[screenman]

I have just been told of a story today that unfortunately I have heard before.
One of my customer's father called a large glass replacement company possible assoiciated withthis forum about achip on his screen. The tech showed up and shone a UV lamp on the chip and said it was too deep to repair and needed a new screen. What a scam First the UV lamp has only one use when repairing windscreens and that is to cure the resin which is used to fill the chip. All windscreen damage is much the same depth it will very rarely penetrate the PVB or plastic layer.

If you have as screen chip repaired which of course for economic reasons most replacement companies would rather not, Would you rather have £50 for a repair or £200+++ for a replacement specialy when you actualy manufacture windscreens. The end product should resemble nothing more than a dried raindrop, anything more than this and the job has not been carried out properly, regardless of any excuse the tech makes.

How do I know these facts? I have been involved with windscreen repair in the UK for 20 years I run one of the only independant training schools for windscreen repair in the UK. I have also just been awarded Windshield Repair Person of the year at the Mobile Tech Expo in the states. This is the first time this award has been outside of the USA and is in recognition of skill and technical help and support to the industry. Not bad for a chap from the UK who has never even been out to the USA. In general the standard of windscreen repair and training in the UK is disgusting and I am trying my hardest to make customers aware of this fact.

You are the one's paying demand quality work not quality excuses.

[stuart]

??????????

:confused::cool:i think m8 u dont no rac autowindscreens very well we would always try a repair if its possible but for obvious reasons wont reccomend it if the chips outsidr our guidelines! also the uv lamp is awsome if your in the dark it give u much better sight of the chip! also if your as good as you think u r then u will no that chips sometimes crack upon trying to repair them and u also said like dried raindrop!!??? WHAT?? does that not depend on how long the chips been their, how much moisture and oxygen is in the glass and on the size of the chip?? also havin been doing this for 5 years i no that u can repair a chip and sometimes it looks no different to what it looked when you first started! and dont forget the repair are garenteed not to spread if they reduce in size then its an added bonus!! all at autowindscreens no about repair and work along side a recognised british standard!!
BSAU242A

[screenman]

I will try and reply to this in my best possible way. First staing that I have been involved with windscreen repair and developments within the industry since 1988. In january of this year I was named Windshield Repair Person of the year in a world wid ecompetition voted for by manufacturers and repair companies world wide, this is the first time this award has been out of the USA.

To use a UV lamp as a source of light is out of the question this will always cause premature curing which is a no go. Why on earth should a chip crack unless you are using too much injector or head pressure or of course the screen is too hoy and you have not cooled it. How much oxygen can you get into glass it is every where already you cannot get more. Why is moisture a problem just remove it. If you have so called repaired a chip and it looks no different then you have not repaired it. To rebuild the structural strenght of the damaged area all air and moisture within the break must be removed and replaced with a anearobic ultraviolet curing resin of the correct refraction index, failure to do this will mean the reapir has not been carried out correctly, do this correctly and the chip when finished will resemble that which I have described in my earlier post. The BS Au 242A standrads as you should be well aware are not the same as the MOT standards, which state things like chips etc can be repaired in the A Zone. You have just confirmed to anyone reading this post that indeed some of the guys at Autowindscreens have very little grasp of what screen repair is all about. I welcome anyone from your company to attend one of my training classes and learn how it should be done. Now I am not going to tell you how to replace a screen becuase I do not have a clue. If you have been repairing screens for 5 years it is a shame nobody at your company took the time to show you the correct procedure before they sent you out doing repairs.

[Rolebama]

Screenman, slightly off-topic, but with regard to UV light, I saw a Police, Camera, Action-type programme the other night where the Police were using a UV source and 'reader' to decide the density of a black tint on a car. Is this how you check the defraction rating of a windscreen, and if so, should all windscreens have the same rating? There is no hidden agenda here, I am just curious.

[screenman]

I must first add that tinting is not by business, windscreen repair is. The police etc. use a light meter to measure the amount of light pasiing through the glass. If I am correct 70% of light hitting a front side window must pass through to be considered legal. With most side glasses being slightly tinted already I think about 74% of the light hitting it goes through, so any tint at all is illegal on top of the standard tint. I think many people get the figures the wrong way around and think 20% lets 80% light through it is 20% tint lets 20% light through. I hope this is correct.

[glass god]

After reading stuarts post it has become obvious why he cannot repair windscreens properly, no one has spent the time to train and educate him properly in this art. £835 000 is a large hole in the training budget after all. It is very sad for the poor public who trust their car to people like him and expect that they will get value for money just because they have the recognition of a household name. It was less risky when they just sat back at the branches making up invoices, at least the customer could get it done properly later on...

[screenman]

Just as a matter of interest Glass God where did the £835 figure come from. It is also nice that there is someone else out there that understands windscreen repair, unlike poor Stuart and his bosses who most likely wishes he had kept out of this.Not suprising not one of Autowindscreens management have ever contacted me for training or advice. Maybe it is because I know how to save money on screen replacement.

[Snowball]

Hi, Screenman.
In july 2005, whilst on holiday in Cornwall, i got a chip in my windscreen, courtesy of white van man screaming round a bend on a newly gravelled road.
I went straight to a branch of RAC/Auto Windscreens in Truro, to have it repaired.
The chip was filled in and a small patch left over it for a short period of time, then peeled off. No fancy injecting or anything of that nature.

I does appear to me that the filling material has since come away, so I have since felt a bit dubious about this kind of repair.

In the meantime, I have collected a couple more chips and have not yet taken action to get them repaired, because I have not found a way to ensure that I choose the right repairer.

[glass god]

Its all fine now

Screenman
£835 000.00 is the amount of money Stuarts bosses had to give back to various insurers that they had taken for "unsubstantiated work" The MD and his brother subsequently resigned but that was obviously nothing to do with that at all whatsoever (they said).
Snowball
If you search Google by typing "windscreen chip repairs" and click on the first search result (not the highlighted paid for adverts right at the top) The listed company has a national network of suppliers on their contacts page. There is one for around your area who has been doing it for ages and really knows what he is doing called Alan or his mate Martin but they are in Plymouth area. Ask for a re repair they should know what this is about. Good luck and thanks for your honesty.

[Snowball]

Thanks for the info, glass god, but we were on holiday in the West country. My homebase is Leicestershire, but will check out on Google, as you suggest.

[Autokraft]

Hello everyone. I found this post through another windscreen repair forum in the US and felt the need to say my bit.
Screenman has hit the nail on the head when it comes to windscreen repair standards here in the UK by certain national replacement companies. I have been repairing windscreens myself for 5 years now and run a company on the south coast solely doing repairs. I have attended training courses in the US and through my own experience and frequenting the forums, consider myself very competent in what I do. Almost on a daily basis, I have customers approach me and ask me to sort out a so called repair carried out by one of the two national replacement companies. Latest example was only 2 days ago. A customer had work carried out on a simple bullseye. The tech obviously drilled it out (not normally necessary on a bullseye), applied pit filler and cured it. No injection of any sort was carried out and the result was visually no better than before. I simply drilled out the old resin, popped a mini bullseye, carried out the repair in the usual way and the repair completely filled. The customer was so pleased with the result it made him think how bad the job originally was and had spurred him on to complain to his insurance company about the original job. I think if the insurance companies knew how bad their so called recommended repairers are carrying out this work they would never be paying them. Unfortunately a big brand usually carries trust and its annoying as a small company to have to see this bad standard constantly cropping up. There is no excuse for a bad repair and proper training has alot to do with it. Never will you see a national tech popping bullseyes or flexing cracks to help resin flow and without this type of knowledge you will never repair screens properly as these techniques and more are required on a daily basis. Unfortunately as long as there is the chance of a new screen over repair, the replacement company will always favour a new screen. After all money is king.

[anssa]

training

hi screenman

i am interested in your training

please contact me with price, duration and location

thanks
anssa

[Orange_Van]

Originally Posted by screenman

All windscreen damage is much the same depth it will very rarely penetrate the PVB or plastic layer.

All windscreen damage is much the same depth it will very rarely penetrate the PVB or plastic layer.


Rarely ? , Did your screen have a defect ?

[screenman]

Orange_Van, sorry I am having a problem working out what you are getting at .

[Orange_Van]

Rarely .. Not impossible

Not all chips are repairable i guess ( never worked in screen/glass replacement )
Moisture in the damaged area or something , could they have use the uv light just for a bit of light ?

[wagolynn]

Originally Posted by Rolebama

Screenman, slightly off-topic, but with regard to UV light, I saw a Police, Camera, Action-type programme the other night where the Police were using a UV source and 'reader' to decide the density of a black tint on a car. Is this how you check the defraction rating of a windscreen, and if so, should all windscreens have the same rating? There is no hidden agenda here, I am just curious.

I thought that part of the function of tinted windows was to block UV light? If this is so then using a UV lamp to test transparency is one way of getting a guaranteed fail. Most light meters are optimised for the visible spectrum. I am reasonably confident that the law was intended for light in the visible spectrum. But then the more I book the better the cop I am........

[wagolynn]

The situation with windscreen repair e.g. Good and useless. Sounds like lack of supervision. How often do the RAC do a random follow up on a repair and check what was done? Do the operators get a commission or bonus that makes it pay to shortcut or fit a new screen? If this is so then some form of active quality control is vital. Human nature is such that a small percentage of operators will take pride in a job well done, the rest will seek to maximise return for the minimum of effort.

[djnick09]

Originally Posted by screenman

I must first add that tinting is not by business, windscreen repair is. The police etc. use a light meter to measure the amount of light pasiing through the glass. If I am correct 70% of light hitting a front side window must pass through to be considered legal. With most side glasses being slightly tinted already I think about 74% of the light hitting it goes through, so any tint at all is illegal on top of the standard tint. I think many people get the figures the wrong way around and think 20% lets 80% light through it is 20% tint lets 20% light through. I hope this is correct.

Hi,
Im interested in the windscreen repair courses you run,can I have some more info please?
Thanks

[djnick09]

Originally Posted by screenman

I will try and reply to this in my best possible way. First staing that I have been involved with windscreen repair and developments within the industry since 1988. In january of this year I was named Windshield Repair Person of the year in a world wid ecompetition voted for by manufacturers and repair companies world wide, this is the first time this award has been out of the USA.

To use a UV lamp as a source of light is out of the question this will always cause premature curing which is a no go. Why on earth should a chip crack unless you are using too much injector or head pressure or of course the screen is too hoy and you have not cooled it. How much oxygen can you get into glass it is every where already you cannot get more. Why is moisture a problem just remove it. If you have so called repaired a chip and it looks no different then you have not repaired it. To rebuild the structural strenght of the damaged area all air and moisture within the break must be removed and replaced with a anearobic ultraviolet curing resin of the correct refraction index, failure to do this will mean the reapir has not been carried out correctly, do this correctly and the chip when finished will resemble that which I have described in my earlier post. The BS Au 242A standrads as you should be well aware are not the same as the MOT standards, which state things like chips etc can be repaired in the A Zone. You have just confirmed to anyone reading this post that indeed some of the guys at Autowindscreens have very little grasp of what screen repair is all about. I welcome anyone from your company to attend one of my training classes and learn how it should be done. Now I am not going to tell you how to replace a screen becuase I do not have a clue. If you have been repairing screens for 5 years it is a shame nobody at your company took the time to show you the correct procedure before they sent you out doing repairs.

Hi screenman can I have some more info on your windscreen repair course please?
Thanks

[LeeBea]

Hi screenman, is it possible you could contact me regarding training.
Thanks Lee.

[screenman]

Hi, check out delta kits uk.