How Water Can Affect a Cracked Windshield and the Repair
When windshields have small cracks or small rock chips with cracks, repair is in order.
Care must be taken to keep moisture out either by repair, your best choice or by covering the break with clear tape until repaired, but don't drive with the tape over the break.
We want to keep moisture out of the break for several reasons one being if water enters a break and freezes the water will expand in the confined area in the crack and it will also expand the crack.
Here is a good scenario you have a small rock chip with a small crack, while parked outside it rains a little some water enters the break.
Later that night it gets really cold and freezes the water and slightly extends the crack, but you can't tell.
A little later you drive to the store you turn on the windshield Defroster which melts the ice and the water moves to the newly expanded crack from the water freezing earlier.
You now drive home and park the car and the water freezes again.
Now you can see the process of the crack expanding from the water freezing in the small crack.
Another problem with water entering a windshield break is that water carries dirt particles into the cracks.
We can remove the water but we cannot remove the dirt and the dirt will show in the finished repair.
Company's that design the windshield repair resins, know that some breaks will have dirt in them with this in mind the resins bonding agents are engineered to deal with that issue.
Bonding of a windshield crack with water or air trapped in the break will fail to hold, here is why.
Water or air will expand at different rates than the windshield glass and when it freezes or heated by the sun, the trapped water or air which is usually trapped at the ends of the cracks from some nut injecting resin into the crack without removing the water and sealing the water in.
Water now trapped in a confined area is a recipe for disaster.
Sealing trapped air in a windshield crack will also fail for the same reasons trapped air in a crack will most always fail and continue to crack with time.
Other problems associated with water being trapped or water not being removed prior to repair will also have a direct effect on the outcome of the finished repair.
With water in a crack it will not bond properly and the repair that was looking good yesterday now looks like it did before the repair.
This is because the repair did not hold and the cracks reappear and the repair will fail.
The water must be removed or kept out of the crack before attempting the repair.
Trapped air in a repair will shine and glare when in sunlight this is dangerous to drive with and the trapped air will expand forcing expansion of the cracks and repair failure.
Water affects the cracks in our windshields by entering the break and creating several issues with freezing and repair failure.
The repair technician must deal with these issues before the windshield repair is attempted.
You should make the technician aware of the length of time from the impact until the time of repair.
Has it rained recently after the crack in your windshield happened, give the windshield repair technician as much information as possible and it will help with the finished appearance.
Care must be taken to keep moisture out either by repair, your best choice or by covering the break with clear tape until repaired, but don't drive with the tape over the break.
We want to keep moisture out of the break for several reasons one being if water enters a break and freezes the water will expand in the confined area in the crack and it will also expand the crack.
Here is a good scenario you have a small rock chip with a small crack, while parked outside it rains a little some water enters the break.
Later that night it gets really cold and freezes the water and slightly extends the crack, but you can't tell.
A little later you drive to the store you turn on the windshield Defroster which melts the ice and the water moves to the newly expanded crack from the water freezing earlier.
You now drive home and park the car and the water freezes again.
Now you can see the process of the crack expanding from the water freezing in the small crack.
Another problem with water entering a windshield break is that water carries dirt particles into the cracks.
We can remove the water but we cannot remove the dirt and the dirt will show in the finished repair.
Company's that design the windshield repair resins, know that some breaks will have dirt in them with this in mind the resins bonding agents are engineered to deal with that issue.
Bonding of a windshield crack with water or air trapped in the break will fail to hold, here is why.
Water or air will expand at different rates than the windshield glass and when it freezes or heated by the sun, the trapped water or air which is usually trapped at the ends of the cracks from some nut injecting resin into the crack without removing the water and sealing the water in.
Water now trapped in a confined area is a recipe for disaster.
Sealing trapped air in a windshield crack will also fail for the same reasons trapped air in a crack will most always fail and continue to crack with time.
Other problems associated with water being trapped or water not being removed prior to repair will also have a direct effect on the outcome of the finished repair.
With water in a crack it will not bond properly and the repair that was looking good yesterday now looks like it did before the repair.
This is because the repair did not hold and the cracks reappear and the repair will fail.
The water must be removed or kept out of the crack before attempting the repair.
Trapped air in a repair will shine and glare when in sunlight this is dangerous to drive with and the trapped air will expand forcing expansion of the cracks and repair failure.
Water affects the cracks in our windshields by entering the break and creating several issues with freezing and repair failure.
The repair technician must deal with these issues before the windshield repair is attempted.
You should make the technician aware of the length of time from the impact until the time of repair.
Has it rained recently after the crack in your windshield happened, give the windshield repair technician as much information as possible and it will help with the finished appearance.
