Recovering double glazed unit with broken seal

I have an aluminium double-glazed unit, approx 3x2' in my garage workshop (insulated/heated inside). A while ago, the ivy growing outside found its way through the seal, and quite a lot of moisture built up inside - eventually a quarter of an inch of water at the bottom, and condensation on the inside.

Figuring the seal was already gone so I had nothing to lose, I used a carbide drill to make a 1.5mm hole in the glass at the bottom corner from the inside, and drained the pool of water out, and used some thin tubing to syphon below the level of the hole, however the condensation is still there. As it would be a PITA to replace or dismantle, and expensive as it is laminated glass, I was wondering how I might be able to get rid of the condensation. I was thinking maybe making another small hole in an opposite corner and flowing warm, dry air through over a long period might do the job. Perhaps another approach would be to put some black card over part of the glass on the outside to absorb some heat and warm the glass, to encourage it to evaporate, and/or use a pump to reduce the air pressure inside slightly (but not so much it collapses!) to encourage evaporation.

Anyone successfully done anything like this ? I can live with it as it is, so am not considering replacing, but it would be nice to be able to improve it, and all the more satisfying if a cunning scientific method could be utilised...!

The ivy is gone now, so I would think that soaking the remains where it went through the seal with some sort of runny, flexible sealant would get it pretty close to sealed again.

Reply to
Mike Harrison
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I had an indicator lens unit on my car with water in. I tipped the water out, ran along the joint with silicone sealant, then left a couple of bags of silica gel in the bottom to get rid of the condensation. (leaving it on the radiator for a day did not get rid of it, since there were 2 separate "cells" in the unit, and no air flow).

I think the only way to get rid of the condensation is to split the DG unit, replace or dry out the silica gel in the sealed unit frame, then reassemble.

Bob

Reply to
Bob Smith

It happens that Mike Harrison formulated :

I would not expect you would be able to get away with no water staining on the inside, however I would suggest....

Drill more holes both top and bottom to encourage air circulation - then when it appears to be as dry as it is going to get, direct a fan heater onto the inside panel then finally reseal it up.

Reply to
Harry Bloomfield

Well before resorting to that, I have come up with a plan.... I've drilled another hole in the opposite corner. I'll attach some tubing to each hole, and circulate the air through a container of freshly-baked silica gel, using an aquarium air pump.

Will let you know if it works - may take some time though....!

Now the annoying thing is I KNOW I had an aquarium pump somewhere in the 'might come in useful pile'....

Reply to
Mike Harrison

freshly-baked

Well it worked better and much faster than I imagined - all condensation gone in 9 hours : pics & details here :

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Reply to
Mike Harrison

hours :

We should have awards for d-i-y ingenuity ! Well done.

Reply to
John Laird

hours :

Who'd have believed it? Cool :-)

Reply to
Rob Morley

freshly-baked

hours :

seals, but hopefully this will now change.

NT

Reply to
bigcat

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