Overtaking a flat bed lorry which must have had some fine gravel on the bed.
Of course it blew off and a handful hit me.
There are several tint chips in the windscreen as a result.
I say tiny - none larger than a grain of salt.
There are no cracks.
Questions - do I need to do anything and, if so, what?

 

Use harsh language. If they don't have small cracks-- you can let it go. If they have cracks they can grow and crack the whole windscreen. In the colonies we have companies like "Safelite" that can repair chips with resin. They do a great job-- and usually covered by insurance with no deductable.

 

Steve,

Having spent five years running a plant manufacturing auto windscreens many years ago, it still really annoys me to pay retail for them!

I seem to collect minor chips, especially in France. Any chip large enough to fail the MoT is covered by insurance and repaired professionally by Autoglass or the equivalent. A large chip near to or exposing the interlayer is likely to develop into a crack if left unrepaired. Small surface chips may be annoying at night or in the wet, but aren't otherwise likely to give a problem.

I usually take care of the smaller chips once a year using this kind of kit:

Windscreen Repair Kit : Epoxies & Silicon Sealant : Maplin Electronics

A Google search will return plenty of similar kits. They contain a resin with the same refractive index as glass which is injected into the chip and trimmed when set.

A bit time consuming but effective and almost invisible.

Graham

 

Thanks Graham, - how do you trim the sealant ?
These pits are so tiny I'd expect even the smallest 'gob' of sealant to be a lot larger than the pit.
Yes, ItalianGuy, I used exceedingly foul language with little effect.
I used to have a *****'s Jeep complete with rifle carrier. Unfortunately there's no room in an XK for a Winchester Defender otherwise the guy would still be wondering what happened to his windscreen and both front tyres.

ps Has anyone tried the 'glass' version of superglue for these little chips?

 

Steve,

The kits usually come with an industrial single edged razor blade as shown on the right:



Very sharp but a 'use once' tool on glass to avoid scratching. Plenty of sources on eBay UK.

If the chips are very small, cleaning / superglue / trimming could well be just as effective.

I use my wife's nail varnish remover for pre-cleaning the screen. Between this and cooking spark plugs we were discussing in another thread, you'll realise she's a very tolerant woman.

Graham

 

Graham, Thanks again.
At least from what's been said the chips are cosmetic rather than threatening.
I assume from this the windscreen isn't 'toughened' glass of the sort that explodes into small cubes when nicked but more like the old 'Triplex'.
I might try a tube of glass superglue - I can get that from Carrefour.
I'm afraid I'm guilty of some fairly horrendous 'kitchen chemistry' too.

 

Steve,

The windscreen is laminated and would crack but retain structural integrity under heavy impact. The side glasses and rear screen are toughened and go with the dramatic effect you've obviously witnessed before.

Graham

 

Thanks again, I thought it must be so because I couldn't see how else they'd get the heater wires in it but technology moves on.

 

Seems like the OP has nothing more that surface pitting. An acknowledged/experienced professional can make these look better (it's more of a cosmetic repair than a 'structural' one) but there's next to zero risk of a crack developing from this kind of damage.

If the damage is deeper into the glass, eg with the appearance of a pocket of air and/or one (or more) little cracks running from, or through the damage/impact mark, I would strongly advise that this type of damage is addressed by a professional. If you fancy your chances as a DIY-er fine, go ahead, but be aware that:

a) there are risks involved (making the damage worse to the point of beyond repair)

b) a good professional can use different techniques and equipment to address different types of breaks. None of this will be available from a retail 'kit' or be learned from a few words from a forum.

Good luck just the same.

 

Thanks Glassman, my worry (allayed by Graham above) was that the windscreen was toughened and would suddenly explode on me. As you say these tiny pits are cosmetic - but still bloody annoying!

 

Pits can be tidied up, but like with most glass repairs, and good as the repair can be, there will always be some trace/visibility of the repaired damage.