Windshield Chip Repairs

Roads are littered with debris which could be chips of rock or bits of gravel. It is common for cars, traveling on the highway, to get their windshield damaged due to flying debris. A car passing over any of them could set it flying and turn it into a hazard for the other vehicles on the road. A storm, tornado or hurricane, can set branches, small rock and loose debris flying. Hailstones may also damage your windshield in a storm.

Windshield damage may occur in different shapes and sizes. Following are a few examples of the type of damage that a windshield may sustain.

• Bull's Eye: The Impact of the flying object breaks the windshield in a circular pattern surrounding the chip.
• Star Shape: The damaged area of the windshield has many cracks radiating all round the chip, creating a star-like shape on the windshield.
• Long Cracks: This type of damage involves cracks that run on the windshield in the form of long lines.
• Combination Break: Windshield damage could be a combination of two or more of the types mentioned above.

How to Repair a Windshield Chip

Windshield replacement is costlier than repairing a windshield chip in your vehicle. Conducting a stone chip windshield repair before the cracks are filled with grit, is of utmost importance. The windshield chip is drilled, while cracks in it are vacuumed. A resin compound is injected with a syringe in the windshield chip. The resin replaces the air trapped in the cracks. It is then cured by ultraviolet light to harden it into a molecular bond that restores the integrity of the windshield. Extra resin is scraped away and the treated area is polished, till it merges with the glass around it. Refractive characteristics or the opacity of the resin is the same as that of the windshield. Restoring strength to the windshield and preventing new cracks from forming in the treated area, is the goal of the repairs undertaken. A stone chip windshield repair that costs $45 to $100, is enough to restore the windshield to its usual gloss.

Resin: Resins are available in the form of acrylic as well as crystalene resin. Acrylic resin contains acid which is carcinogenic, and the chips that are treated with it turn yellow in time. Crystalene resin-treated chips do not yellow with age. It contains no acid and is known for its highest optical clarity. Crystalene resin that is used to repair windshield cracks and pits, is also available as ultra-low viscosity, low viscosity and high viscosity.

Windshield Chip Repair Kit: Single windshield chip repair kits contain enough resin to allow multiple chip repairs. Disposable kits are also available. Syringe-style kits are disposable after the first use, whereas bridge-style kits can be reused and refilled. The latter type is mostly preferred by professionals in the windshield chip repairing business.

It is illegal to drive with a damaged windshield, as it distorts or obstructs one's view. An unattended windshield chip keeps on spreading, undermining the strength of the windshield. The windshield also acts as one of the supports of the roof of the car. It absorbs lot of pressure and stress during a car roll-over accident and deployment of an airbag. During an automobile crash, the airbags are filled with air to stop the passengers from colliding with the steering wheel or the dashboard. Eventually, the airbag and the passenger comes to rest against the windshield, thereby preventing the situation from getting worse. To ensure the safety of the passengers in the automobile, a rock chip in your windshield should be attended to, before it's too late.