Glass cutting, water issues

[ShiftZZ]

Just had the van back from the garage MOT.
The side window is double glazed and we knew the seal had broken because of a small amount of condensation. Unfortunately die to the rain, the space between the panes has had a lot of water get in, so I have asked our dealer to order a replacement, that may take some time..
I've rung a local glazier and they don't want to assist.

The question is, how do I successfully drill a hole in the other pane of glass to let the water out.. Glas can be a nightmare.. Any suggestions, do I need a special bit?
To make things worse, we are waiting on our solar people to remove the scaffolding to that I can get into my garage, long story..

TIA

 

[DavidG58]

Dont do it Dave, this is far more likely to go wrong than solve the problem

Could you try a fan heater inside pointed at and close to glass to try and evaporate the water

 

[Lenny HB]

It's toughened glass so you can't.

 

[68c]

I would remove the window and, instead of drilling through the glass, drill through the edgeing which is probably plastic. If you want to be really clever you could adopt a system ùsed on many larger aircraft. Attach a pipe to your hole in the edge and route it to a plastic bottle with a lot of small holes drilled in it and filled with silica gel crystals. With the aircraft the change in cabin pressure as it climbs and descends 'pumps' the air through the silica gel and dries it. Of course you do not climb to 20,000ft but there still would some flow with the daily air pressure changes. You can drill ordinary house window glass starting with a 2 or 3mm drill and working up. The newer the glass the less chance of a breakage. BUT, you cannot drill toughened glass - it will shatter into those small bits we have all seen. A glass shop may be able to help, instead of drilling they will grind a hole through. They will most likely need the window removed from the van and would probably not accept liability if it should break.

 

[ctc]

On an old thread about replacing double glazing a funster used a glass supplier to make a new 12mm pane to replace the double gazing. He had an annealing oven to toughen the glass. I think it is in Banbury.

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[ShiftZZ]

Message from dealer, replacement window fitted £1300..

 

[Jimbohorlicks]

Message from dealer, replacement window fitted £1300..

For that price I would ask the local glazier for 2 single panes of toughened glass and just insert those together instead of a double glazed unit.

 

[ShiftZZ]

For that price I would ask the local glazier for 2 single panes of toughened glass and just insert those together instead of a double glazed unit.

Its curved.

 

[CazPaul]

£1300 is a good price I expected it was going to be a lot more, is there a guarantee though that it won’t happen again in 2 years or so?

 

[Jimbohorlicks]

Its curved.

That a shame, can't you find a local glazier Co to ,take the double unit apart. Clean it and reseal.?

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[gus-lopez]

All it really needs is to remove & find where the hole is then remove water using the hole even enlarging it & then vaccuuming out & reseal which is standard work for any double glazing manufacturer .that is If you can get one to do it for you.

 

[Coastal Cruiser.]

You could fill it up and make a feature of it

 

[ShiftZZ]

That a shame, can't you find a local glazier Co to ,take the double unit apart. Clean it and reseal.?

All it really needs is to remove & find where the hole is then remove water using the hole even enlarging it & then vaccuuming out & reseal which is standard work for any double glazing manufacturer .that is If you can get one to do it for you.

Spoke to dealer, suggested that, he was unhappy. The risk of drilling a hole could weaken the structure, removing the window could cause a crack and then the van could not be used.

Dammed if you fo, Dammed if you don't, we leave for Spain. In a week.

 

[CazPaul]

For that price I would ask the local glazier for 2 single panes of toughened glass and just insert those together instead of a double glazed unit.

Yours is best idea for me though as that will last forever unless the glass breaks in an accident etc
Another new double glazed window how long will it last especially with the stresses and strains a Motorhome goes through.

 

[ShiftZZ]

Yours is best idea for me though as that will last forever unless the glass breaks in an accident etc
Another new double glazed window how long will it last especially with the stresses and strains a Motorhome goes through.

There was,some.e condensation before.

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[TheBig1]

I would remove the glass panel and have a piece of perspex that can be cut and fitted temporarily. Then see as above if you can find the leak. Drain it and use a vacuum cleaner to suck any last moisture out. Do that indoors in a warm room to assist with internal drying. Then smear a layer of black sikaflex or puraflex all the way round the outside to seal it, then refit. Nothing to lose if it has to come out anyway, so long as you are very careful removing the panel. It is possibly bonded in with black sikaflex anyway and you will need one of those extending craft knife to slowly cut the seal away

Trying to drill the glass is near impossible and it will shatter into little cubes if you try

 

[rb62]

CN glass in Banbury will strip the window down and re make it using the same glass if you can get someone to take it out and send it to them.Used to be Trevor who you needed to speak to.
Used to be about £250

Custom Glass, Double Glazing & Windows In Banbury | CN Glass

Looking for a trusted supplier of windows, doors or double glazing in Banbury? CN Glass covers it all - from installation to maintenance and repairs.

www.cnglass.co.uk

 

[Lenny HB]

Message from dealer, replacement window fitted £1300..

As Paul says that's not a bad price.
There used to be someone who repairs them my mate may know I'll ask.

 

[CazPaul]

There was,some.e condensation before.

Yes the condensation means the double glazing has failed and a new unit is required, the thing is some manufacturers, Hymer for example, used to fit the side windows with single glazed toughened windows and others with double glazed units.

We’ve had both and I never noticed a discernible difference.

The price for a new double glazed side window on Hymer, Concorde etc are astronomical, thousands.

 

[Lenny HB]

Had a word with my doesn't remember who it was but he said Autoglass replace them.
You might need a crack in it before calling them

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[CazPaul]

Had a word with my doesn't remember who it was but he said Autoglass replace them.
You might need a crack in it before calling them

That’s dishonest

 

[funflair]

CN glass in Banbury will strip the window down and re make it using the same glass if you can get someone to take it out and send it to them.Used to be Trevor who you needed to speak to.
Used to be about £250

Custom Glass, Double Glazing & Windows In Banbury | CN Glass

Looking for a trusted supplier of windows, doors or double glazing in Banbury? CN Glass covers it all - from installation to maintenance and repairs.

www.cnglass.co.uk

That's who did ours must be 8 years back, they made new units from a template and I refitted everything.

 

[rb62]

That's who did ours must be 8 years back, they made new units from a template and I refitted everything.

Just had a look back and seen that Jock had one done last July

If anyone does phones up Trevor is the MD

 

[gus-lopez]

Spoke to dealer, suggested that, he was unhappy. The risk of drilling a hole could weaken the structure, removing the window could cause a crack and then the van could not be used.

no the hole you need to find will be in the sandwich between the two panes of glass which is sealed after vacuuming out with a qucik setting sealant same as the double glazing makers use. No glass is needed to be drilled.

 

[DavidG58]

I see you have set off for Spain, did you manage to lose the water, would be a bit distracting slopping around while driving

Whose side is it on?

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[DuxDeluxe]

Yes the condensation means the double glazing has failed and a new unit is required, the thing is some manufacturers, Hymer for example, used to fit the side windows with single glazed toughened windows and others with double glazed units.

We’ve had both and I never noticed a discernible difference.

The price for a new double glazed side window on Hymer, Concorde etc are astronomical, thousands.

So lucky that mine of the Le Voyageur cost £330 plus fitting by Hayes Leisure

 

[JockandRita]

CN glass in Banbury will strip the window down and re make it using the same glass if you can get someone to take it out and send it to them.Used to be Trevor who you needed to speak to.
Used to be about £250

Custom Glass, Double Glazing & Windows In Banbury | CN Glass

Looking for a trusted supplier of windows, doors or double glazing in Banbury? CN Glass covers it all - from installation to maintenance and repairs.

www.cnglass.co.uk

That's who did ours must be 8 years back, they made new units from a template and I refitted everything.

When I last spoke to Trevor, he would only supply new, using the old as a template, rather than split the old to repair it.

Just had a look back and seen that Jock had one done last July

Richard, that was the spare replacement unit that Martin had kindly given us. Unfortunately, as soon as it was fitted, it showed signs of misting internally once the sun got on it.

What I have had done since, (like I did with the Hymer), is have 2 x new panes of 11mm laminated glass made up (using an original unit as a template), to replace both the blown double glazed units. I'm not in receipt of them yet, but I hope to have them fitted in a few months time. Fortunately, they weren't curved units.

ShiftZZ. Good luck getting your units sorted Dave.

Cheers,

Jock.