Technical Tip - Better Pit Filling

As Delta Kits free monthly training classes continue to increase in popularity, the number of tech support calls we receive each day is diminishing, which is a good thing, unless of course you have procrastinated for 60 days and it is now the day before the new Wise Crack newsletter is to be published, and you still don’t have a tech tip to contribute. Then it is kind of a bummer. Sorry, thinking with the keyboard again.

A very important part of every windshield repair is how good it looks, right? It really bothers me when a technician says they don’t have time to use pit resin, pit resin is too expensive, or it really doesn’t matter if you can still feel the completed repair. The NWRC and the NWRA and the NWRSC are all trying to find ways to get repair technicians to take pride in their work and you don’t think it’s worth an extra dime to make your repairs look better?

What am I saying? I know none of you are that tight, so this is just a tip you can cut out and give to one of those stingy techs that is making all of us look bad. First let’s start with the reasons for filling a pit.

• It looks better.

• It keeps the wipers from streaking.

• It keeps dirt and debris from building up in the pit area which further detracts from the appearance of the repair.

• It feels better.

I know, I know, it sounds a little weird that I go around “feeling” my repairs, but do you know where I got that from? From my customers! It never fails, I’ve just finished a first class repair, and cleaned the customer’s windshield to perfection, and BAM…she rubs her greasy finger all over it. I say “she” ‘cause guys are too lazy to get out of the car and wouldn’t have noticed the chip anyway if “she” hadn’t pointed it out. I say “greasy” just for dramatic effect. Anyway, now I gotta clean the windshield again, but the important thing is that the customer is very impressed that the damage really has been fixed. I don’t know what it is, but somehow feeling the difference between a damaged windshield and a repaired windshield is very reassuring to most customers.

That scenario has happened to me so many times that I have made it part of my sales pitch, especially if a customer has had their windshield repaired elsewhere in the past. “Ma'am, when I get finished with your repair, not only will I guarantee that it will never crack out and that it will look at least 80% better, but you won’t even be able to feel it with your greasy little finger!”

Okay, so we’ve identified the reasons to fill a pit, now let’s move on to how best to get the job done.

• Use a high quality, non-shrinking, non-yellowing, resin formulated specifically for filling pits. You can use a low viscosity resin, but a thicker resin will help you achieve a flush surface with one application.

• Store your tightly capped pit resin upside down before and during the application process to reduce the chance of those pesky air bubbles sneaking into the pit resin as it is squeezed from the tip of the bottle. I’m a little dense so it took me years to figure this out, but it is much better than trying to fish out air bubbles with a needle or probe.

• After injecting resin into the break and vacuuming out the air, place the bottom edge of a curing tab ¼” below the impact point while holding the top edge away from the glass.

• Keeping the pit resin bottle inverted, remove the cap and squeeze on drop of resin onto the curing tab, just below the impact point, then gently allow the curing tab to drop over the impact point. Do not flatten the tab by pushing on it. If you do, you may have to repeat the process. This is a little trickier than it sounds for some technicians, but with a little practice you will be able to remove the cap from the inverted pit resin bottle with the hand holding the curing tab leaving your other hand free to apply the resin.

• Cure for 5 minutes.

• Remove the curing tab and scrape the cured resin with a new razor blade held at a 90 degree angle to the glass.

• Polish for 60 seconds with a drop of high quality pit polish for the finishing touch.

By this point you are probably thinking, “So did this guy really just write a half a page explaining how to apply a drop of pit resin?” Yup, and not just ‘cause I couldn’t think of a better tech tip either. As silly as it seems, I believe that properly filling and finishing a pit is sometimes all that is needed to turn a good repair into a great repair and many technicians are not doing it properly. To me it is like the difference between having your car washed and having it detailed. If the price were the same, which would you choose?

Finally we need to crunch some numbers.

• Resin cost: $.07 per application – 1 Drop

• Polish cost: $.03 per application – 1 Drop

Total cost = $.10 per application for a much higher quality repair and happier customers. One referral pays for enough pit resin and polish to fill hundreds of pits.

-Brent Deines