My argon gas-filled replacement windows are six months old. Two of them have developed strange patterns of silvery purple flecks that appear to be on the inside of the glass.
Take a look:
My window guy is coming out next week, but he hasn't heard of this problem either.
Other thoughts?
I was thinking something totally different until I say the photo. Call the window company and have them take care if it. Six months old should be under warranty.
Who made the defective crap, what is your warranty. I suspect the Batch will all fail within warranty. Is it a No name brand.
Depends on your definition of "no-name." The windows are Accuweld, which, while not in the Pella/Anderson/Marvin league, is a large company that's been around a while.
The fix should be covered under warranty, except for the all the little escape clauses like "you must send in this card within 30 days of installation to validate the warranty." Uh, never got a card nor heard it mentioned.
Fortunately our installer is a good firm and I am hoping they stand by the product they rep.
My guess is that there's a layer of plastic in there between the panes that's reflective in the IR spectrum, and/or opaque in the UV spectrum, and it's delaminating from the glass it's glued to,
Any bets on whether the glass in those windows is in the frames wrong-side out?
Me too, Argon is a noble gas so it will not react with anything (that's part of the reason they use it) I suspect the seal broke and you have oxygen reacting with the coatings (often made of metallic thin films, so they can oxidize if not passivated with another layer) or the Argon gas mix was contaminated from the start.
The pattern has a granular look (grain boundaries) that suggests the coating is reacting with something (silvery purple sounds like a metallic thin film) but the lower half appears to have wipe marks. Maybe during assembly they wipe the glass clean and that solution was contaminated.
Does it look different with polarized sunglasses (like how some car windows look patterned) this may give you another hint.
Definitely pursue the warranty. I would definately consider that a manufacturing defect whether that be the coating or the gas seal. In your state the warranty card may be meaningless, any proof of purchase will usually do and the installer may have his own guarantee and will make the claim with the factory on your behalf (i.e. he has warranty with you and they have warranty with him.)
I assume it looked OK when installed. How long did this take and did it coincide with any severe weather (very cold or driving rain or high wind)?
Hard to say on the timing, as one window stays covered with blinds and just noticed it, and the window in the picture is in a shower that we are re-tiling (very slowly) and haven't worked on for a few months.
The marks definitely have a mettalic look to them. The wipe marks are probably mine on the exterior trying to clean the exterior of the glass to make sure the marks were not just on the surface.
Installer comes on Monday. I will post again after he does.
Thanks for the thoughts.
Don't quote me, and IANAL, but I thought there was a Federal law prohibiting that, i.e. requiring any warranty to be honored with any valid proof of purchase date whether or not you register the product.
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