When people prepare their vehicle for winter driving, they probably worry about servicing their engine or tires. One important area that is often overlooked is the windshield. With proper care and maintenance, you can keep your auto glass in good condition and avoid a windshield repair or replacement. Here are some simple tips that you can follow this winter to prevent damage to your windshield and keep your auto glass in top working order.
Check for irregularities. If you're at the fix auto glass or rear of the car, look along the car to see if there are small dents. These can be seen as distortions in the reflection. If the paint is not smooth in one place, then this could be a place where there has been some damage. Dents as large as a coin can be restored by a panel beater. Dents that are not thoroughly repaired are often filled with polyester resin or fibreglass paste. Tap the surface, or go along it with a magnet. Know whether the panel is made of steel, not plastic, fibreglass or aluminum. If there are places where the magnet will not adhere, then in all likelihood, the panel has been repaired. Ask the owner why the part has been repainted?
Any of these stone chips can be repaired. Beyond looking for these types of common chips, it is important to take into consideration the size of the damage. If the damage cannot be covered by a half dollar, the chip is too large to be repaired. Another important piece of information to consider is the acute area. The acute area is the area of the windshield directly in the drivers line of vision. It is the same size as a piece of paper being held horizontally in front of the driver. In this area, the National Glass Association does not recommend a repair being done unless it is no greater than .95 of an inch. An easier way to imagine this is that a quarter should be able to cover the entire area of damage in the acute area.
Even if you only drive on surface streets, the occasional rock or piece of debris can hit your vehicle's windshield and leave a mark. If you travel often on the freeways, it can happen much more frequently. If a piece of debris creates a minor chip in the glass, it may not cause a serious problem. However, if a crack develops, it can travel and grow larger. Eventually, it may even become a safety issue. Contact a windshield repair specialist and have the damage fixed.
If you are using a system fix auto glass repair disc, boot the PC with that. Otherwise, after your PC has finished its BIOS sequence, hold down the F8 key. Choose Repair Your Computer from the Advanced Boot Options screen (below) and tap Enter.
The bottom line is you don't want to be caught by law enforcement with a cracked windshield. You also don't want to be seen by your friends, riding around in a car with a broken windshield. Not only is the citation costly, you may never be able to live down the embarrassment that you feel every time see you in your car before you have gotten it fixed. Spare yourself the trouble and get that window fixed as soon as possible. You don't want that small blemish to become a bigger blemish that can cause injury to you and your friends.
Wash your vehicle. As with dirt or other debris, water in the damaged area can cause your windshield to crack further or even make it impossible to fix using traditional windshield crack repair techniques.
Thread the repair tube into the suction cup tool since the suction cup is directly over the damaged area. You may need to screw it tightly but don't use any tools, just your hands. The proper alignments of the tools are very essential in repairing windshield, which is why you have to check from inside the car if the rubber is directly on the top of the damage area. Now you have to open up the supper tube and add it to the repair tube. Add drops of repair resin and then put a film underneath the resin and let it dry for ten minutes.