Windshield Repair Forum

Hello all,

Wanted to get this on the forum as some may run into this and some may have already!
I had a dealer account today want a Windshield Repair performed. It was on a 1995 Ford F-350 Dually!
I noticed that when I first grabbed the vehicle to pull it into the garage along the outer edge of the WS the Laminate looked "BUBBLED" or "AIR FILLED POCKETS"

I knew then that the laminate was beginning to seperate!
I proceeded with the repair on a very nasty Star that the Dealer inform me the customer said it happend 2 years from the date he purchased the vehicle. So the Star is Estimated 12 years old?

I cleaned and prep the Void and when I went to inject my resin nothing was happening. Ok so I drilled slightly just to open up the break in order to ensure proper resin flow. Re - Set my bridge and AHHH now we have flow of resin.

When I removed my Lamp from its initial 5 minute cure I noticed a very unusal 'FLOWERED" outline that seemed to be my resin that filled the void. So I called Brent and spoke with him about it and concluded that the Laminate in the particular WS isa indeed seperating.

This effect was more so like it had the outline of a flower, looked like a watery look to it.
The star filled fine! Yet I agree with Brent its a Solid Repair just that Seperation of Laminate makes the finish product look NASTY!

Thanks!

Typical "De-lamination" caused by the chips age/water, you'll notice older vehicle's having this problem also. It usually occurs on the outside edge of some shields. I was told by one mfg that water will migrate approximately 1/8" per year on a affected shield. Water in chips causes what "we" (myself and the techs that work with me) call "the cataract effect". Another form of de-lamination in the local area of the chip. You can expect flowering to occur in this instance, the delamination allows the resin to migrate out from the repair area, hence the flowering. The water also degrades the laminate creating a weak spot (whiting) on the laminate it self, while your repair may be stellar the laminate is damaged and is therefor a candidate for replacement. While I have repaired many like this I do so only after educating my customer as to the problem with the WS and the repairs outcome being less than desired as far as results are concerned. Damaged laminate may not perform as designed, (to retain the passengers in the vehicle in the event of a bad crash). Like a head on or rollover accident. That being said, do you want the additional liability for having done a repair on a vehicle that is unsafe? While the chances are astronomical, I will continue to pass on this type of repair.

JMO Scott

That is a nice big daisy, closer inspection whilst the repair was taking place would have let you see it occuring, also less pressure is always required on old and nasty damages like this. Observation is a must, hopefully you saw the daisying happening and will know what signs to look for in future.