Acrylic vs. Epoxy

[GlassStarz]

Maybe someone at delta can tell me the advantages for one over the other I recently ordered a product from one of thier compettors who pitch the acrylic as being the way to go im no chemist and being a salesman for 20 yrs im an easy touch. What is the dif and what are the plus and minus? price is important to me but not enough that i would give the customer less quality I do have some morals

[glassdoctor]

I didn't know epoxy was still being used in wsr. I thought it was just an old wives tale.

Do they mean acrylic vs. acrylic with acid added. Some resin has acids added to it. They claim this to improve the bonding strength... "etch" the glass. It sounds good. But I was told several years ago by someone in the buisness I trust, that the real reason that acid is added is create resins with a shelf life. Acid-free resins don't have the one year shelf life like "regular" (hint: acid) resins.

This may not be true. Elvis may not be dead either. And, maybe this isn't what you meant anyway. Did you really mean epoxy, like a resin and catalyst additive?

OT: This just made me wonder... has anyone ever actually tried to use CA glue? (aka superglue) I am sure there are many reasons why it isn't used, but now I am curious what those reasons are...

[GlassStarz]

again im not a chemist but I guess what matters most is does it work well? Does it give the customer a quality repair? as it gets slower and colder (sposed to be -20 friday) I start to wonder about lame stuff

[Repair1]

I think I know about the stuff your talking about (yellow label) they claim it is an epoxy base whatever it is it

[Brent Deines]

Let me start with a disclaimer: I do not claim to be an expert on epoxy based resins, as we have never sold them at Delta Kits. However I have done a bit of research on the subject, and I have spoken to chemists who make epoxy resins for other applications. I have also talked to a number of windshield repair technicians that were quite unhappy with epoxy based resins currently being marketed to the windshield repair industry. These technicians now use acrylic acid based resins.

First you need to understand that no single ingredient is solely responsible for the effectiveness, or lack of effectiveness of any windshield repair resin product. The secret behind all leading resin products is in the specific formulation of the ingredients. Just because a resin has an acrylic acid base, does not mean it will not yellow, shrink, cure, or flow properly. Elasticity is also a very important factor in formulating a high quality windshield repair resin, and many resins fail to achieve the proper mix of elasticity and hardness. It

[desertstars]

Well-stated, Brent.

Lots of food for thought there.