steamy windows

[nickk]

no not the car ones when you were a youngster! these are the ones in these plastic conservatory's, trying to save my dad spending a fortune on replacing his ,it seems they leak their gas & go misty,has anyone on here just replaced theirs with normal glass, i imagine the thickness needs to be maintained, or a spacer inserted to enable the trim to refit? thanks for any ideas forthcoming.

 

[grandads_shed]

are they going misty in between the glass sheets or just on the inside of the windows ?

 

[DrNik]

the double glazed units can be refilled with fresh dessicant and resealed, cheaper than new glass, dont use single glazing, it will drip like hell, and never be any good

 

[langy]

I thought it was a sealed vacuum between the glass sheets, when the seal goes its gets condensation in there ?

 

[DrNik]

nope not sealed and evacuated, its made from 2 sheets of glass with a hollow silver bar which is filled with a dessicant(absorbs moisture) then silicone or hot glue to seal the window, what happens is that any moisture within the window is absorbed, but over time the seal fails and allows the dessicant balls to absorb as much moisture as they can and then this allows the moisture to build up inside the 2 sheets,
if you hold a handful of the dessicant balls they get really hot as they soak up any moisture on your hands....... wealth of knowledge i am

 

[DrNik]

if your really canny you can get the dessicant out, microwave the moisture out and reuse them

 

[migmag]

Not a vacuum Langy,

A DGU (Double Glazed Unit ) is sealed normally with a butyl stage one and a silicone/polysulphide or polyurethane stage two.
The aluminium/stainless or plastic spacer bar in between glazing faces has multiple holes facing into the unit.
inside the spacer bar is filled with desiccant a little like the small packets of silica you get in the shoe box or new handbag.
Its extremely hygroscopic and absorbed all of the moisture within the DGU.

If it were a vacuum the two units would touch being pushed in via external air pressure and defeat the object of a double glazed unit.

And a little inside info,
Those units which are gas filled are not gas filled for long,
Argon,Krypton and Xeon are molecularly smaller that both the 1st and 2nd stage sealants hence all have a GTR ( Gas Transfer Rate ).

The most resilient is Butyl 1st Cromatec plus stainless and Silicone 2nd stage.

DGU's also have four faces counted 1 being from outside looking in.

Hope your not too bored now and yes you can get the sealed unit repaired but if they are old units it might be more efficient to get new DGU's with a good Solar control glass,
Spend your money on good coated glass backed up by the gas not the other way round.

 

[migmag]

Sorry Drnik seem to have posted at the same time........

 

[Wedg1e]

I've smashed a couple of the units in my house when the petrol strimmer flicked stones (fallen through next door's cr&ppy fence) into the windows.
Stripped the units (sliding patio doors, 6 foot by 2!), measured up the glass and had new units made for about £80 each... but they came with a warning that being so old they're only about 12-14mm thick (current spec. is something like 25mm!) and the separator bars are no longer made so once stocks are gone, that's it, it'll be a whole new patio door...

 

[pedrobedro]

I replaced the kitchen window last weekend with a new Upvc unit and dismantled the old one which only had a 6mm air gap (new ones are something like 22mm) and had gone foggy. There are lots of little balls in the beading when you break it open and the little beggars really like to travel There are stickers on the toughened glass telling which face is to the inside and looking through it looks to have a slight bronze tint.

 

[mike os]

replacement units are the easiest.... as long as you can get the beads out without damage, any glazers will be able to supply but will need the size and overall thickness

 

[nickk]

are they going misty in between the glass sheets or just on the inside of the windows ?

yes,in between.