Good Job! Sounds Like You Are Well On Your Way To Success!

On a horseshoe break youshould not drill the impact point, but look hard for the deepest part of the crack. This normaly is a point quite close but not directly under the impact point. Drill and pop here and you will be amazed at the results. The area I am trying to explain is the very dark area that is closest to the PVB. Horse shoe breaks have a tendency to radiate away from the surface crack and it is the out side perimetre that you need to pop into.

Wow I bet when I rear this post later I think of a better way of explaining it. When you get it right they will mostly fill in seconds, and of course seeing as they are a surface break vacuum will be of no use except to pull more air in. I know, unless you pit fill or some other method of sealing it.

vfrbest;24911 wrote:Hello!

Well, today I joined the ranks of Delta-Kits equipped windshield repair technicians! I own a automotive service centre and have added chip repair to our service offering. Today, though our shop is closed, I popped up the caravan canopy and voila!, I was in business...

Since receiving training on June 22 from a local Delta-Kits distributor, I've been practising and built up enough confidence (though I must admit to some apprehension) to "go public" today. :icon_neut

So that I might ease into the business a bit, I decided that I would not do any crack repairs until I had more practise, hoped that I would not have to work on any high end vehicles and not work on any chips that I had not practised on. NO PROBLEM! :eusa_hand

NOT! :eusa_wall

My first inquiry was a 8" crack repair request. My second repair inquiry was a Porsche with a horseshoe chip (no I hadn't practised on one!) So what did I do? Dove in head first!

I should stop here and state that it is fully my intention perform the highest quality chip repairs and will continue to improve, practise and train to meet my expectations for repair,.... but I had to start somewhere...

The crack repair started out well as I performed the repair as I was trained to do. I was trained to stop feeding resin into the last inch of the crack, cure the resin to that point, then drill midway in the last inch of the crack and repair the last inch as if it was another chip. I had difficulty getting resin into that last inch so resorted to drill the end of the crack, popping a small bullseye and filling from there. I got a very nice result in 80% of the crack and believe that I have the crack stopped though a portion of the crack did not appear to fill. The client was satisfied that the run was stopped and that's what she was looking for.

The 2 1/2" Porsche horseshoe was a one year old crack that, in my newbie opinion, turned out very very well. I drilled at the impact point which was roughly 1" from the visible crescent. After multiple vac/pressure cycles only maybe 20% of the crescent took resin, so i tried a little heat on the inside of the windshield then fed resin along the crescent crack. This procedure worked well and filled 98% of the crescent crack. I applied curing tape over the crescent crack and finished by removing my towel cover and pressure cured, filled the pit and polished.

Other than 9 practise repairs today on friends vehicles, as well as 3 flat glass practise repairs, these were the only paid repairs I completed today. I look forward to more repairs tomorrow.

I want to say thanks to everyone on the forum for the opportunity to be trained by people with tons of experience. I appreciate any feedback you may have on the previously described repairs, as it is my goal to be expert at this work. I know I have much to learn especially discerning the proper approach to the drill or not drill issue. My trainer says drill 90% of all chips to ensure proper fill. I also think I should schedule training in Eugene to bolster my skill as I get going in the biz!

Sorry for the lengthy message...

Kindest regards to all!

Marc Lemieux

Welcome, Welcome and all the best in your endeavours

Thanks for the best wishes and feedback on the horseshoe chip repair. I consulted with my trainer and found that indeed I had addressed the horseshoe repair incorrectly. During the training I interpreted his instructions incorrectly for this type of repair. I had even made notes at the time which, of course, were wrong. Thankfully, the repair worked out well and the end result was a satisfied client.

Peace

Marc

Hi Marc,
You learned a valuable lesson! There is more than one way to skin a cat! Always keep in mind that your goal is to get air out and resin in. It seems that you accomplished that in your own way, so you didn't do anything wrong.

Keep up the good work.

Dave

Marc.
What else can I say than wishing you sukses in your w/s repair future.
Me too, I'm still in the learning process, I even learned from reading your thread !
Keep it up !!
Ed.

What's ironic is that when I inspected the crack & reviewed it with the client I told him that I would be drilling "in the crack" and pointed out where. He left, I went and checked my notes to be sure of how to tackle this repair. My intuition was correct and my notes incorrect. Just glad it worked out...

Marc

After reading and training I feel like I can handle any chip that comes my way...then i get a new one and am humbled by it!

Today I encountered a setback in my confidence.
I had to repair a star and after setting the bridge I started to fill it with resin without drilling first , remembering this from Eugene.
The legs fiiled for 80% , the rest of the legs stayed black.
Decided to drill afterall, the hardened resin came out and after me setting the bridge again , filled the star without sukses after 4 x pressure/vacuum cycles.
Because I gave myself a C for this so called repair , I didn't charge the customer.
He appreciated my honesty , still shelled out a 20 dollar bill for my effort and supplies.
The star was 8 month old , should I drill from now on anytime as I have done in the past ??
When do you decide to drill or not ?
Open for any advise, thanks Ed

Most often when a star is filling nicely and the stops, it is due to either premature curing or moisture. I always decide to drill or not before I start dry out, which is something I do on every repair. Premature curing will normally occur when there is a source of UV coming from somewhere. Remember being in the shade alone will not stop UV. Try this test find a spot on a car that is in the shade place a small amount of pit fill under a tab leave for a couple of minutes, you will more often that not come back to find it cured. This is something you do not want to happen whilst filling a nice starbreak