Daren SchwenkeI saw a post about a 'new product' for repairing a cracked windshield where the product wicked into the crack and filled it. It looked optically transparent for the demo.
The naysayers of the post were touting that you could use superglue to achieve the same effect.
Tried that... It worked! Mostly...
So now begins the journey of finding a more suitable material, as close to the index of refraction of the glass as possible, and in my possession.
On hand so far I have....
- Superglue
- Gel coat nail polish primer (UV cure)
I have a vacuum pump and the ability to make thingies to draw said material into the void of the crack.
Let's do this..
Discussions
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If you had a ding'd windshield, you could go to an auto glass place and watch them fill it. See what they fill it with and see the process. Probably even covered by your car insurance.
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Depends on where you have your insurance out of (varies by state), and your vehicle (some are excluded). Not for me, even with comprehensive insurance, on any of my vehicles.
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The state I am in found that they could shift the cost of crappy road maintenance back to the car owners by requiring all insurance to cover windshield replacement... Might be able to just ask the people who do it what they use. Just for the heck of it, I searched permatex windshield repair and came up with: https://www.permatex.com/products/specialized-maintenance-repair/windshield-repair/permatex-windshield-repair-kit/
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I am not a windshield repair engineer, but anything you can do to keep water out of the crack should help prevent cracks from growing.
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Not in a cold climate currently, but for most of the US this would be sound advice for sure. I haven't seen any degradation of my existing crack for the car for the last few years in my current permanently warm location.
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I'm not sure if optical properties are the only thing necessary for a truly successful repair of the windshield.
Structural integrity is a major important factor of the windshield, and cracks and other sharp edges act as focal points for stresses. If the superglue doesn't properly bond with the glass and helps alleviate these stresses, the crack can continue to grow in size.
Regardless, this is a really cool project idea, and I am just kinda curious to see what it'll do :>
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I picked up a proper UV light yesterday. I will be giving the resin a try soon.
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