Windshield Repair Forum

Hi All, Newbie here. I did a small star break repair on a Saturn windshield. It was a sunny day and 75F. When I removed the DK bridge I looked at the repair and saw no bubble. I applied the pit resin, curing tab, and the UV lamp. When I removed the lamp, there was a small bubble close to the surface. What do you think caused this, and can I do anything to repair this after the repair is cured? I'm not happy with the darn bubble look.

There are a few possible causes, but if the air bubble is close to the surface it is most likely that you trapped a bubble in the pit resin as the curing tab was applied. To discuss how to keep this from happening in the future and other possibilities, including not enough pressure and vacuum cycles, too much injector pressure against the glass, etc., I invite you to give us a call.

Bubbles close to the surface can generally be removed by using the point of a scribe, slide hammer, or needle to break through the surface resin into the bubble, or you can use a drill to open up the bubble. Once open you just need to apply a low viscosity windshield repair resin, MagniBond if you are using Delta Kits resin, and then when you are sure the bubble is completely filled with the low viscosity resin add a drop of pit filler to the top, cover, cure, scrape and polish.

In most cases you will not need your injector for this process. Be sure when you apply your curing tab you place your pit filler below the break and allow the curing tab to push the resin up over the impact point or hole to minimize the chance of air bubbles near the surface.

I'm a newby as well...how about when it all looks clean and after the uv light comes off there is one or several black dots...are those air bubble as well.
M

Greenshield wrote:I'm a newby as well...how about when it all looks clean and after the uv light comes off there is one or several black dots...are those air bubble as well.
M

When you see black, shiny, or green inside a break that means air is present. This is different from the air bubble discussed in previous posts. The air bubble that they are referring to is on/near the surface of the pit from not applying the pit resin and curing tab properly. The air that you are seeing is inside the break and would have been present before you removed the bridge. It is critical that you look at the damage from all angles before determining whether or not the damage has been filled completely. Light bends when it goes through glass, much like it does through water which is proven by the "broken pencil in water" look we all learned in middle/high school science class. Often, a repair will look completely filled from one angle, only to discover that from another angle, air is still present.

Another possibility occurs when heat is applied during the filling process. Heat causes the glass to expand and sometimes "close up". This makes the damage look filled until it cools back down and the damage "opens" back up. Either way, the damage was not filled completely when the curing process began. Nothing about the curing process causes air to enter the break. If you have any more questions, call into Delta Kits and we can answer them for you.

Here is a short video illustrating how to apply the pit resin and curing tab.