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windshield repair

I am certified by GlasWeld, an international leader in glass repair for more than two decades. Active involvement in industry task forces and trade associations ensures that GlasWeld customers are part of a truly progressive team of glass repair professionals.GlasWeld system "fuses" advanced technology, industry expertise and precision tools for the very best windshield repair results. It was designed to achieve the best results on all types of damage: bull’s eyes, stone chips, star breaks, and cracks. These are fast, efficient repairs, which are insurance approved.

Windshield Damage and How it Occurs

When a road pebble or rock collides with a windshield, it chips the outer layer of glass, creating a chip or small crack. The chipped glass particles become surrounded by tiny air pockets, causing visual distortion. These stone chips and small cracks happen all the time.

The Principle of Windshield Repair

GlasWeld’s system evacuates the air to fill the cavities with a specially formulated liquid resin which, when cured with ultra-violet light and GlasWeld Pro-Cur, clears the distortion and bonds the loose glass particles & prevents the damage from spreading.

Windshields are made from two thin layers of glass, with a sheet of plastic poly vinyl butyral (PVB) in the center. The function of the plastic interlayer is to bond two pieces of glass together and prevent large pieces of glass from being dislodged when broken. When the outer layer is broken, the types of breaks encountered can vary (bull’s eye, spider cracks & etc.). Air can get trapped inside and must be removed before the damaged area can be repaired. When the air is removed, resin can fill the area and repair the damage correctly and completely. Once cured the resin bonds the glass back together and permanently repairs the damage.

Benefits

Cost-effective - The average repair cost is under $55 while the average cost for replacement can easily exceed many times that amount.
Often times repair is "FREE" to the customer - Most insurance companies waive all deductibles and pay according to a no fault claim.
Quick - Most repairs are accomplished in under 20 minutes.
Lifetime Guarantee - The Dent Devils fully warranties their work for the life of the windshield with a copy of the invoice.

F.A.Q.
Environmental Impact
How it Works

Q. I just got a rock chip on my windshield, what should I do?
A. Cover the chip or crack ASAP with a piece of scotch tape to keep the moisture and contaminants out. Then give us a call. We will schedule an appointment to repair the break at your location of choice. When we arrive for the repair, we will phone the glass claims network for your particular insurance company, have you verify some information, expedite your claim, and perform the repair. The average time for this simple process is 20 minutes.

Q. How long can I wait before I fix my chip or crack?
A. The sooner you repair a break the better. This has to do with trying to keep the above-mentioned contaminants out of the inside hollow broken area. Also the UV rays from the sun can cause deterioration to the laminate in the glass causing a "milky white" appearance to the area if the repair is not made ASAP. Generally speaking, the sooner you get the windshield repaired, the better the optical clarity will be. This is especially true with longer cracks.

Q. Will a windshield repair claim make my insurance rates increase?
A. No, this type of damage is called "comprehensive damage" - It is considered an "act of God"—Acts of God will not be held against you and will not raise your rates.

Q. How do I find out if my insurance company is offering FREE Windshield repair?
A. Call us. We have an up to date list of the companies offering this great value, or call your agent if you have any concerns.

Q. Why should I choose a mobile service company, when I can go to a storefront shop and get my repairs done?
A. If you need windshield repairs, and go to a glass shop, they may possibly try to steer you towards a more expensive replacement. We don't sell windshields - we save them! Many car wash and oil change facilities now offer windshield repairs. They often rush to complete their repairs to free up an available bay space for the next arriving customers. Although actual repairs can normally be completed in 20 minutes, breaks are like snowflakes, no two are alike. On rare occasions, we have spent up to an hour to achieve near perfection, while others might just "drill and fill" in 5 minutes. When you call us, your vehicle will receive our undivided attention. The responding technician is directly accountable, and many of our customers seem to delight in watching us perform our magic—out in the open, with "nothing up our sleeves". Besides, what could possibly be more convenient than having us come to you?

How can repairing windshield glass impact our environment? By decreasing the amount of glass that goes into landfills, and reducing the need for the new glass manufacturing and transportation process.

Did you know that:

Nationally, 11 million windshields are replaced annually. At an average weight of 25 pounds each, this equates to about 275 million pounds of waste per year. The Boston Globe
Glass takes more than 1 million years to decompose in our landfills. California Department of Conservation
Windshield glass is difficult to recycle because much of the glass is 2-ply laminated and contains a PVB layer that must be separated. Integrated heating elements or radio antenna are often embedded within the windshields and cannot be returned to the glass furnace for reworking. British Glass, Glass Manufacture: A Mass Balance Study, 2005
The transportation of glass, which is a relatively heavy product, throughout the supply chain results in high levels of transport-related CO2 emmissions. Advances in Glasses and Glass-Ceramics, Frost & Sullivan, 2006
Glass manufacturing is a high-temperature, energy-intensive activity, resulting in the emission of combustion by-products (sulfur dioxide, carbon dioxide, and nitrogen oxides) and the high-temperature oxidation of atmospheric nitrogen. Environmental, Health, and Safety Guidelines for Glass Manufacturing, World Bank Group
It takes 15.2 million BTUs of energy to produce one ton of glass. The manufacturing of one ton of glass can generate as much as 385 pounds of mining waste and 28 pounds of air pollutants. Like the production of other materials, glass manufacturing and usage has negative impacts on the environment. The Rhode Island Resource Recovery Corporation

Why are we bringing these points to light? The more that we all participate in reducing the use of raw materials and the energy needed to produce glass, the better off our environment will be, making glass repair the only environmentally friendly option.

According to the National Windshield Repair Association, there are three key steps to a quality windshield repair:

1. Complete removal of air from area of damage;
2. Complete filling of damaged area with resin; and
3. Complete curing of the resin to finish off the repair.

The Dent Devils use simple, efficient technology that is grounded in the science of windshield repair to perform these important steps in a way that creates the very best repair possible.

NWRA Premise #1
Completely remove air from the break

This step is essential in a good repair because removing all of the air ensures that:

The repair resin is able to fill to the edges of the break, for stronger, better-looking repair results
The repair resin fills the break more quickly, saving time
The resin enters an oxygen-free environment for better adhesion to the glass

GlasWeld's Injector pulls the highest possible vacuum possible under atmospheric pressure, completely removing all air from the break. Once the vacuum is pulled, air is trapped in an upper chamber, away from the piston, glass and resin.

When the piston is pushed down during the injection step of the repair process, it hydraulically injects the resin into the break. Most other systems pneumatically inject resin which, by definition, actually introduces oxygen back into the resin during the injection process. By using hydraulic injection, the possibility of "re-gassing" the resin is eliminated.

NWRA Premise #2
Completely fill the break with resin

The hydraulic injection process creates more pressure on the resin than the more common process. This increased pressure heightens the likelihood that resin will totally fill the damaged area. In addition, the hydraulic process does not introduce air back into the resin before filling the break. Because air is totally absent during this stage of the process, the resin quickly fills any voids.

NWRA Premise # 3
Completely cure the resin

To understand why the equipment that we use is so fundamental to quality windshield repair, it is important to first understand the way that resin cures. Resin cures under two conditions:

1. The absence of oxygen
2. The presence of UV light

In the explanations for NWRA steps one and two, we illustrate how the design of the GlasWeld injector allows complete "absence of oxygen" from the resin-filled break. This fulfills the first requirement in creating an environment where resin can properly cure.

Secondly, ultraviolet (UV) light must be present. The radial curing lamp we use is the only curing system specifically engineered to cure windshield repairs. It fits snugly over the injector, so the repair can remain under pressure while still receiving UV light to cure from all angles. The UV frequency of the lamp is matched to GlasWeld's Resin line. The UV light is unmatched in speed and performance for curing windshield repair resin.