Condensation in Insulated Window

[Ron_B]

I've got a problem with condensation within a double-glazed insulated window. Is there any way of fixing?

[ESokoloff]

Sorry, it's a goner

The seal has been compromised.

 

I had one go bad on me that had an aluminum frame.

I disassembled it & had a local glass shop make a replacement pane.

Before reassembling the new one, I applied extra sealant.... just in case.

 

Edit: On second thought, you might be able to wait until you have a dry (ambient air) spell & see if you can get by with just resealing it after the moisture is driven out

On mine, the inner aluminum spacer was perforated & appeared to contain a desiccant.

[LandonBlueRT]

I don't think so. The only solution I have ever found is replacement.

[T__]

I've got a problem with condensation within a double-glazed insulated window. Is there any way of fixing?

 

Ronald, it depends on how much work you want to put into it..

 

Years ago on my first house it had some rather cheap double-glazed insulated windows that would fog up inside (between the panes) especially the bathroom window..

 

 

I decided to make the repairs myself.. To do that I drilled a small hole in the glazing between the inner & outer pane then inserted a basketball inflator doohickey in that hole (it was a tight press fit).. I then hooked my A/C tank of Freon to that basketball inflator & lightly pressurized the cavity between the window panes.. I let that sit overnight to purge most of the air from between the glass panels.. Next day I used my A/C Freon leak detector & sniffed all around the window to find any leaks (found a few).. I marked the leakage points then hooked my A/C vacuum pump to the basketball fitting & pumped the air & moisture out (do this in the sun as a little heat will make the internal moisture boil in a vacuum)..

 

With the vacuum still negative from the vacuum pump I used some tank sealer to seal the pin holes I had marked (no silicone calk available back then)

 

Once I evacuated the space between the window panes again & the sealer had dried I again pulled it to negative pressure (vacuum) then used argon from my neighbors welding tank to fill the space between the panes.. Once full of argon I pulled the basketball inflator out & quickly pushed a plastic pin in the hole with sealer on it..

 

Not sure if the argon stayed between the panes or for how long but the window never fogged up between the panes again..

 

I did the kitchen window & a bedroom window the same way with the same results but never did get around to doing all the windows in that house..

 

Twisty

[tallman]

Please do not post these replies.

My wife reads this forum and you're giving some of us, well, me at least, at bad name.

[Scribner]

not worth the trouble to fix. as most things in our lives are today, toss and get a new one.

[Paul_Burkett]

Ron, if your house is under 10 years old, there should be an "HOW" on it. That sounds like a manufacturers defect, also chech with your association to see if it is covered.

[BMWRich58]

I've got a problem with condensation within a double-glazed insulated window. Is there any way of fixing?

 

Time for new "lights"....

 

Check the dates (found on the inside between the panes).

Many manufacturers warranty or will Pro-Rate towards new one's.

You'll be stuck with labor $$$.

 

I've been doing this for the last 10 years on my home.

Now I'm at the point of complete replacement window/frame.

[Hermes]

Hi Ron, how are you,

 

I had three of them fog up in the last two years, ended up replacing them. Glas is pretty pricy, ouch.

 

Then, last summer I went to a Farmshow here in Ontario and there was a fellow that was in the business of fixing fogged up double or triple glazed windows. Don't know what the process is called, don't know what the costs are, can't give you a name, I am just trying to make you aware of the fact that some entrepeneurs are out there to do that.

 

Stay well,

Jurgen

[steve404]

Occasionally the fix can be put off for a while.

Light bulb heat next to the lite with a vapor escape pin hole at the top of the frame.

[ShovelStrokeEd]

Ron,

Finding and fixing the leak is the first part of the equation. I like the idea of using Freon and a leak detector. The vacuum idea is a good one as well but, at atmospheric pressure and near room temperatures, it will take a long, long time to get the water vapor out of there. Very persistent stuff, that.

 

The trick to preventing condensation is to keep the pressure in the window above atmospheric by at least 10 to 20 torr (mm/Hg). That will keep the dew point within high enough so condensation will not take place. Best to use an inert gas in between. Nitrogen will do just as well as Argon and it's cheaper. Just watch the pressure, in both directions actually. Imploding/exploding window would be no joke.

[steveknapp]

Yee gads, anything is DIY fodder.

 

I can have Karen find you the place that did ours. They did good work, but it was a hundred or two a window.

[DavidEBSmith]

Isn't anybody gonna point out that venting Freon into the atmosphere is bad for the environment? Ken?

[ESokoloff]

Isn't anybody gonna point out that venting Freon into the atmosphere is bad for the environment? Ken?

And also illegal.

A pet peeve of mine is that Freon® is DuPonts name brand of older refrigerants.

Think Kleenex, Crescent, etc.

[Paul_Burkett]

Freon also contains mineral oil or other nasty lubricants that will do bad things to rubber window seals...like melt them. OUCH!

[T__]

Freon also contains mineral oil or other nasty lubricants that will do bad things to rubber window seals...like melt them. OUCH!

 

Paul, where did you get that idea? Not so.. Only new Refrigerant CONTAINING oil will have that in it (unless specified on the container it doesn’t) ..

 

Re-claimed Refrigerant does contain some oil & other contaminants but not new..

 

Twisty

[Ron_B]

Yee gads, anything is DIY fodder.

 

Yeah, I kinda figured there were ways, but I'm leery of trying to install do-hickys and messing around with vacuum and positive pressure. As an Instrument Maker/Machinist, I used to do a fair amount of scientific vacuum work, including UHV. (10 to the minus 9 torr) The things I made/worked on were usually stainless steel, and very seldom glass or ceramic, and certainly not glass with such a large surface area. As Ed pointed out, "imploding/exploding window would be no joke."

 

One thing still stymies me: If the window contains a low vapor-pressure desiccant, (as I understand most do,) why won't the desiccant simply work (albeit slower) even after the leak screwed the window up?

 

I think I'll wait till spring and just get it fixed.

 

 

Thanks all.

[Paul_Burkett]

Twisty, you are right, I looked through the MSDS sheets and found that there isn't any oil in the virgin Freon, only that which is carried through the system. I stand corrected.

[ShovelStrokeEd]

There's an idea, Ron.

Just slap a turbo molecular drag pump on it along with a good fat backing pump and have at it. When the window implodes, you can get a new one.

 

For those of you who have never seen the stuff, 1" thick steel flanges with about 16-1/2" bolts around an 8" diameter flange, solid copper gaskets working with knife edges on the flanges and, if there is a view port, the glass is about 1.5" or so thick, tempered and not much more than 3 or 4" across.

 

None of this has much to do with pressure differential (still only 14.7 PSI at sea level) but more to get stable seals. That said, a typical 30x40 window probably would implode at around 300 or 400 torr absolute, assuming the window would seal against that pressure differential.

[Shaman97]

Isn't anybody gonna point out that venting Freon into the atmosphere is bad for the environment? Ken?

 

...and ~$17,000 fine per incident from the EPA. Reporting party gets a 50% bounty on the fine that is levied.