BY BENJAMIN HUNTING / ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED AUGUST 3, 2017 / NATIONAL AUTOMOTIVE PARTS ASSOCIATION / Learning how to fill a windshield chip yourself can save you the&hellip;{"id":9990,"date":"2017-08-07T10:59:17","date_gmt":"2017-08-07T17:59:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.pomonaswapmeet.com\/blog\/?p=9990"},"modified":"2017-08-07T10:59:17","modified_gmt":"2017-08-07T17:59:17","slug":"how-to-fill-a-windshield-chip-quickly-and-easily","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pomonaswapmeet.com\/blog\/2017\/08\/07\/how-to-fill-a-windshield-chip-quickly-and-easily\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Fill a Windshield Chip Quickly and Easily"},"content":{"rendered":"<h5><span style=\"color: #000000;\">BY BENJAMIN HUNTING \/ ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED AUGUST 3, 2017\u00a0\/\u00a0NATIONAL AUTOMOTIVE PARTS ASSOCIATION \/<\/span><\/h5>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Learning how to fill a windshield chip yourself can save you the hassle of having your windshield replaced and insurance premiums raised. While long cracks and spidery impact craters typically indicate that<\/span>\u00a0<strong><a href=\"http:\/\/knowhow.napaonline.com\/windshield-repair-replace-repair\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">the glass has to be changed<\/a><\/strong><span style=\"color: #000000;\">, almost every other type of crack can be repaired quickly and easily at home.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>Windshield Design<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Learning how to fill a windshield chip requires an understanding of how windshields are designed. Rather than using a single pane of thick glass, automakers sandwich a rubbery, transparent layer between two thinner panes, creating a laminate. The reasons for this are simple, and safety related. The middle layer helps absorb the force of any impact, is sticky enough to keep pieces of glass from flying around in the event of an accident and prevents the inner pane of glass from being damaged when the outer pane gets chipped.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>Fill the Gap<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Since a windshield chip doesn\u2019t go through every layer of the laminate, it\u2019s possible to repair the outer layer of glass by filling the gap created by the impact of a stone or other road debris. You can accomplish this with<\/span>\u00a0<strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.napaonline.com\/en\/p\/NCB2100?cid=social_blog_062017_WindshieldRepairKit\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">a simple kit<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Windshield chip repair kits include a syringe filled with an adhesive made of either epoxy or acrylic. It features the same refractive index as glass, which means that once it dries in place, it\u2019s not noticeable to the naked eye. The syringe serves a dual purpose, too. It not only injects the filler, but also creates a vacuum when you pull the plunger out that sucks out air from inside the chip and helps force the adhesive where it needs to go. You\u2019ll most likely need to move the plunger up and down over the area several times, according to the kit\u2019s instructions, in order to fully fill the chip. Once dried, the small nub of filler that is left sticking up out of the crack can be easily shaved down with a razor blade.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>Be P<\/strong><strong>repared<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">It\u2019s uncomplicated to learn how to fill a windshield chip, but \u2014 as with most repairs \u2014 the key is to prepare the glass properly beforehand. The windshield needs to be clean and perfectly dry so that you don\u2019t trap moisture or dirt underneath the adhesive.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">It\u2019s also worth keeping in mind that you may not be able to completely fill every nook and cranny in the chip, but it\u2019s still worth sealing as much as you can to prevent a larger crack from forming.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">For more information on how to fill a windshield chip, chat with a knowledgeable expert at your local<\/span>\u00a0<strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.napaonline.com\/en\/store-locator\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">NAPA AUTO PARTS store<\/a><\/strong><span style=\"color: #000000;\">.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><em><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Photo Credit:<\/span>\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/morguefile.com\/p\/637378\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><strong>file3551259604834<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0<span style=\"color: #000000;\">by<\/span>\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/morguefile.com\/creative\/Alvimann\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><strong>Alvimann.<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0<span style=\"color: #000000;\">(<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/morguefile.com\/terms#license\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><strong>Morguefile License<\/strong><\/a><span style=\"color: #000000;\">).<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<p><i><span style=\"color: #000000;\">This article has been reproduced with the permission of the copyright holder, National Automotive Parts Association. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Click here for more<\/span>\u00a0<\/i><strong><i><a href=\"http:\/\/knowhow.napaonline.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">automotive tips and stories<\/a><\/i><\/strong><i>\u00a0<span style=\"color: #000000;\">from NAPA, or here for more information on<\/span>\u00a0<strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.pomonaswapmeet.com\/event-info\/car-show-hours-dates\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">the next Pomona Swap Meet &amp; Classic Car Show<\/a><\/strong><span style=\"color: #000000;\">.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":null,"protected":false},"author":98,"featured_media":9991,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"cos_headline_score":0,"cos_seo_score":0,"cos_headline_text":"","cos_headline_has_been_analyzed":false,"cos_last_analyzed_headline":[],"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[805],"tags":[5835,3056,5831,5830,3342,5832,5828,5836,5838,3491,3037,3026,5829,5837,5833,5834],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.pomonaswapmeet.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/Windshield-Crack.jpg?fit=895%2C468&ssl=1","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p9nnZN-2B8","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pomonaswapmeet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9990"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pomonaswapmeet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pomonaswapmeet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pomonaswapmeet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/98"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pomonaswapmeet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9990"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.pomonaswapmeet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9990\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9993,"href":"https:\/\/www.pomonaswapmeet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9990\/revisions\/9993"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pomonaswapmeet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9991"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pomonaswapmeet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9990"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pomonaswapmeet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9990"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pomonaswapmeet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9990"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}