Vacuum Repair Process for Windshield Repair
No vehicle owner knows when they’ll need windshield repairs in Tucson. However, taking a proactive approach to windshield damage could help you avoid a much more expensive windshield replacement down the line. If you’re curious about how the auto glass repair process works, keep reading for a step-by-step guide to vacuum windshield repair.
How the Vacuum Windshield Repair Process Works.
Step One: Examining Your Windshield
Before we start to repair windshields, we take time to inspect the type of damage they’ve sustained. That’s because the exact nature of your windshield damage could make the difference between needing a windshield repair or a total windshield replacement. Repairs should get the job done if your windshield has a crack of twelve inches or less. Larger cracks and damage directly in your line of sight could indicate that it’s time to get a total replacement.
Step Two: Cleaning Out the Damage
Once our technicians have decided that they can repair your windshield, they’ll begin their work by cleaning the cracked or chipped portion of your auto glass. Even a few particles of debris or dirt could affect our efforts to repair your windshield, making this a crucial part of the process. We’ll take any lingering glass fragments out of the windshield if that’s needed.
Step Three: Forming a Vacuum
When your windshield has been thoroughly cleaned, the Max Auto Glass team will use specialized equipment to place a seal on your windshield. When we activate the applicator, it will create a vacuum under the seal.
Step Four: Filling the Damaged Area
With the vacuum in place, we’ll inject resin into the chip or crack in your windshield. Before you know it, the resin will flow into the damaged areas, creating a nearly seamless fit.
Step Five: Letting the Resin Cure
Finally, the technicians working on your windshield will use UV light to cure the new resin on your windshield. They’ll also smooth the resin, making it perfectly level with your existing windshield. That will allow your wipers to work correctly.
This may sound time-consuming, but that’s not really the case. In fact, you can expect our technicians to complete your repair in about 30–40 minutes.
Alternate Strategies for Windshield Damage
The vacuum repair method is ideal for fixing larger windshield cracks, but it’s not the only way to deal with auto glass damage. You’ll also want to consider the following:
Windshield Patches
Windshield patches are just what they sound like—small “bandages” that you can place over chips and dings in your windshield. These patches are smoothed over the damaged area and given time to cure, protecting the broken section of your windshield.
If your windshield has only received minor damage, patches can do an adequate job of protecting it. Still, unlike resin, this windshield repair method doesn’t strengthen your existing auto glass. Because of that, professionals in the world of auto glass don’t use these products to repair windshields.
Windshield Replacement
On the other hand, neither patches nor resin are enough to fix severely damaged windshields. Here are some reasons why your windshield might need to be replaced:
- It has sustained damage near the outer edge. Even tiny cracks at the edge of a windshield can render it unfixable. Due to the effects of wind on the road, these cracks can grow much more quickly than you’d expect.
- It has received cracks within your regular line of vision. As we brought up earlier, these cracks can seriously compromise your safety while driving. Even a high-quality resin repair could continue to affect your visibility, so it’s best to install an all-new windshield in this situation.
- Its lower layers have been damaged. A modern windshield is more than a single pane of glass. Replacement will be necessary if a chip is deep enough to penetrate the windshield’s middle vinyl layer or its second glass layer.
- It has cracks or chips that are too large to repair. Cracks that are longer than a dollar bill, chips with a diameter exceeding one inch, and three or more connected hairline cracks are all considered too extensive to fix.
- Its existing damage has been affected by the weather. When you’re looking for windshield repair in Tucson, you’ll need to consider how hot this part of the country can get. Extremely warm weather can cause tiny cracks to grow rapidly.
What Type of Damage Does Your Windshield Have?
You may know that your windshield is “cracked” or “pitted,” but there are quite a few specific categories of windshield damage to be aware of. These include:
- Dings/chips. These types of damage are caused when small objects hit your windshield, taking a small piece of glass with them. Small chips may not seem dangerous on their own, but they can continue to crack outward and spread over a larger area.
- Stress cracks. Unlike other types of auto glass damage, stress cracks aren’t caused by impacts from foreign objects. Instead, they are the result of factors like rapid temperature changes.
- Bull’s-eyes and partial bull’s-eyes. When a circular object hits your auto glass, it can create circular or semi-circular cracks.
- Edge cracks. As you’d expect, these cracks are located at the furthest corners of your windshield—within three inches of the outer edge, to be precise.
- Pits. These are small patches resembling craters formed gradually by dust and sand particles.
Don’t Hold Off on Windshield Repair
Whenever you’re driving in the Tucson area, safety should be your number one priority. Technically, you can go short distances with a cracked windshield. However, you should take care of this problem ASAP.
That’s because windshields become considerably weakened after sustaining damage. If you get in a car crash with a broken windshield, it may not be able to protect you and anyone else in your vehicle. Making matters worse, damage to cracked windshields can worsen over time. As a result, what could have once been fixed with a simple vacuum repair may require a full windshield replacement.
Instead of ignoring windshield damage, take your car to Max Auto Glass for service today! You can find us at any BRAKEmax Car Care Center location—or choose our complimentary mobile service to take care of your windshield repair right where you live or work. Best of all, most windshield repairs are free, and your insurance premium won’t be affected.
