rdx4fun

Anybody ever used this stuff http://www.diamonfusion.com/en/products/improves.html ?

I am getting it installed soon. It is a product that they apply to your windshield that makes it 10xs stronger and can basically elliminate rock chips and cracks from what I was told. It is applied by a local company for about 200. Anyone ever had this applied or a similar product? The guy told me that the military uses it on there hummers before they are used overseas. Also talked to a glass shop that said he thinks it works well.

Chas2

I bit the bullet and had it put on. So far, there is a noticeable difference in the glare, lack of, and water repellency is like rain-x. The biggest difference is that you can see out of it better. Since this is my first new car in ages, I thought I would bite. Did not have installed by the dealer, but a windshield repair man, who swears that the chip resistance will pay off years down the road. You never want to replace a factory windshield if you can avoid it.

I researched it a bit and decided to bite. I never would have at dealer prices, however. It all seems like snake oil to me. I put rain-x on the back glass to see what the difference is. I do have to say that the glare resistance in the rain-x is not the same (not as good), but maybe I am just rationalizing the expense.

sasair

Who did you have apply it and how much did it cost you?

rdx4fun

Cool thanks for the great input. Here is the link Sasair to the guy I was going to use. http://www.wise-cracks.com/diamonfusion.html

Chas2

Mike Galati, Wise-Cracks Windshield Repair 703 314 1382

www.wise-cracks.com

$225.00

He seems like a nice guy, did what appeared to be a good job, I was with him the entire time. Took a little over an hour. Appeared to be very knowledgeable about his craft, glass repair, and the different vendors that service new car dealers, etc.

c_hunter

Is it a film? A coating?

sasair

I'm wondering how well it would fill in little pits already in a windshield. My 04 RSX has alot of them.

Pacer

Hmm. Sounds intriguing, but a little googling gave me this interesting read. Maybe this guy has a point, maybe he doesn't, but he basically says this diamonfusion is akin to applying Rain-X:

http://www.thetravelforum.com/archiv.../t-151364.html

FWIW, I had my '93 Stealth windshield replaced literally in a parking lot after some crackhead tossed a brick through it in downtown Indy. It was replaced with a PPG windshield that gave me zero trouble for another seven years of ownership...'til I sold my Stealth. Still miss that ride!

sasair

chas2 will have to let us know how well it holds up. If it is truly just an expensive rain-x then that would become pretty obvious within about a month or so....

Chas2

To my understanding, Diamon Fusion does not fill in existing pits. It works on a 30 nm scale is bonding with the glass on a molecular level. Existing pits are far larger than that. The guy that applied it also said that it will not fill in existing pits and recommends it be done with the glass as new as possible.

I will let you know how it does after a month. I have not yet had to use the special cleaner he gave to me. Car wash soap and water works fine, in a wash about two weeks after it was applied.

It is now too cold now to use soap and water. The car's windshield wiper/washer fluid has worked fine to remove salt mist... I do not see any rain in the near term forecast to test it out again...Maybe I have to go to a car wash...

Madison3

I came across an article in some magazine about PPG's Aquapel. I am intrigued by it. PPG says that it's a treatment that is an offshoot from their aerospace windscreen material product and research. I was in the airline industry before and PPG is a reliable name. Anyone else heard and tried it out?

econman

How horrible. Were you able to catch the guy?

econman

I hope it works out for you. I'm an economist/mathematician and not a chemist, but I am very skeptical about such things.

Also, when I hear such institutions as "Institute for Glass Science and Engineering" I think one professor in an office who got a $25,000 grant and spent $100 on letterhead.
However, Dr. William C. LaCourse seems to be the real deal although I've never heard of Alfred University? Nevertheless, the way they cite his "findings" implies to me a totally out-of-context quotation.
It is also totally devoid of any mention of use in automobiles; hence, someone needs to teach Diamond Fusion about F= m*a for the speed of a vehicle will exponentially (i.e. quickly) make "F" larger than the margin of error on their silly "4 pound load" within their "wet friction" calculations.

The business ought to make available the entire test run to see what was actually measured (and more importantly what was not measured).

I remain a rational skeptic full of doubt.

Madison3

I would have used kinetic energy tests to determine impact resistance and not static-load tests which is what they seem to be implying.

flar

They measure the "weight" required to cause damage and "weight" is a force (as opposed to mass which is not a force), so they are measuring force in a sense.

The issue I have is that they measure the force required to cause damage when dragging the weight across the sample. But rocks flying at you don't drag across - they hit (albeit at an angle) and cause their damage at the point of impact.

In fact they obtained their "dragging damage" results not by doing a drag test, but by doing a static non-dragging load test and then using a formula and the coefficient of friction to convert to a dragging load measurement. The reason that the coating gets a 10x better number on the dragging load measurement is that it has a much lower coefficient of friction and so the dragging is less likely to cause damage even given the same non-dragging damage measurement and when it's better coefficient of friction is plugged into the formula - sure enough the number is 10x better.

So, their "10x stronger" claim is only for dragging an object across your windshield - not something that I think happens often in the real world - and certainly not what will help when a truck kicks a pebble up in your face...

Pacer

Thanks. Nope, got away. I heard the crash, looked out my window on the 7th floor, and ran down to my car. The offender was gone by the time I got there, plus it was dark. Left me a nice brick [where it landed] on the seat. Also mucked up the dash a bit from the brick flying through the windshield, but the vinyl repair guys made that almost invisible. I also have a lot of respect for those vinyl guys.

catnippants

Hehe...just in case you care, Alfred University is a real school in NY, and pretty well respected here in the northeast...

Mike

rdx4fun

So Chas hows it holding up? Any new chips since the Diamond Fusion was put on. How about snow and rain reppeling? Is it worth it so far? Anybody throw a brick at your window and it just bounced off? I want to have this done soon.

Chas2

So far I have no regrets. The salt coats it pretty well, there is no sheeting off with that, but where the windshield washer and wipers clear it, it is very clear. My wife even said something about how good the windshield is in this car (I did NOT tell her about the Diamon Fusion--had that done in the garage at work)

Took a 500 mile trip to Danville and back and had no problems, no chips, or anything. I did a do it yourself carwash (the wand) down in a town called Chatham, and the water beaded and sheeted off nicely.

As you can tell, bottom line, I really cannot say one way or the other.


I also just got busted. My wife looked over my shoulder and read this message!

rdx4fun

Glad to hear, you are too funny.