Even to this day I still hear these words. "I didn't know you could repair a cracked windshield"Windshield repair has been around for over twenty years and there are still people who don't know windshield repair is possible.
Repairs preformed by skilled patient auto glass repair technicians who specialize in crack and chip repair can repair your vehicles windshield within certain limitations. Inspection of the windshields overall condition should be considered. First is the windshield pitted or frosted from sand and other debris striking our windshield over the years, is the windshield cracked beyond twelve inches or is the crack directly in your line of sight? The technicians initial inspection when preformed will take all these factors into consideration before recommending repair or replacement.
When repair is the choice expediency is in order for several reasons. Cracks in glass can and will expand over time and some have more time then others but there is no way to tell which ones those are. This could be a very expensive experiment or you could just have the cracks repaired and save some money and time. Second with time water enters the crack and carries dirt with it and this decreases the finished appearance and clarity of the repair. Another problem with water entering a cracked windshield is if the water freezes, it expands and so will the crack. Water must be removed before injection and bonding or the bond will fail. Remove water either by heating with the De-frostier or heat gun, setting the vehicle in warm sunlight for a little bit or by chemical water removal aids, it's best to let the technicians decide which method poses the least risk of the windshield spontaneously cracking out.
After water removal, injection of the resin is next followed by vacuum and injection and vacuum repeated over and over. When the resin has reached the very end of the crack and all air has been vacuumed out, pit resin is applied which fills the pit or area of missing glass and is super hard after curing. After curing excess resin is scraped away with a sharp razor blade then polished to clarity. That is how a basic windshield repair is preformed.
Long cracks in windshields are a little different first the crack must be stopped or re-leaved of stress, this is done by drilling part way through the first layer of glass and popping a bull's-eye with a carbide probe. From this point if the crack reaches the edge of the windshield the area by the edge must be sealed prior to injection or the resin will just flow out the edge and not into the crack. Once the resin has filled the crack and reached the relief hole it is then covered with Mylar film and cured, scrapped and polished and you saved your windshield from replacement.
So for those of you that don't know about windshield repair I hope this will help. For those of you that do know, understand the urgency in repairing those small rock chips and small cracks before they crack out.
