Fight Windshield Fog with Tips from Pitstop Autoglass + Windshield Repair Service Center.

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Windshield + Glass Fog Prevention Tips.

When San Diego’s seasons shift, wet windshields can be a nuisance. Whether your windshield stays in San Diego, or you travel to the mountains, Pitstop Autoglass has some tip to help you keep your vision clear of that annoying fog.

Vehicle windows can fog up when the temperatures both inside and outside of the vehicle vary.

Summer fog on a windshield occurs when your car, cooled by cabin air conditioning, meets hot outside air.

In the winter it occurs when a windshield, heated by the cabin heater meets the cold outside air.

Methods differ for clearing a foggy windshield by season.

SUMMER FOG:

If your windows are foggy in the summer, adjust your temperature setting and/or open your windows to better match the interior temperature to the exterior.  Since the fog in summer is on the outside of your windshield, you should run your windshield wipers at the lowest setting until the fog clears.

WINTER FOG:

If your foggy windshield occurs during the wintertime, remove any frost outside the window using a disposable card. An old hotel room key is good to keep on hand for frost occasions.

Turn off your recirculate button to pull in the colder outside air. 

Using your defrost vent, turn your vehicle fan on high and turn the temperature down to the cold setting. 

Directing cooler air towards your windshield balance the inside and outside temperatures to reduce the fog and frost.

FOG PREVENTION:

Sometimes we bring contamination into our vehicles and many products we assume as being ‘SAFE’ actually add chemicals to the air which coat our windshield and increase  fogging:.  To reduce fogging, consider eliminating:

  • Hanging Vehicle air fresheners
  • Vehicle interior cleaners which coat/protect vinyl/leather
  • Vaping or Smoking in the Vehicle

Beside chemical contamination, fog is more pronounced with moisture.  Here are some remedies to remove moisture from inside your cabin.

  • If possible, when parked keep your windows cracked open at the top to allow outside air to get into the Vehicle.
  • Remove wet items from your Vehicle and leftover food and drink.
  • Those silica packets that come in pill bottles, and many food packages? They’re there to remove moisture.  Make your own “Vehicle version” of these packets by filling a sock or two with silica cat litter and placing them on your dash.
  • Over the years, we have heard that you can create a moisture barrier by applying a light coating of shaving foam to your windshield and wiping it with a clean, dry microfiber cloth. True? Maybe. Would we? Hmmm, maybe not.

Other solutions

  • Keep your windows clean and streak-free with safe cleaner. For safe cleaners that will not harm your vehicle’s interior, we recommend products from Elite Finish Detailing. You can see their full line here:

https://www.elitefinishdetailing.com/product-category/glass-care

Elite-Finish-Detailing-San-Diego-Glass-Care
  • Always use a clean, dry microfiber cloth to wipe windows

WARNING:  Never drive with a foggy window—poor visibility strongly increases the occurrence of crashes. Nobody needs to risk that.

Pitstop DIY Washer Fluid – The BEST Solution, PERIOD.

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Pitstop Do-It-Yourself Windshield Washer Fluid: the Windshield-Friendly Alternative to Glass-Damaging “Blue Fluid”

Washer fluid that is sold in retail markets will cause contamination to your automotive glass, prohibiting future windshield repairs.

A simple and car-friendly windshield washer fluid can be made using just a couple of your household items…


Warm weather washer fluid solution:

In a clean one-gallon plastic milk jug, mix between 1:1 and 3:1 parts distilled white vinegar to water and 2-3 DROPS of any liquid grease-removing dish detergent.

*Do not use too much detergent because it may leave a residue on your windshield.

Fill the jug with water, cap, and shake well.

Now, place the mixture in your vehicle’s windshield washer fluid reservoir. Test your windshield washer fluid mixture, as you usually operate your vehicle’s windshield washer system. You will see the clean! The vinegar also helps control scale build-up, adding life to your washer pump system.

* If you choose to use vinegar, which is an old-school cleaner for nearly everything, it may freeze in the windshield washer fluid reservoir.  So, a vinegar and water solution may be more suitable for warmer climates or warmer months in colder climates.


Cold weather washer fluid solution:

In a clean one-gallon plastic milk jug, mix one-half (1/2) to one (1) pints of isopropyl alcohol (rubbing alcohol) and one tablespoon of any liquid grease-removing dish detergent. Fill the jug with water, cap, and shake well.

*Do not use too much detergent because it may leave a residue on your windshield.

 

Isopropyl alcohol is a much safer alternative than methanol (methyl alcohol), which is in the “blue” commercial products.  If you read most any commercial windshield washer fluid product labels, you will see a “hazard” warning. Methanol (methyl alcohol) is a hazardous chemical and should be used with caution.

Now, place the mixture in your vehicle’s windshield washer fluid reservoir. Test your Pitstop windshield washer fluid mixture, as you usually operate your vehicle’s windshield washer system. You will see the clean!


www.PitstopAutoglass.com

11905 Carmel Mountain Road

San Diego, California 92128

858-675-4527


Windshield Crack Repair 101: Thermal Shock is the culprit!

When temperatures can change rapidly to an already weakened area of your windshield and cause it to expand or fluctuate to such a degree that an additional or more profound defect occurs along the defect’s most vulnerable edges.

If you have any small windshield dings or edge cracks, get them filled immediately! As the weather drops your windshield must deal with the “thermal stress” of a warm interior and a cold exterior. A small ding can turn into a very expensive, spreading crack.

Think of the sound that you hear when you pour a warm liquid over ice. The popping sound is thermal shock applied to the ice. Rapid changes in temperatures will cause certain materials to chip, crack, or spread most every time.

It doesn’t take liquid to rapidly change the temperature causing windshield to break. Any time that the interior and exterior vary drastically in temperatures, thermal shock will most likely affect windshield chips and cracks. In fact, the closer the damage gets to the edge of the windshield, the greater the chances of the damage propagating into a crack. If it is 90 degrees outside, your vehicle interior can reach staggering temperatures in just minutes.

Your windshield is made up of 2 pieces of glass “squeezed” together under heat and pressure. The two are separated by a thin sheet of safety material. When the interior reached 120+ degrees, the piece of glass on the inside expands. The outside is still hanging in there at 90 degrees and remains the same shape; however, the expanding piece on the inside most often times will cause failure to the windshield at any impact point that exists on the exterior. An opposite example is when the hot car is then cooled down with an air conditioner. The interior glass begins to contract, pulling on the outside piece of glass causing failure.

When your windshield is compromised by a flying rock or other debris, you need to go to a licensed, quality windshield repair technician as soon as possible for windshield crack repair. If you cannot quickly make it to a repair shop, follow these steps to increase the chances of saving it:

–   Try to keep the interior and exterior of the vehicle balanced in temperature. Turn off you’re a/c or heater and crack all of the windows about 1”. Open your sunroof if you have one.

–   Park it in the shade and leave the windows cracked. Do not place a sun shade in the window.

–   Do not wash the vehicle and do not clean the area or use your washer fluid on the windshield.

–   Place clear tape over the damage immediately. Any kind of tape will work…scotch tape, packing tape, etc.

Thermal shock is to blame for that little, tiny chip turning into a long crack. Make sure that you stay away from costly replacements by getting your windshield repaired quickly before thermal shock costs you money.

Pitstop Autoglass + Windshield Repair Service Center® is always ready to repair your windshield and get you back on the road safely.

If you have any further questions, stop by your local Pitstop for a no-cost evaluation.

www.PitstopAutoglass.com

For more technical information about Thermal Shock, visit wikipedia here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thermal_shock

Beware of the Windshield Sharks!

(reprinted by request from the SDWRA)

Lurking around gas stations…
Cruising through car washes…

Beware of the Windshield Sharks!

Seeing your car is caked in dust, you rush in to the nearest car wash during your lunch break. As you are placing your car wash order, someone approaches you and tells you that your windshield has damage.  “Give me 10 minutes, and I’ll take care of that for you,” he says assuredly.  “It’s free.”

Before you hand over your insurance and personal information to a “mystery clerk”, stop and ask this “technician” a few questions:

•   How long have you been doing windshield repairs?

•   What is the guarantee?  Can I get it in writing?

•   What if the crack continues to break after the repair has been made?

•   What if the repair cracks during the repair?

•   If I am not satisfied with the repair, what will you do?

•   Have you signed a privacy statement with my insurance company?

“If a quick, solid answer isn’t give to every question, turn and walk away before you get scammed”, says Ian of the San Diego Windshield Repair Association (SDWRA).

If you decide to proceed, there are some clarifying questions you should ask your repair technician, recommends the San Diego Windshield Repair Association:

•   How long has your repair company been in business?

•   Are you a member of the California Bureau of Automotive Repair (B.A.R.)?

•   Can I see your BAR certificate?

•   Do you have any unsatisfied claims with the bureau?

•   Are you in good standing with my insurance company?

You should be aware that although many of these companies offer legitimate repair services, there are some that will repair your windshield for the first claim but file additional repair claims on your policy that have not been done, thus increasing your insurance premiums and causing challenges to clear your claim history record.

Watch out for Fly-by-night operators. Often the swindlers are fly-by-night operators. They’re poorly trained, work out of pickup trucks in parking lots, and disappear after quickly finishing shoddy repairs. They often approach people at car washes, gas stations, parking lots of convenience stores, or booths at county fairs.

The con artists can be aggressive, and continually pester you to do the bogus repairs. If you have any questions of need guidance, contact the SDWRA before having any windshield repair work completed at www.SDRWA.org. If you decide to have your repair done at the car wash or other non-glass repair facility, you may consider paying cash instead of giving your insurance information.  If you have insurance coverage, you can file a claim by submitting the bill and being reimbursed.  This way you will not give your personal information to an individual you do not know. The repair can cost anywhere from $40 to $130

Do You Know The History of Daylight Saving Time?

It’s time to roll back the clock for fall!

If you don’t already know your DST history, here is a chance to get up to speed on this twice a year occurrence. In the US, 45% are in favor of it, 40% are opposed to it and 15% just don’t care either way.  At Pitstop Autoglass®, we care about your time and want you to be able to get on your way in 15 minutes, so make sure that you get in by 4:30 PM for fast and efficient service.

Enjoy this article from timeanddate.com…

The History of Daylight Saving Time

Daylight saving time (DST) is a change in the standard time with the purpose of getting better use of the daylight by having the sun rise one hour later in the morning and set one hour later in the evening.  Although it has only been used in the past hundred years, the idea of DST was first conceived many years before.

The Origin of DST

Daylight saving time (DST) has been a subject of recurring debate in the United States, the United Kingdom, and many other countries around the world for about a hundred years. Ancient civilizations were known to practice a similar process of the concept of DST where they would adjust their daily schedules in accordance to the sun, such as the Roman water clocks that used different scales for different months of the year.

The idea of daylight saving time was first conceived by Benjamin Franklin in 1784 during his stay in Paris. He published an essay titled “An Economical Project for Diminishing the Cost of Light” that proposed to economize the use of candles by rising earlier to make use of the morning sunlight.

Although many believe that Benjamin Franklin invented DST, some say that modern DST was first proposed in 1895 by George Vernon Hudson, an entomologist from New Zealand. Hudson presented a paper to the Wellington Philosophical Society that proposed a two-hour shift forward in October and a two-hour shift back in March. He followed up his proposal with an article in 1898, and although there was interest in the idea, it was never followed through.

The Invention of DST

The invention of DST was mainly credited to William Willett in 1905 when he came up with the idea of moving the clocks forward in the summer to take advantage of the daylight in the mornings and the lighter evenings. His proposal suggested moving the clocks 20 minutes forward each of four Sundays in April, and switching them back by the same amount on four Sundays in September.

Willett’s daylight saving plan caught the attention of Robert Pearce who introduced a bill to the House of Commons in February 1908. The first Daylight Saving Bill was drafted in 1909 and presented to Parliament several times and examined by a select committee. However, the bill was opposed by many, especially farmers and thus the bill was never made into a law. Willett died in 1915 without getting the chance to see his idea come to life.

The Start of Daylight Saving

DST was first adopted to replace artificial lighting so they could save fuel for the war effort in Germany during World War I at 11:00pm (23:00) on April 30, 1916. It was quickly followed by Britain and many countries from both sides, including the United States. Many countries reverted back to standard time post-World War I, and it wasn’t until the next World War that DST would make its return to many countries in order to save vital energy resources for the war.

President Franklin D. Roosevelt instituted year-round DST in the United States, called “War Time” during World War II from February 9, 1942 to September 30, 1945. The law was enforced 40 days after the bombing of Pearl Harbor and during this time, time zones were called “Eastern War Time”, “Central War Time”, and “Pacific War Time”. After the surrender of Japan in mid-August 1945, the time zones were relabeled “Peace Time”.

Daylight saving was first recognized as an energy saving aspect during World War II when Double Summer Time was applied in Britain which moved the clocks two hours ahead of GMT during the summer and one hour ahead of GMT during the winter.

Brief History of DST in the United States

DST caused widespread confusion from 1945 to 1966 for trains, buses and the broadcasting industry in the US because many states and localities were free to choose when and if they would observe DST. Congress decided to end the confusion and establish the Uniform Time Act of 1966 that stated DST would begin on the last Sunday of April and end on the last Sunday of October. However, states still had the ability to be exempt from DST by passing a local ordinance.

The US Congress extended DST to a period of ten months in 1974 and eight months in 1975, in hopes to save energy following the 1973 oil embargo. The trial period showed that DST saved the equivalent in energy of 10,000 barrels of oil each day, but DST still proved to be controversial. Many complained that the dark winter mornings endangered the lives of children going to school. After the energy crisis was over in 1976, the US changed their DST schedule again to begin on the last Sunday in April. DST was amended again to begin on the first Sunday in April in 1987. Further changes were made after the introduction of the Energy Policy Act of 2005.

DST Now

Daylight saving time is now implemented in over seventy countries worldwide and affects over a billion people each year. Although many countries observe DST, the beginning and end dates are often different than the US. The European Union adopted the summer time period that was used in the United Kingdom for many years which begins on the last Sunday in March and ends on the last Sunday in October.

The DST schedule in the US was revised several times throughout the years, in which the DST schedule period lasted for about seven months from 1987 to 2006. The current schedule began in 2007 and follows the Energy Policy Act of 2005, which extended the period by about one month where DST starts on the second Sunday in March and ends on the first Sunday in November. Currently, most of the US observes DST except for Hawaii and most of Arizona, and the US insular areas of Puerto Rico, the US Virgin Islands, American Samoa, and Guam.

More about Daylight Saving Time

More information

Related links

Goodbye to Windshield Replacement?

Asymmetrically Strengthened Glass: Goodbye to Windshield Replacement?

 Asymmetrically Strengthened Glass

Asymmetrically strengthened glass might be able to revolutionize windshield replacement in the coming years. An asymmetrically strengthened windshield is bolstered with an outside piece of glass attached to the windshield that is harder than the inside piece of glass. The two pieces of glass are attached with a laminant. The outside layer is more impact resistant with the inner layer acting as a shock absorption material in the traditional mode of typical windshields. The result is a more solid windshield that is resistant to heavy impacts and smaller impacts of objects. In essence, the windshield is much stronger and more resistant to all impacts you would typically see on the highway.

The double layered windshield adds safety to drivers and passengers due to its ability to resist cracking and its impact resistant nature. The double layer also helps prevents dangerous cracks that can turn into larger problems later on if allowed to spread. Asymmetrical strengthened windshields keep occupants safer because they are much more resistant to sharp and blunt objects flying at the windshields.

Whether or not this double layering will change the windshield business significantly or not remains to be seen. One thing is certain; replacing the windshield is always a good idea for your car. Cracks and other small damages can turn into big problems even with double glass protection. Keep in mind that even small objects can create large problems if left untreated for too long. On the highway, traveling at a speed of 64 miles per hour or faster, increases the risk of windshield damage. If you have even a small crack in your windshield, you are asking for larger problems later in your windshield’s life. This is true whether or not your windshield has an extra piece of hard glass on the outside.

 

 

Sponsored by Pitstop Autoglass®

Carefully choose your windshield repair provider, San Diego!

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There is an increasing number of untrained, unlicensed people claiming to do proper windshield repair in San Diego. Most of these people are lurking around gas stations and car washes.

Many problems can come along with doing business with these characters. Here are a few problems:

– You cannot properly repair a windshield after a car wash. Soap, wax and rain repellants enter into your damaged windshield. These chemicals are designed to repel water and materials. Windshield repair is the science of adding materials to your glass. Trying to repair a windshield crack that has just come out of a car wash tunnel is like trying to glue two Teflon cooking pans together. Windshield repairs should always be done PRIOR to a car wash. If the damage has been treated with chemicals, a 2 hour minimum wait is required to make sure all moisture has left naturally. Some so-called techs will try to apply heat to the glass to dry it out, but this can have terrible consequences in the months following the repair. If you have damage that is apparent after a car wash, wait 2 full hours and drive to your nearest Pitstop Autoglass & Windshield Repair Service Center. We can apply a proprietary set of chemicals to counteract the contamination that was done by the car wash.

– There is an increasing number of “windshield bullies” who approach you at gas stations. Most often, they will tell you it is “customer appreciation day and we are washing windshields for free.” First things first…never let a stranger put their hands on your car! These people will almost always find a chip in your windshield and will ALWAYS ask you about your insurance information. They call it in, get paid and typically do not do any actual work, yet they get paid. If this happens to you, contact your nearest Pitstop Autoglass® for free advice. Even if we are booked and cannot service you, we will do our level-best to match you with a legitimate shop that you can trust to get quality windshield repair.

Additional information can be found by contacting the local windshield repair association for guidance. Visit the San Diego Windshield Repair Association for more information or to report shady activity.

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Pitstop Autoglass®

11905 Carmel Mountain Road

San Diego, California 92128

858-675-4527

PitstopAutoglass.com

Sponsored by Pitstop Autoglass®