How serious is this? Must I replace the slider? It is only in one small area of the slider. Thanks for any help!:mask:

 

If you don't mind looking through a foggy IGU, then it's not serious. If you want it to be clear again 100% of the time, replace the IGU.

 

Mine started as just a small area of condensation but within a year the entire door was fogged enough that I ended up replacing the whole slider with a new one.

 

This is an indication that you've lost the seal between the panes and thus the insulating value as well. We replace the glass whenever this happens, lot cheaper than replacing the whole window.

 

I really appreciate your help!

 

My door was condensating a little, and then progressed to the whole door. I replaced it with an even better one, for less than it would have cost to fix.

 

I replaced one insulating glass unit (IGU) on mine for about $250 installed in about 20 minutes since it was a semi-standard size (20 years old). Much cheaper than replacing my non-standard (today) slider that was $1300 at HD without installation.

Some of the older sliders were the old full size - bigger, heavier and with reasonably good mechanics. Costly to replace because of the framing and exterior finishing.

If you are in a townhouse, push the association to replace all the sliders with new sliders at the same time with the same size as original - then you do not run into the premium for special sizes because of the volume (no longer special) and the cheaper installation.

Dick

 

www.Igotbannedforadvertising.com

 

I'm far from a window expert, but it appears that all this does is install a check valve in the IGU between the panes. It does nothing to prevent additional moist air from getting between the panes, it merely provides a means for some of it to escape. I wonder what happens during a week of cloudy days?

IMO replace the IGU or the entire door unit.

 

Gosh darn it! I missed the fog-b-gone ad...I like reading what they have to say, it makes me laugh.

As a general rule, when condensation forms inside of an IGU it means that there is a rupture in the seal and that air and moisture has penetrated the space. This is true in the vast majority of cases.

The fog-b-gone folks (and others) claim that they can install a one-way valve in the IGU that will allow moisture to escape and dry out the interior of the space – thus eliminating moisture-caused condensation between the lites.

Can you spell “gimmick”?

Actually, their system will give the appearance of having eliminated the problem - in the right environmental conditions. But then drilling a small hole in the glass – without their cool one-way valve – can give the same results without the expense of the fog-b-gone visit….again, in the right environmental conditions (and by the way, I am definitely NOT recommending drilling a small hole in your IGU in order to “fix” it…that was for example only).

Ultimately, a blown seal is an aesthetic issue. An IGU with a seal rupture will have virtually the same energy performance as a sealed unit…assuming that the original window did not have a LowE coating or an argon gas fill. In the case of LowE or argon then the blown seal has or will affect overall performance. But in the case of a simple 2-pane, clear glass, IGU, the blown seal is not primarily a performance issue.

A blown IGU seal allows air and moisture to penetrate the interior of the IGU. This is generally a very slow process. The fog-b-gone system results in a much faster air exchange rate within the IGU space. This rapid air exchange allows the air/moisture level in the interior of the IGU to more closely match the air/moisture level to the exterior. Physics 101 taught us that warm goes to cold and moisture goes to dry…the fog-b-gone system helps the interior of the IGU stay true to that idea (the fog-b-gone website has all kinds of cool terms to describe what is happening when their system eliminates interior IGU condensation – I think they invented most of the terms themselves – but they are still cool terms!)…it helps the interior moisture level of the IGU to remain above the dew point thus preventing the formation of condensation on the glass. Sounds like a good idea, but like placing a band-aid on a bleeding artery it is a cosmetic fix and it doesn’t address the problem.

If the original IGU had argon fill, the gas is gone. If the original window has a LowE coating, then that coating is going to corrode – fog-b-gone will do nothing to prevent that. The original seal is still blown, fog-b-gone doesn’t address that issue in any way.

And finally, fog-b-gone isn’t cheap. The fog-b-gone folks love to tell potential customers that their process is cheaper than replacement…well, I personally know of a number of cases where the fog-b-gone fix cost more money than a new IGU would have cost…

I also know of a case where a fog-b-gone service rep drilled into a tempered patio door…guess what happened next?

 

Oberon - I had never heard of FBG so I visited the site (before the post was canned) out of curiosity. I too got a laugh out of it. The only bad thing is that there are probably lots of people that fall for that sort of gimmicky stuff.

BTW - I wonder if the FBG poster will return to defend his product - anyone wanna' give odds?

 

I think he was banned...which is unfortunate because I suspect I would enjoy discussing really specific technical details with him!

BTW, the tempered door I mentioned in the previous post...I didn't mention that the fbg rep told the homeowner that the reason that their glass exploded (while he was drilling thru it) was because the glass was flawed. Apparently, he needed a bit more background on the characterisitcs of tempered glass?

 

okay, back to the issue at hand.

I'm watching this post because I too have some fogging issues. My double pane glass windows are probably circa 1985. Ever hear of KrestMark windows?

I dont know anything about glass so edumicate me? This window is on the sunny side of my house and has an aluminum frame. its in Arkansas. gets really warm and the windows get hot in the summer heating the room up a lot.

Whats the best insulating glass to put in there? If it works well, money will be spent to fix them (cause it gets so warm in those rooms)

 

Since you mention it really gets warm in the room, you might want to consider tinted (bronze) glass, which will reduce the amount of light (and heat) passing through the glass. If tinted glass is not desirable, you could get Low E2 glass, which has coatings that help to reflect heat, while still allowing a large percentage of visible light transmittance. Another option that is not widely available is Heat Mirror, which is a thin plastic film that goes between your two panes of glass which also has Low E properties.

It's likely that you can just replace the glass in your windows and do not need to replace the entire window, unless that is what you want to do.