Burned tint. Never seen this in my life, now 2x!

The ///Man · September 18, 2017

OK, so I'm going to preface this with I'm sure there are a number of things that could cause this, I'm thinking most likely a reflection off of something else, though the second incident, I'm mildly curious if something could be in the glass causing this.

The first case came to me as a glass replacement. We didn't tint the car. It's a 2012 Civic Sedan, the glass was broken and the belt mouldings melted, along with the tint being scorched. I assumed someone was doing something stupid with a torch, but customer said they came out and it was broken.

The second set of pictures, unfortunately I don't have pictures of when it was burned, but he came to me a couple weeks ago, a 2016 Mazda3, we had tinted a few months earlier. There was about a 2" diameter ring with burned tint in the middle, the belt moulding slightly melted. I told him swing by another day and I would help him out. Now I can't remember, but he came back Friday and I swear it looked more burned, though it could be just memory. Needless to say, we re-tinted the glass for him in the morning and he went off to work. He returned at the end of work day, and the glass was broken in the exact spot where the burn was before. It's a strange looking break too as it appears to be directional in how it broke.

I'm curious if there can be some sort of inclusion in the glass that can burn the tint? Also, why did the glass break after we re-tinted it? I wonder if whatever burned the glass weeks before somehow changed the molecular makeup of the glass and something with the water drying triggered it to burst?

If it's something in the make-up of the glass, I imagine this may be more common if a small shop like me has seen 2 instances in the matter of a couple months. I wish I had got the brand of the Civic glass and seen if there was a consistency among brand. Both were OEM glass.

Bham · September 18, 2017

You should be able to tell where the burn originated. Inside or out by surveying the damage closely.

The break seems to be impact related from the pictures.

Questions = Is this the same person with two different vehicles?

is this happening where the vehicles are parked?

I really think you are going to find this to be a " human " issue. :twocents

The ///Man · September 18, 2017

This is two different people, two different cars. The second one without the burn definitely wasn't impact related. It broke in the exact spot where the burn previously was and broke the same day we re-tinted it for him. The break is where the center of the burn was before.

Sisqouc · September 19, 2017

Do they park near Sandia National Laboratories?

Love to hear what the late TD member "VClimber" would have said.

DynamicATL · September 19, 2017

Wonder if there is a defect in the glass creating a magnified light situation...like using a magnified glass with the sun to burn something. It would explain the burned film and breakage after from heat. Just a guess though....never seen it.

shadytints · September 19, 2017

Kewl, love a good puzzle

takes some serious heat to pop tempered. I use three different torches for tint, 1 for BG, a mini for touch-ups close to moldings and a triple burner mini if I catch something after I pulled it out. I smoke, boat and its windproof, love it

I would check your film roll, doubt its the problem, have seen many strange things in film over the years. the burned one my guess is vandelism, magnifying glass or torch. have seen rear and sideview melt from reflection off a tinted building. the other, lawn mower or leaf blower, check for other nicks on the car.

do they work or park same place? is strange to have 2 back to back. any more details?

Jkatfelix · September 19, 2017

I have to agree with shadytints....I use map gas the yellow can and never seen that happen

The ///Man · September 19, 2017

10 hours ago, shadytints said:

Kewl, love a good puzzle

takes some serious heat to pop tempered. I use three different torches for tint, 1 for BG, a mini for touch-ups close to moldings and a triple burner mini if I catch something after I pulled it out. I smoke, boat and its windproof, love it

I would check your film roll, doubt its the problem, have seen many strange things in film over the years. the burned one my guess is vandelism, magnifying glass or torch. have seen rear and sideview melt from reflection off a tinted building. the other, lawn mower or leaf blower, check for other nicks on the car.

do they work or park same place? is strange to have 2 back to back. any more details?

They weren't back to back, totally different people and scenarios. One was a car I tinted, one came to me with the burned and broken glass, the second came with burned tint, it wasn't broken until the day we re-tinted, but it broke at the center of where the burn was previously. I know for a fact the second one was not an impact. If you look, the break looks has a pattern in the glass that is totally different from one side to the other. One side with long directional shards like you would see in an impact, the other side with little to no pattern at all.I really think something burst inside the glass. In the last picture, you can also see on the weatherstrip the melting from whatever burned the tint previously. Whatever burned the tint also burned the rubber.

I initially thought maybe it was parking next to something, but on the second car, and like I said before, I could be imagining things, but it seemed the burn was worse from the first time he brought it to 2 weeks later when we changed the tint. That's why I'm curious if there can be something in the glass that can heat like that.

I liked the idea of something in the glass acting like a magnifying lens. Maybe an imperfection the sun is refracting through. I did a little research, the Civic was PGW, the Mazda was St. Gobain.

Edited September 19, 2017 by The ///Man

The ///Man · September 19, 2017

10 hours ago, Sisqouc said:

Do they park near Sandia National Laboratories?

Love to hear what the late TD member "VClimber" would have said.

I don't know about the civic, but the Mazda is just down the street from me, so a few miles from the labs. There are several tall buildings in the area though, maybe a reflection off a window.