Windshield Repair Forum

I did my first repairs yesterday and they looked pretty good!

My hubby and I have had a mostly replacement business here in SC for about 3 years now. I answer the phones, do the paperwork and assist with every install. I order the correct parts, get the customer and answer ?s, unload and prep the glass, put on moldings, fetch tools, pull the cable knife from time to time, help with every ws set, vacuum broken glass, get my little hands into doors when my hubby can't, give customers the warnings and make sure they're happy, do sales calls to insurance agents and manage our pricing, contracts and insurance. Clearly (I hope) I'm no slouch. Our business is in my name only in case he ever needs to get a job. He's so ethical about the replacement side - we would never dream of using any urathane but 418HV or 428+ (primerless - fewer steps to go wrong, and 1 hour drive off time) but he cared little about the repairs we did until I decided to start doing all our repairs.

He's a typical replacement guy in that respect, I guess. The $$$ is in replacement and the employers of replacement guys don't care so the guys don't care. He did know enough to buy a Delta kit with 2 bridges but he didn't know how to use it until I started to do research so I could feel comfortable/ethical going out and doing my 1st repair. He thought the 1st thing you do is take a drill to the chip! He NEVER used the pit resin in the kit! I started asking questions about the repair process and he kinda blew me off (because he didn't know). Finally we had a really nice lady with a Nissan Altima that had a chip. They've been resurfacing roads around here lately and we've gotten mostly replacements from it but this was clearly repairable. Safelite had gone out and done a repair on the same windshield 2 weeks earlier so the lady was worried about her insurance rates from Travelers going up for having another repair done in such a short period of time. I reassured her about no-fault claims and I know she verified this with her agent before we got there. So he did the repair and I started nagging about how it looked. I grabbed the pit polish (no pit resin at this point, I didn't know what it was!) and tried my hardest. He told me "that's just how repairs look" and I was DONE taking that explanation. I told him that Safelite had been out and did a repair and I couldn't even see theirs. We HAVE TO be better than Safelite! Well, those words worked and he quickly found the repair. It looked beautiful and ours looked like crap. On our repair there was another pit behind and further up the windshield, so my hubby told the nice lady that the impact was so hard that it clearly bounced and that's why it didn't look as nice as the Safelite repair. I felt terrible about the work we had done and I'm not used to feeling like that. To make matters worse she was a really nice lady who had been laid off 2 months ago and was at that point where she was beginning to stress about her current life and doubt her self worth (ya I been there!). I vowed to take over the repair part of our business.

So I found this forum and the YouTube videos and watched and learned. I'm so glad to have a Delta Kit too, I can tell the kit is high quality compared to the discarded little black box kits scattered around our garage. My 1st repairs were a Gerber job on a 2009 Dodge Journey. I'm a short lady so I brought my step stool to make sure I could reach all of the 4 chips. Yes, I know it's supposed to be a replacement if there's more than 3 chips but she wanted repair and I did too so away I went. She had a lot of pits too, I kinda feel bad for not recommending a replacement but she wanted repair. I tried to sell her on our company to do that replacement when the time comes. The 1st chip I did was a bad bullseye just to the left and down from the driver's viewing area. It had a secondary chip up and to the right. I thought I would have to do both impact points separately but they looked good with just doing the big bullseye. Hubby told me to put heat (lighter) on the 1st vacuum cycle because he's seen them crack out with heat on the pressure cycle. I forgot exactly what he had said so I put heat on the 1st pressure and 1st vacuum cycles. I put on too much heat and got a watery look on that repair but it looked a lot better than when I started and won't crack out on her now. The other 2 repairs went great and looked fabulous. I was glad to have the 2 bridge kit. The UV light suction cups didn't adhere well and the light kept sliding down the ws, any ideas about how to avoid that would be very much appreciated. I used too much resin and had to wipe it up off the ws many times, and I used too much pit resin and had to scrape forever it seemed, but I'll get better.

Next repair is a Netcost job scheduled for tomorrow. 2010 Ford Escape, I about choked when I got the call because I was afraid it was a replacement and if you use the correct windshield it's an expensive one. We used to subcontract for a company out of Phoenix AZ but we quit because of a 2010 Escape. They tried to make us use a ws for a 2007 Escape which will fit into the hole but has a completely different bonded molding and is not an acoustic ws. It's also half the price. We told the customer it was the wrong ws and then called to get the right one and we were fired on the spot. That's what we get for subcontracting! To add insult, the work order showed he was billing Gerber for the more expensive ws. We also have a copy of the receipt from Pilkington showing we picked up the less expensive one. We talked to our peeps at LOF and they said someone picked up the less expensive ws for that company the following Monday so we know they are committing insurance fraud. I guess that's a different story! Anyway I was really happy that this Escape is a repair and not a replacement, we're a little cash shy at the moment and we won't put in the wrong ws. I'll let y'all know how it goes after I'm done on Friday!

Thanks for the help and the support, it means the world!

Just curious. Where did you hear that a windshield with more than three chips requires replacement?

Cheers;

Puka Pau

AmbientTech1, glad to hear you want to do great repairs. Watch the videos for applying bridge and proper seal. This will help with the resin leaking from the seal. Also make sure the seal isn't old and needs replacement. For the uv light just use a little spritz of water and the cups will stick. Clean suction cups occassionally as they do get dirty and don't adhere well. You can do more than 3 repairs on a w/s but insurance generally recommends replacement after 3. I've personally done a w/s with 8. Just depends on how big and bad they are...use your judgement.

I'm still confused. Is a windshield that has more than three unrepaired damages a candidate for replacement (according to insurance companies)? Is a windshield that has had three damages previously repaired individually or in tandem at some point(s) in the past a candidate for repair if it has a fourth unrepaired damage (according to insurance comapnies)? Or both? What is the purpose of this criteria? Why does it matter?

Cheers;

Puka Pau

I think your like everyone else... Your learning. I do however have to say regardless if you guys were familular with repair, you may should have thought about doing at least 100 practice repairs (Meaning a spare piece of laminate laying around) in which you can simulate the damages using the app. tools.
I would have never went right out and tried to repar damage on a customers vehcile without some experiance under my wings. But as you witnessed practice makes perfect and I strongly feel your "First" repair using that Delta system would have been extremely better than "Safelite"

1. I wouldn't use heat to assist in filling a break! If that's what you were using that for
2. It's always good to make sure the glass is between 75 - 90 F & Your resins are at matching temp before you inject them
3. I highly reccomend you purchasing Delta' Moisture Evaporator. THis tool will allow you to dry out breaks which are filled with moisture in 20 seconds.
4. Always ensure to do 2 half turns or 4 full turns on the injector and the rear shoes. If resin does seep out simply give the injector a small twist until the resin stops.
5. "Drilling" I have heard and seen so much on "Drilling". You typically only need to drill to terminate the end of a long crack. Now there are occassions resin will not flow into say a tight star or batwing. Then I would say drill. But back to the bridge and the injector and rear shoes. Make sure that isn't to tight causing the legs to close in return not allowing the resin to flow through.
6. Watch alot of videos. Go to training, You get it FREE just by buying a Delta system!

Give Delta a call. They are spoken "Highly" of here and to be honest I am a sold out Delta user and customer for life. You will never find another company that has such a incrediable staff, great customer service. They are "Simply the Best" By calling them they can explain some things and will even walk through an entire repair with you! It's Awesome!

You doing great , keep studying and too much information is never enough!

You guys will be a success! I know you will!

All insurance I've dealt with says more than 3 repairs = replace. Previously repaired or not, I think (guess?) this is a liability issue for the insurance company. If an insured customer is involved in a collision and says they couldn't see then the insurance company has to at least talk to a lawyer. Why not just replace and make any potential liability go away? As a result, I'm in the habit of recommending replacement for more than 3 repairs or if the left windshield wiper touches a chip. I've been told this is the standard; what do y'all think? As far as 8 repairs on a ws? It's got to look like a kalidoscope every time the sun hits that shield!! I'm curious, Clarity Glass, why wouldn't you recommend a replacement?

As far as 100 practice repairs, GLASSTIME... I really appreciate your advice but I think your number is waaaay too high. I'm not exactly a newbie; I know how to look at and work with glass. Even if my repairs aren't beautiful, once I inject and cure the resin I'm guaranteed it won't crack out, right? (or am I wrong if so please tell me!) I'm also an experienced computer network administrator, but it took me some time to get my certifications. When I first entered the field I was intimidated by a guy who had an MCP cert. I gave him the names of the ingoing and outgoing email servers and when I came back an hour later he still didn't have his Outlook account set up!! He had an MCP and he was really that uh... mentally challenged?? It was then I realized that study counts for little; practice and experience is where it's at. The only way to get results is by doing it. And yes, I practiced once on an old ws before we threw it. So what, the only real measure is doing it. Does that make me unethical? I'd like to know.

Also, GLASSTIME, I'm not trying the long cracks yet so I'm not going to touch the drill for the near future. I'll continue to recommend replacement, but I'd love to eventually get that skilled so I can do 6" cracks. I guess, my hubby would still rather replace...

I wonder about applying the heat because hubby has told me before he could almost do a repair with a lighter only. I've always had a feeling that that is WRONG. Could someone explain why I should never use a lighter to work on a repair? I'm especially curious because there is clearly a spot for a lighter to live in my Delta Kit. Why then if I'm not supposed to use it?

Etc:
I haven't posted enough to ask "Puka Pau" this ? privately, but I wonder... Do you mean Puka from old Celtic (aka Harvey) or like the NZ tree? Would love to know, I'm into etymology and your username sounds kinda Hawiian to me...

Glad I don't have to drill. I always felt so uncomfortable trying to hold that Dremmel to the ws and try to keep it in 1 spot while not going through laminate.. It always felt like I was causing more damage than I was fixing!

GLASSTIME, thanks for the tips on the seal (the white bit, right? I replaced it just this Wednesday) and the back legs (shoes?). I fortunately have enough sense to not put the uh... shoes down too far so the bridge and injector doesn't have a chance to touch the glass. I guess I need to put the uh... injector? down more but it looks like an octopus's sucker already when I look from the inside of the shield. Do I need to screw it down more?? I'm doing good looking repairs so I have to think that the reason I'm getting leakage is because there is too much resin and there has to be someplace for that excess resin to go, right? Also, I'd love to know how much pressure to apply from screwing down the injector (sealing the white bit), and how much from pushing the plunger. Should I ever make the plunger flush to the injector or is that too much pressure?

As far as free training, that only applies if I can make it to Eugene, OR, right? I'm in SC and there's no chance of that. Videos don't exactly help with the stuff I'm wondering about.

Thanks again for all your help!

Hmm... Just posted but thinking about what I said about how far the back "shoes" are down. I saw the resin shoot out the side of the uh... injector (?) at about 4:30 clock while I was depressing the "plunger", in addition to it just dribbling off at the lowest point of the seal. Maybe I should back off the "shoes", giving the white seal a better chance? After all, the resin will leak out of the lowest point so I couldn't be able to tell if the seal issue is at the rear (aka "shoe") part of the bridge? Or should I screw the injector down more? All good advice is very much appreciated, and thanks!

"Puka Pau"
Puka neans hole
Pau means done or finished.

Maybe the impact hole is larger than the injector seal, if this is true you will need to cap it and drill back in. If not I believe that the Delta direction is to turn the barrel when the seal touches the glass 1/2 a turn and then turn the leveling legs 4 half turns once they touch the windshield. If this does not stop the leak maybe you need a new seal which needs to be replaced about every ten repairs. Hope this is of some assistance.

You can find a lot of answers to your questions by doing a search. Spend some time doing research and reading the old forum posts to get an idea of what different people do with drills, heat etc. There are different opinions and different people do things a bit differently at times. There are hundreds++ of variations of chips so that is why a lot of practice is needed. It will take a while for you to become comfortable, and confident enough to know you can handle whatever comes to your business.

I would suggest that you call delta and let them walk you through a few chips too. That way you won't be alone, wondering what to do next when you run out of ideas on how to fix something complicated. Communication might be better and a lot better for you when you learn the correct terminology for the different pieces and parts of your equipment. I'm not putting you down, just trying to get to the point where we here can communicate more effectively.

There is just a huge wealth of information on this forum, and it's free to use, I would take advantage of it if I were in your position.