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Argon lighter or heavier then air?
Posted: Sat Feb 17, 2024 12:36 pm
by stefuel
I have a couple of windows that have lost their charge. Trying to decide how to displace the air with the argon
Re: Argon lighter or heavier then air?
Posted: Sat Feb 17, 2024 2:23 pm
by cj737
It’s heavier than air. There might be the evidence of the “charge port” in the glass frame. There should also be a second “exhaust port”. You can rig up a nozzle to introduce the argon, but you’ll need to orient the pane with the exhaust at the top so once the argon fills the cavity, all air is pushed out at the top.
Re: Argon lighter or heavier then air?
Posted: Sat Feb 17, 2024 5:23 pm
by tweake
stefuel wrote: ↑Sat Feb 17, 2024 12:36 pm
I have a couple of windows that have lost their charge. Trying to decide how to displace the air with the argon
probably a bit pointless because the issue is the seal has failed. its going to continue to leak the argon out and pull moist air in.
the other issue here is that the moisture inside the pane is the big problem, not the gas. drying it out would also be an issue.
Re: Argon lighter or heavier then air?
Posted: Sat Feb 17, 2024 9:41 pm
by stefuel
I'm kind of at a loss what happened to the factory charge. Last year, the window over the kitchen sink IMPLODED.
I replaced it scratching my head. Later I noticed while walking past another that the reflection was weird. I went out to my shop and grabbed a machinist straight edge and put it up to the glass. It was sucked in almost 1/16th inch. It was also one of the windows that would fog internally on cold days. I drilled a tiny hole to relieve the suction and it straightened out perfectly. If the argon leaked out, how did it get into and hold a vacuum???
If you heat the glass with a hair dryer, the fog on the glass clears as the humidity goes back into the air. I will do this while trying to displace the air with the argon. then seal up the holes
Re: Argon lighter or heavier then air?
Posted: Sat Feb 17, 2024 9:57 pm
by cj737
The symptoms you describe don’t necessarily mean the window has lost its gas purge. For sake of discussion let’s call it argon, but other gases are also used.
The condensation can simply be caused by poor insulation and the dew point is occurring on the inner layer, nearest the thermocline. Double pane windows aren’t a guarantee of insulation value. The glass itself has a specific value too and it may be low. Plus coatings on modern high end windows also address the condensation/insulation issues.
The “warping” is interesting. Haven’t seen that before. I suspect that is a sun-facing window for the bulk of the day?
Re: Argon lighter or heavier then air?
Posted: Sat Feb 17, 2024 11:54 pm
by tweake
stefuel wrote: ↑Sat Feb 17, 2024 9:41 pm
I'm kind of at a loss what happened to the factory charge. Last year, the window over the kitchen sink IMPLODED.
I replaced it scratching my head. Later I noticed while walking past another that the reflection was weird. I went out to my shop and grabbed a machinist straight edge and put it up to the glass. It was sucked in almost 1/16th inch. It was also one of the windows that would fog internally on cold days. I drilled a tiny hole to relieve the suction and it straightened out perfectly. If the argon leaked out, how did it get into and hold a vacuum???
If you heat the glass with a hair dryer, the fog on the glass clears as the humidity goes back into the air. I will do this while trying to displace the air with the argon. then seal up the holes
if its got condensation on the inside then its lost it purge. they put dry gas in it from factory.
the bend is from heating during the day and pushing gas out, then cooling down over night. not uncommon to have seals act like a one way valve due to the shape. the leak closes up under suction.
its a lot of work removing the pane to regass it and hope you fixed the seal. really it needs the seal replacing. might be cheaper and easier to replace the glass pane.
Re: Argon lighter or heavier then air?
Posted: Sun Feb 18, 2024 12:00 am
by tweake
cj737 wrote: ↑Sat Feb 17, 2024 9:57 pm
The symptoms you describe don’t necessarily mean the window has lost its gas purge. For sake of discussion let’s call it argon, but other gases are also used.
The condensation can simply be caused by poor insulation and the dew point is occurring on the inner layer, nearest the thermocline. Double pane windows aren’t a guarantee of insulation value. The glass itself has a specific value too and it may be low. Plus coatings on modern high end windows also address the condensation/insulation issues.
double pane glass is not high insulation to start with. you really need to go to triple to get anything decent.
plus the condensation would be on the outside surface not inside between the layers.