Seal lost on thermopane window

[jjrbus]

 One of my thermopane windows has lost its seal and fogged up. I'm looking the situation over and thinking the glass is still good, the separator? (ring that keeps window apart) is good. Why cant I take this apart, clean it, find the chemical they use inside. Put it back together and silicone it??
As usual all responses, advice and wisecracks greatly appreciated!!!
                                                                                                  Jim

[tekebird]

alot of effort for a low probability of suscess.

[fraser8]

There is outfits that repair the thermal windows in houses. I've seen their ads on local TV, they claim to get the fog out and reseal the unit... Should be no different in a coach

[tekebird]

what kind of coach are we talking about anyway

[jjrbus]

Its a 5C, the window is a RV type slider. Why would it be a low probobility of success?

[scanzel]

Thermopane windows are sealed at the factory either by creating a vacuum inside or putting a gas inside to prevent moisture etc. Doing this yourself with a success rate is usually not possible. Finding the gas would be one problem and probably expensive, creating a vacuum would be hard also without the proper tolls or methods. Might be better to check out some of these companies mentioned. The windows on older Vanhool buses are noted for this problem.

[tekebird]

I'd hunt ebay or one of the salvage places and just exchange it

[kyle4501]

Any inert gas should do, the larger the atom, the larger the leak needs to be before it leaks out. . . . (The filler gas is there to minimize air wanting to get in.)

Argon is used as a shielding gas for some types of welding . . .

As for vacuuming, I would think a good purge would work almost as well.

If you used a spacer between the glass & filled the spacer with a desiccant & then sealed it all with a proper sealant, you'd be condensate free - for a while anyways . . . 

[Sojourner]

Argon is used as a shielding gas for some types of welding . . .

If you used a spacer between the glass & filled the spacer with a desiccant & then sealed it all with a proper sealant, you'd be condensate free - for a while anyways . . . 

Jim....many custom glass & repair shop for home can do it. They remove old spacer....clean glass....new spacer....sealed.....inert Argon to bleed air out & plugged. Now you have like a new thermopane window all over again. It maybe better sealed than before...this time.

I been there and seen how it done about 15 years ago.

Call for any custom home type glass place that can reclean & restore thermopanes or ask who can.

FWIW

Sojourn for Christ, Jerry

[Kristinsgrandpa]

   I'm not sure what thermopane windows are purged with but I am going to attempt doing my own. I saved the extra window panes removed from my coach.

With a spacer, silicone attached, around the perimiter and a small soda straw like tube in opposite corners I'm going to hook my TIG welder hose to one corner and hold a match or lighter at the other end to determine when the cavity is filled with the argon mix I use.

Theoretically when the match goes out the cavity will be filled. Determining which is heavier, the air or the argon, will determine the position of the glass as I fill it.

  The probability of success will be determined by my detailed planning and my capabilities.

It sounds simple enough to me, but then I know my capabilities and have a very good idea of what materials to use.

One thing for sure, I won't have much more than a dollar a window invested so I won't be out much if it fails.

Ed

[belfert]

I have never found a shop that will repair thermal panes.  My parents had bad thermal panes and they could only find places that would replaced the entire sealed unit.

[jjrbus]

Thanks for all the info!!!  ED, I have been checking the web and it appears (not 100% sure) that silicone is not the sealant of choice.  Not sure why, it used to be what aquiariams were made with.
The dificulty I see now is this is the slideing window, it has no frame. The handle is a u channel put on one side with an adhesive. I think this will be difficult to remove without breaking glass.
I just do not belive the poor quality of things today. I paid $20 each for these windows in Elkhart 8 years ago and already having trouble with them  

[Sojourner]

Sorry for confusion... my posted information is no longer the format ways of sealing thermopane glass.

The today method is to use hot-melt desiccant compound along with newer type sealing compound & spacer.
Open the link and cursor over the color dots:
http://www.adcoglobal.com/adcoproducts/was.asp

I learn the newer method today.....thanks to this request from "Spinning" Jim.

FWIW

Sojourn for Christ, Jerry

[pvcces]

I think that silicone is a very poor sealant for many applications. Among it's other problems, it can't be resealed, AFAIK.

I've seen some of those assemblies being built; in this case, the separator was hollow and filled with dessicant before the sealer was applied to the glass.

Windshield urethane requires a primer applied to the glass before the sealant is used. We installed a bonded winshield that required this treatment a decade ago. I noticed that recent windshields have a primered edge, as well.

We live in a cool climate, so we have made our own insulated windows by venting the space between two layers of glass. The inside layer was sealed from the interior of the apartment, and the vent was filtered and to the outside through three small holes drilled into the windowframe.

These have been fine for over ten years.

For what it's worth.

Tom Caffrey

[jjrbus]

 Drilling holes in the outside glass works very well. In cold areas.