Metal vs. Polyurethane spacers

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pvwmillie
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Joined: Wed Mar 29, 2006 11:21 pm
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Metal vs. Polyurethane spacers

#1 Post by pvwmillie »

Hi folks,
I was talking to a windows salesman who was telling me that one of the main things hat could cause windows to have problems is metal spacers. Do you agree? Is it important to get a window with "super spacers," which I understand are polyurethane (or something similar)?
Thanks!

HipKat
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#2 Post by HipKat »

Would you use metal or a synthetic foam to insulate your house??

XSleeper
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#3 Post by XSleeper »

"could cause the window to have problems" is kind of ambiguous. It leaves you wondering "what kind of problems?" Are they draftier? More prone to seal failure or breakage? What then?

More correctly, metal spacers are less efficient. Fill 2 glasses with ice water. One glass is metal, one glass is plastic (for example purposes). Which feels colder? The same thing would be true of insulating glass units that have any type of metal spacer contacting the 2 panes of glass. The metal will conduct the cold from one side to the other. Is that what you want?

There are several kinds of non-metallic spacers. Superspacer is just one of them.

pvwmillie
Posts: 16
Joined: Wed Mar 29, 2006 11:21 pm
Location: San Francisco Peninsula

Spacers and seal failure

#4 Post by pvwmillie »

I meant seal failure. Where we live, the climate is pretty mild, so insulation isn't a big issue. So then the question becomes, are seals more likely to fail with certain types of spacers?

ANOTHER WINDOW GUY
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#5 Post by ANOTHER WINDOW GUY »

The comparisons stated prior to this one are missleading. Cardinal Glass the largest mfrg of insulated glass in the world uses a stainless steel spacer called xledge and has proprietory sealants making their system among the best in the world. Others ranking with them would be TPS and Super Spacer. Both TPS and SS are non metal systems. SS has the warmest edge and TPS claims to have the best gas retention. I would have any of those three and feel very satisfied in my home.

ANOTHER WINDOW GUY
Posts: 243
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#6 Post by ANOTHER WINDOW GUY »

I made a mistake in my post in that the largest mfrg of insulated glass in the world is someone from China, Cardinal is second.

pvwmillie
Posts: 16
Joined: Wed Mar 29, 2006 11:21 pm
Location: San Francisco Peninsula

#7 Post by pvwmillie »

But is it true that seals are more likely to fail with metal spacers than spacers made of other materials? I'm in California, the insulation issue isn't of great importance to me; having seals that won't fail and cause condensation between the windows is what is really important to me.
Thanks!

ANOTHER WINDOW GUY
Posts: 243
Joined: Fri Feb 03, 2006 3:28 pm
Location: WISCONSIN

#8 Post by ANOTHER WINDOW GUY »

Your salesman was blowing smoke. In the past it was the sealants that failed not the spacer bar. I recently toured two Cardinal plants and was very impressed and got to spend some time with an engineer and pretty much everything he said was over my head, however Pella Andersen and Marvin stake their reputation on Cardinal because all three have their entire glass packs made at Cardinal.
We could easily start another spacer war over things he told me, but in brief without getting out the musket's Cardinal does some impressive things making them one of the best spacers on the market.
Now that's coming from a guy who still believes Super Spacer is #1. Now I'm not into rocket science and I'm not a chemist but from a lot of reading that I've done I'm very impressed with the TPS system used by Schuco and a few others and have always been impresed with Super Spacer. I also believe intercept does a decent job but does not rank with the other three.
I think more importantly is the warranty the window mfrg provides on these various spacers especially with triple units, because down the road this could get expensive for the consumer. A good vinyl window well last the average homeowner their lifetime in their home but well the glass. So if it's backed by s strong warranty by a strong co the monkey's on their back and Mr & Mrs homeowner have no window worries.

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