Repair of the chip on the car glass

Accidentally, a small pebble flown into the windshield often causes the formation of a cleavage or a crack on it. It can happen with anyone, both on the highway and on the country road. Further use of the car with a similar defect is not recommended, as it worsens the review, reducing your safety. And if it's a crack, and even from the driver's side - you still face an administrative penalty for violation of traffic rules established by law.

How to be? Change all the glass, or still try to do the repair of the chip? Replacing the car windshield - the event is not cheap, so if the damage is not critical, you can try to fix everything in a less expensive way. But first let's figure out what is the car glass, what are the types of its damage, and also what is the modern repair of the windshields. Skills, cracks - what is their danger?

Types of auto glass and their features

Standard autoglasses, depending on the purpose, are of two types: hardened and multi-layered. The first type is usually used for the rear and side windows. Tempered glass is an integral structure that has undergone a special heat treatment at the plant. Its feature is the property of crumbling into a multitude of tiny particles upon impact, which significantly reduces the risk for the driver and passengers to get injured due to it. This glass can not be repaired, since the slightest damage leads to the destruction of the stability of its overall structure and the inevitable further disintegration.

But multi-layer (laminated) structures, which are mostly used for windscreens, have a completely different structure and characteristics. They are able to withstand a strong point strike, without destroying the structure throughout the area. If the stone breaks through one layer, qualitative repair of the cleavage will help restore the integrity of the windshield to 80 percent. The use of modern polymer materials will make the damaged space almost invisible.

If two or three layers are pierced, even the most skilled repair of windshields is unlikely to help. The chips and cracks present on most of the glass thickness will inevitably lead to its further destruction.

Types of damage to the windshield

Damage to the windshield is classified into the following types:

• Chipped round ("bullish", "wolf's eye");
• Cone-shaped chips;
• Chips of the "star" type;
• Chips with a fragmented cavity;
• Chipped "butterfly";
• Lucid cracks;
• Cracks of rounded shape;
• Bi-directional cracks;
• Combined defects.

Now let's try to understand what is the difference between these damages, and why they should be urgently needed to repair the glasses. Scales, cracks and their combinations pose a serious danger on the road, so do not delay with their removal.

Skole

This defect usually occurs due to the hit in the windshield of a stone flying out from under the wheel in front of the oncoming or oncoming vehicle. Often it happens that instead of a stone in the glass gets a metal spike from the tire.

But is it necessary to repair the frontal cleavages, if they do not interfere with the visibility of the driver? The chip itself, if it is small, of course, does not limit the visibility, but at any time it risks developing into a crack that has several directions. The probability of this process increases substantially in the winter period, when the outside temperature is below zero, and heating is operating in the cabin. Repair of the frontal cleavage is also relevant before traveling on roads with poor coverage: vibration will sooner or later do its job and the glass will begin to crack.

Crack

The reason for the formation of a crack can be the same stone, a sharp temperature drop, and also a strong vibration. It is not uncommon for a glass to crack while washing a car with cold water in hot weather, when trying to "unfreeze" it with hot water or when the wheel hits a deep pit.

The crack is much more dangerous than the cleavage, since the fracture itself begins to refract light, which significantly reduces the view, and also that at any moment it can increase, dividing into several directions.

What to do when the windshield is damaged on the road

If the road on the glass of your car formed a chip or crack, stop, inspect the damage and determine its cause. If it is chipped away, do not try to rip it out, determining the depth. It is better to rinse with water and seal the place of impact with a transparent tape, so that dirt and dust do not get inside. If there is a lot of pollution, repairing the chipped windshields becomes impossible.

If a crack is formed, try to drive to the house or to the repair site, avoiding shaking. With a strong vibration, you risk remaining without glass at all.

In any case, it is better to go slower, choosing even sections of the roadway.

Repair of chipped windshields

The essence of repair of the cleavage is to fill the dehulled area with a special transparent polymer compound that glues the disjoined parts of the glass, without interfering with the view. This composition, when frozen, has a light refractive index close to the glass coefficient, so there is usually no problem with visibility.

Repair of the cleavage, as a rule, takes no more than 40 minutes. The process of glass recovery begins with the cleaning of the place of damage from dirt and debris. If the chip has rays more than 15 mm, at the end of each of them through holes are drilled to prevent their further spread. Then, using a device called the injector, the chip is filled under pressure under polymer pressure. To quickly freeze it uses an ultraviolet lamp. After curing the polymer, grinding and polishing of the glass is carried out. In the same way, the holes drilled at the end of the beams are also closed.

How many it is necessary to eliminate the chip on the glass? Repair of the chip includes the cost of the polymer (about $ 10 per 1 sq. Cm) and work. On average, a similar flaw with a diameter of 1 cm is worth about $ 15. Not so expensive, you see, when compared with the replacement of all glass.

Repair of cracks

The crack, of course, can not be eliminated, but to prevent its further spread is quite possible. This procedure also does not take much time. The repair process consists in drilling the ends of the crack in order to remove the stress from the glass and stop further cracking.

After the holes have been made, they are also filled with a transparent polymer. After it dries, the glass is polished and polished.

Can I repair the glass with my own hands?

Today repair of chips and cracks, especially if they are minor, can be done without any special problems at home. No special skills or special equipment is required for this procedure. It is enough to purchase a repair kit, which is sold in any car dealer, carefully study the instruction and, strictly adhering to the algorithm described there, to perform several simple manipulations.

Sold sets consist of a disposable plastic injector, a syringe with a nipple filled with polymer, a self-adhesive circle that limits the repair site, and several needles and brushes for cleaning the damage site.

When choosing a repair kit, be sure to pay attention to its manufacturer, recommendations for use in a particular temperature regime and shelf life. Until recently, US production kits were very popular, but now the market is full of similar products manufactured in China. Better, of course, to purchase a branded kit, even if it is several times more expensive.

Skole on glass: repair by own hands

Before the beginning of repair work it is necessary to estimate the sizes of damage and to be defined with microcracks. Use a flashlight and a magnifying glass for this. If there are cracks, we drill them at the end with a thin diamond drill.

Repair of chips on the car must begin with cleaning the damaged area. We clean it with a thin needle and brush, removing dirt, dust and debris. Rinse with water and dry the hair dryer (building or household). Degrease the surface with alcohol.

Next, install the injector: glue the circle and mount the nipple in accordance with the instruction. We connect the syringe with the polymer to the nipple and begin pumping, supplying the glue to the damaged area under pressure. At the end of the procedure, the injector remains on the glass until the polymer solidifies (about 6 hours).

When the glue solidifies, its remnants are removed with the help of a blade or a construction knife. After complete polymerization (about 10 hours), the glass must be polished. The holes at the ends of the cracks are closed in a similar way.

Useful tips for self-repair glass

Preparing to repair the damaged glass of the car with your own hands, see some useful tips that will avoid common mistakes.

1. If the damage is global (deep cleavage, accompanied by long cracks, multiple chips, cracks on the driver's side or along the entire glass), it is better to replace all the glass.
2. If there is a single, but a major chip, or a long crack that does not interfere with the driver's view, contact a specialized service.
3. Do not trust the repair of home-grown "specialists", better do it yourself.
4. Do not buy for self-repair sets of questionable origin at a low price.
5. In the event of a chip in the road, do not clean it, seal it with a transparent tape, putting a clean piece of paper under it. Continue to move gently, avoiding uneven sections of the roadway.
6. Do not pull with repair.