Frit Detaching From Windscreen: Cut It Away Or Possible To Fix?

BanKam

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After a day or two, the GPS mount along with the camera started to come loose. On removing it with the "string saw" it became clear that the problem is the the Frit has come away from the windscreen in the area I'm using, most likely due to removal of a previously mounted device. I could take to a film supplier but am wondering:
  • Is there a way to reliably get the Frit to bond back to the windscreen? Heat gun, perhaps?
  • Is it feasible to trim out the Frit from just the affected area and stick the mount directly to the glass? I'm confident I could make a decent job of the cutting but worried that the Frit might leave a residue resistant to cleaning.
Any thoughts gratefully received :)
 
Real frit is part of the glass, it is not possible for it to come off.

Maybe if you post a photo we can understand the problem and give some advice...
 
I thought so too. The frit in question is the "third visor" and when I fitted the camera at the weekend, the frit clearly had a significant air bubble but I rolled it out. It's pretty clear that the black beads are not baked on the glass. By the way, this is a 2015 year Honda HR-V and I bought it used last year so don't know if it had a new screen fitted - unlikely from the condition and mileage I'd have thought.

As far as a picture goes, with the GPS mount in place it just looks normal - it's only when the car is moving that it bounces up and down.

Mountpic.png

From close to (but not on video and lit with a torch!) you can see the frit/film pull away from the glass if the mount is wiggled about.
 
Looks like film in the photo too.

Film should be held on very firmly by suction, but if there is a bubble then it must be leaking, so I don't think there is a good answer.

I would cut a hole in the "frit", but if you don't want to leave a hole permanently, how about drawing a box outline around the mount (use tape if you don't want to leave pen marks), remove the mount, put a pin through the centre of the box into the bubble, use some small scissors to cut the diagonals of the box, then peel it open like a flower and stick the mount direct to the glass, then when you remove the mount the petals can fold back onto the glass and it won't look too bad.

Don't scratch the glass with any sharp tools, hardened and laminated glass does not like being scratched.
 
I suspect the "petals" are going to be an issue at the top of the mount in particular as I'll need to keep access to the power socket. I was going to use a new scalpel to cut the area under the mount out but in view of what you said about scratching I think it's going to have to be a visit to the window film shop. I'll let you know how it works out!
 
You will be OK with scissors, if you use a scalpel then you should make sure you only cut part way through the film, you don't want to cut the glass.
 
This look like a after market frit installed possible all the way across the windscreen, something that some do but just with a piece of tint.
Both would be illegal here in Denmark, it will be okay if it is factory, but after market you cant do that.

Same as you can buy a new car that make 120 db of noise from the factory, but putting a new exhaust on your old car it can not be louder than 90 db
 
I suspect the "petals" are going to be an issue at the top of the mount in particular as I'll need to keep access to the power socket.
If you decide to go this route you could do it like pages in a book - 1 cut each horizontally at the top and bottom and then 1 vertically either in the center (for 2 'pages') or one on the right or left.
 
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Could possibly also just cut out a square completely, then store it on a piece of glass. Might be tricky replacing it exactly though. Most factory frits are now inside the windshield which had left me wondering what was going on. TBH I'm surprised Honda would do it this way- very unlike them to have less-than-great designs.

Phil
 
I had no such problems removing my old A119 V2 mount from my 2013 Civic windscreen, certainly no frit.
 
...Most factory frits are now inside the windshield which had left me wondering what was going on. TBH I'm surprised Honda would do it this way- very unlike them to have less-than-great designs.
Both these points lead me to suspect that what we're looking at is an after market add-on.
 
It turned out that the frit was original but that some anti-glare film had been applied on top of it and it was the bond between the film and frit that was failing. I marked the position and removed the mount, made a template the size of the adhesive area and cut around it carefully with a scalpel. The film just dropped off and I've re-stuck the GPS mount with Gorilla Tape (two layers needed as the back of the unit is slightly recessed). I'll leave it for 24 hours before fitting the camera and keeping my fingers crossed...
 
Hope it works OK. Just hope the tape isn't too flexible given the double layer, and introduces vibration.
 
That fix has worked fine so far. No shaking at all but I have to be gentle when removing the camera from the GPS mount.
 
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