Fixing blown sealed unit in situ - no, really..

[creamola]

Stick with me on this - there is a method in my madness..

I have a 1000 X 1500 Sunsquare skylight (https://www.sunsquare.co.uk/product/skyview-rooflight/)

The sealed unit in it is a bit special:

- 6mm toughened soft coat low E outer pane.
- 14mm Argon filled silicone sealed cavity with a black warm edge spacer bar.
- 8.8mm laminated safety inner pane.

The sealed unit has blown, and the company has gone into administration and while it did have a 25 year warranty, the new company who purchased Sunsquare from administration won't honour the warranty (which is not a surprise).

To replace the blown unit, effectively means buying a replacement from (the new) Sunsquare for > £1500 BEFORE fitting etc.

Now, as the sealed unit has a (slight) slope in it, I figured that it should be possible to drill two holes through the spacer bars (one at the highest and the other at the lowest point), and then into the highest hole, squirt some sort of cleaner (I have seen folk on youtube using neat Isopropyl Alcohol - as it evaporates completely) and then re-create a vacuum, by sucking as much air out as possible, and then re-sealing the holes in the spacer. (and then taping the spacer all round - in order to re-create the seal, which is obviously breached now)

I can get bare 12V vacuum pumps for about £20 on Aliexpress, so was thinking of DIY'ing a suitable machine (for quirting a cleaning solvent in, and then re-creating the vacuum). Has anyone done something similar - and if so, are there devices off the shelf, as it were, to save me having to DIY?

 

[foxhole]

 

[freddiemercurystwin]

Let us know how it pans out .....

 

[Iwilldoit]

Well I certainly wont be buying another one the same after the first failed. Check your warranty as I had a problem with a door after the company had gone but it was an insurance backed guarantee so the work was covered by the insurance and they send someone out to remedy.

Other than that I dont think your plan will work as I dont think you will be able to properly seal all around, its worth a try.
I assume that you have condensation inside - if so squirting isopropyl inside will not do much but maybe if you drill your 2 holes and use the pump to suck air through one which will draw air from the other and hopefully dry out your gap inbetween. But expect to add this to your yearly house maintenance tasks as the dryness wont last.

 

[creamola]

Well I certainly wont be buying another one the same after the first failed. Check your warranty as I had a problem with a door after the company had gone but it was an insurance backed guarantee so the work was covered by the insurance and they send someone out to remedy.

Other than that I dont think your plan will work as I dont think you will be able to properly seal all around, its worth a try.
I assume that you have condensation inside - if so squirting isopropyl inside will not do much but maybe if you drill your 2 holes and use the pump to suck air through one which will draw air from the other and hopefully dry out your gap inbetween. But expect to add this to your yearly house maintenance tasks as the dryness wont last.

Unfortunately, my warranty (for the sealed unit) wasn't insurance backed, so if I do pay to fix the problem (basically, by buying a replacement from the new company owners) I become an unsecured creditor - and I can't imagine that will go well..

So yes, my plan was to rinse the inside of the unit (from the top hole) with the cleaner draining out of the lower hole, sucking clean/dry air in to dry the insides out, then sealing the air input, sucking out the rest of the air (i.e. creating a vacuum) and then sealing both holes AND the spacer. I have watched a few videos, and as far as I can see, during manufacture, air is sucked out and the spacer is sealed (to maintain vacuum) with tape (I guess it's self amalgamating tape?).

Whatever, the unit is currently blown - so I am unlikely to make the problem worse - and this isn't called the DIY forum for nothing

 

[crank39]

@ronniecabers, over to you mate

 

[mrrusty]

I've just run that unit online - OK with only 6.4mm laminated internally as this co didn't offer 8.8

 

[crank39]

I've run it through my pricing system as 6mm toughened and 6.8mm accoustic lam @ £520 fitted with a 10 year guarantee however bare in mind a unit with that glass will be around 50kg so will take 2 men so allow a bit extra for a second man

 

[Iwilldoit]

I dont understand why it needs to be
6mm toughened outer pane.
and 8.8mm laminated safety inner pane.
Neither makes sense to me, I understand the need for toughened on the outside (so you could stand on it ?) but then 6mm would not be thick enough would it ?
And why the need for 8.8mm safety glass in the inside ceiling when there is no danger of falling in to it unless you suddenly invent anti gravity shoes.
Velux do not have this requirement.

 

[HERTS P&D]

Hey guys,

Just Say No!

Drugs don't work!

Andy

 

[crank39]

I'd imagine 4mm toughened external and 6.4mm low e internally to catch the toughened outer in case it shatters £340 fitted 10 year guarantee

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

I can get bare 12V vacuum pumps for about £20 on Aliexpress, so was thinking of DIY'ing a suitable machine (for quirting a cleaning solvent in, and then re-creating the vacuum). Has anyone done something similar - and if so, are there devices off the shelf, as it were, to save me having to DIY?

Not an expert on this, but I have heard of people doing something similar, and successfully. The idea is to simply dry the air within the panel, rather than create a vacuum. It needs a source of very dry air, then either a pump to blow it through, or a vacuum to suck the moist air out.

 

[creamola]

Thank you @crank39 and @mrrusty !

I guess the reason for the sizes, is that whatever individual panes are used, it all needs to add up to 28.8 - so as to fit in the upstand and teh extruded aluminium (I guess) edge that runs around it.

BUT when you say "Fitted" - that's the challenge.. I am in Wiltshire, and none of the folk I approached locally, wanted to go anywhere near it LOL!

 

[creamola]

Not an expert on this, but I have heard of people doing something similar, and successfully. The idea is to simply dry the air within the panel, rather than create a vacuum. It needs a source of very dry air, then either a pump to blow it through, or a vacuum to suck the moist air out.

That's more like it Harry - I like your "pioneering" spirit!

I have been wondering... instead of dry air (where am I going to get any of that in this country?..) about some sort of inert gas - and given that it was filled with Argon in the first place, I have just rather surprised myself by finding this: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Preservintage-Wine-Food-Preserver-aerosol/dp/B07MQFTKPN - what do you reckon?

 

[crank39]

Who have you tried? Double glazing companies probably won't want to know but someone like a window doctor would, stuff like this is their bread and butter.

Good luck if you think you can repair it, your wasting your time though