polycarbonate secondary glazing

[Mr Fiendish]

Evening all!

Has anybody experience of the polycarbonate sheeting as sold by DIY Plastice as both secondary glazing and as a security add-on?

If it's easy to work then isn't it rather easy to cut through with a battery rotozip or similar?

It's about twice the price of triple-wall - has anybody used that as secondary glazing where just light is required from a particular window - not clear vision. Would triple-wall offer any significant protection against break-in if mounted roomside of the window?

thoughts/comments please ...

Regards,

Barley Twist (Please put out the cats to reply direct)

[Peter Parry]

Yes - but it is very difficult to break so more traditional scrotes tools such as hammers and screwdrivers bounce off it (literally, one would be housebreaker was once found with a 2lb ball pein hammer embedded in his skull having taken a swing at a Lexan glazed window).

With polycarbonate the thicker the better - a single thick sheet would be more effective than triplewall of the same overall thickness

The downside to Polycarbonate (Lexan, Makralon) is that it has a soft surface which scratches easily, it is also collects a static charge and attracts dust. Wiping the dust off scratches the surface so it soon looks unsightly unless treated carefully. As far as toughness goes it is pretty much unbeatable though.

[Andrew Heggie <andrew.heggie]

My spectacles have a scratch resistant surface, or is this just a scam to charge more?

Forestry machines use a form called "Marguard" which is supposed to be scratch resistant. I would like to know whether there is any difference between the various brand names as I have a few tractor windows that must be changed to one of these plastics, paying for the marguard name doesn't appeal.

AJH

[Steve Walker]

My heart bleeds for him........... :o)

[Mr Fiendish]

On Sun, 12 Oct 2003 12:27:02 +0100, Andrew Heggie

I'm a motorcyclist and years ago I found that hi-quartz coatings were the way to go for glasses - I'm the beard and open face helmet type so constantly wiping rain from the glasses with the edge of my glove - ordinary lenses don't last very long at all.

Barley Twist (Please put out the cats to reply direct)

[Peter Parry]

No - but its an expensive process especially for a window sized sheet.

Marguard is I believe silcon treated Lexan, the surface is heat treated with a silicon material to harden it. It has a working life of 4 years max in vehicle use. Makrolon AR is supposed to be similar but I suspect there will be little price difference.

A local scrap dealer uses conventional Polycarbonate on a front screen on a JCB he uses but polishes it once a month with Rain-X. He thinks it lasts as well as hardened plastic as it can be rinsed clean each night without wiping. His screens only last about 6-12 months though before something or other whacks into them and makes them earn their keep.

[Chris Oates]

We use 4mm Polycarbonate to protect the Fresnel Lenses of projector monitors - IIRC it's about £90 per monitor.