Windshield Crack, Stone Chip Repair
A typical car windshield has at least two layers of glass and resin polymer between them that gives it strength. In the event of an accident, the purposes of the resin is to held the pieces of glass together and prevent them to cause injuries.
The damage to the windshield can be small or big. It is not always necessary to replace a chipped or cracked windshield. Repair is often good alternative to the replacement of the entire windshield. It is always advisable to repair the damage then ignoring it. Damage soon can spread and you may have no alternative but to replace the windshield. The stone chip repair of laminated glass windshields is, however, only permissible if the following conditions are met. Stone Chip Repair specialists can advise you weather to repair or replace the windshield after investigating at the damage.
- The stone chip damage should be repaired as soon as possible because moisture or dirt should not be allowed to become visibly trapped in the damaged area. Trapped moisture and dust will give a poor repair result.
- The repair can only be done if the damage is to the outer surface of the windshield and is no greater than 5 mm. The inside screen and intermediate polymer must be intact. It is not possible to eliminate small scratches or tiny breakout of the glass caused by sand particles.
- Lines from the impact point may be no longer than 50 mm and should not terminate at the edge of the windshield.
- Any repairs may not be allowed in the driver’s field of vision.
4 Types of Stone Chips:
Star Break: Star break is usually made from a regular sized rock hitting the glass. It may look like “x” or multiple legs extending from the impact point. It may not obscure your view. Star break is hard to repair but if not repaired, over the time it can grow into large cracks. Thus if repaired on time entire windshield replacement can be avoided.
Bullseye Break: Bullseye break is rock chip and looks like a circle. This type of breaks can easily be repaired. After repair the damage usually disappears.
Combination Break: This is combination of Bullseye and Star Break. This type of damage is hard to repair completely. But proper technique and equipment can make it almost diminished.
Half Moon: This break is similar to Bullseye Break except it does not make complete circle. Repair of this type is easy and once repaired usually disappears.
Stone Chip Repair Procedure:
At Auto Glass GTA in Toronto, Stone Chip Repair is done very professionally. First, the area is cleaned and the air is removed by vacuum. Under high pressure liquid resin is injected into the damaged area. Liquid resin enters into the finest crakes. After using UV light to cure the resin to make it almost invisible the surface is levelled and polished.
The disappearance of the stone chip depends on the skills of the technician performing the repair. It also depends on the resin used and type of the crack. We at Auto Glass GTA, have many years of experience in repairing stone chips with many happy customers around the Greater Toronto Area. Call us now to get a free, no obligation estimate and recommendation.
Stone Chip Repair can also be termed as Auto Glass Crack Repair.