Can i get the mist out from between the panes of glass?

[fitzykev]

Am i able to get the mist out from between the panes of glass? In the photo you can see a small piece of glass in the corner has been removed so i am guessing someone has dried it out somehow before.

 

[Fred Blogs]

I wonder how they managed to remove that piece of glass without the whole pane crazing over. Anyway the reason it is misting up is because the seal has been broken. You MIGHT be able to dry it out with a hairdrier blowing into the hole but really the only permanent cure is to replace the whole window double glazed pane.

 

[fitzykev]

Thats what i thought. Yes i was thinking a hair dryer. I was just wondering if there was something smaller i could use to push into the small hole?

 

[mrrusty]

DGU are not expensive provided they are not massive, and bodge solutions in my experience don't work. Just get a new one. It's a uPVC window so fairly straightforward to swap out.

 

[opps]

The glass should be tempered (read: heat treated). If something were to hit the corner of the glass, the whole lot should shatter (as per @Fred Blogs 's post).

It might be the case that your window is so old that they didn't use the legally requisite tempered glass.

Ultimately, the seal is broken, I don't see how you will make it airtight.

I have a mate who tried to take apart his sealed units, he wanted to sell the property. They failed pretty quickly, but he had sold the property before they failed.

As @mrrusty said, the cost of a new sealed unit is not, necessarily, "expensive"

 

[JohnD]

Am i able to get the mist out from between the panes of glass? In the photo you can see a small piece of glass in the corner has been removed so i am guessing someone has dried it out somehow before.

If you ever want to ventilate glazing to dry out the mist, you have to ventilate it to the outside. As the temperature changes, it will blow out air and suck in through the hole, and you only want to suck in outside air, because it contains less water vapour than indoor air, because indoor air is generally warmer, and exposed to more boiling kettles and moist breath than outdoor air.

But it is not worth doing with sealed units. Just get a new one.

 

[endecotp]

In the photo you can see a small piece of glass in the corner has been removed so i am guessing someone has dried it out somehow before.

It’s also possible that the corner got broken first, and as a result the window has misted.

You won’t be able to fix it. Units aren’t normally filled with air, but something more exotic.

If you are going to try, you need dry air, not warm air. Do it on a cold but dry day.

 

[ronniecabers]

The glass should be tempered (read: heat treated). If something were to hit the corner of the glass, the whole lot should shatter (as per @Fred Blogs 's post).

Why does it need to to be Tempered ?
I see no indication anywhere that it is required to be toughened glass

It won't ' craze ' as it clearly isn't toughened glass. That unit will potentially be broken down due to the cracked corner but more than likely age looking at the frame ( they only have an average lifespan of 10-15 years ... note i did say average as some can last much longer )

No real way of stopping the misting now, yes there are companies who claim they can drill into it and put a special defogging coating on it ... but by definetion it is no longer a sealed unit!

Best way , as recommended by many ... new unit , and unless the glass is below 800mm from the finished floor ( including carpets etc and built in window seats ) on either side , or next to a door ... or deemed a critical area ... such as next to a bath/shower or stairs ..then it doesn't legally need to be toughened ( tempered ).

Depending on its age it would have had Argon Gas in it ... usually after 2002, before that it would just be air

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

Am i able to get the mist out from between the panes of glass?

A USB fan, or hair drier, blown at the hole, best done on a dry day, and if possible with the sun shining on the window. Best if you can get a through-flow of air, in and out, somehow, maybe with a bit of pipe, or a bit of card. Once the mist is cleared, seal the corner up with something like Milliput, or silicon. It's not a permanent fix, but will tide you over for a while.

 

[ronniecabers]

A USB fan, or hair drier, blown at the hole, best done on a dry day, and if possible with the sun shining on the window. Best if you can get a through-flow of air, in and out, somehow, maybe with a bit of pipe, or a bit of card. Once the mist is cleared, seal the corner up with something like Milliput, or silicon. It's not a permanent fix, but will tide you over for a while.

Will all depend if the dessicant in the spacer bar has 'died ' ... which is usually the reason the units mist...yes it might buy you a week or so but wouldn't expect much more

 

[JohnD]

If it is ventilated to the outside, with a single tiny hole, it will clear itself and will not mist again.

 

[ronniecabers]

But won't be a sealed unit and have any thermal properties. There has always been this argument regarding this. Once there are holes allowing circulation of air , then the unit is no longer sealed and it's thermal properties are not much better than single glazing

 

[freddiemercurystwin]

Nobody is doubting that but this is a fudge if the budget is too tight to mention or one is moving house for example.

 

[opps]

Why does it need to to be Tempered ?
I see no indication anywhere that it is required to be toughened glass

I could well be wrong, but from the reflection of the OP, it looks like he is standing in the garden and that the unit is possibly lower than 800mm (assuming that the garden is lower than the inside floor of the house).

Perhaps the OP can confirm?

 

[JohnD]

it's thermal properties are not much better than single glazing

I think they are. I have been in places with secondary glazing, and a couple of times I fitted an additional pane to a wooden window frame, with a ventilation pinhole to the exterior, and it stopped condensensation and reduced heat loss.