Cleaning Double Glazed Windows

We moved into a house in Romsey, Vic that was built by an American couple. They put in double glazed windows in the ground floor. The glazing appears to be two panes of glass that are touching (no gap). On the southside of the house these windows have gotten very dirty between the panes. They need to be cleaned and the only way I can think of doing it is to chip out the putty, remove the panes, clean them, put them back and re-putty.

Firstly, I thought that double glazed windows had a gap between them and this is why they insulated better. If not why not just use thicker glass? Originally being from Perth the concept of double glazing is unheard of, so I know Jack Sh*t (Bob Sh*t's brother) about them.

Secondly, is there an easier way to clean them? There are 12 panes, so doing the above will be a pain.


Grunt

Double glazing is totally useless without a mimimum of 12mm up to 32mm gap.

Sometimes when you look at double glazing it is very hard to tell if there is a gap or not.

It is usual to have it completely sealed so as dirt andust cannot enter between the glazing.

Barry, that depends on whether the double glazing is for heat or noise control.
For noise control it is neccessary to have two different thickness panes so the inner pane does not act as a passive transducer, space is not so important.
Sorry cannot help on the dismantling but it sounds like there is no short cut.
Also be aware that some double glazing has an inert gas in the cavity to improve effiency, I don't know how they are recharged but I think the frames would have to be metal for this.

hey neighbour! (Kilmore-ite here)

It sounds as if your double glazing is a home done job - professionially double glazed windows are made in cleanroom conditions and filled with halon or Sulphur Hexafluoride, then sealed with a silicon based gasket. As you can imagine, nothing gets in or out.

Double glazing is used for energy efficiency or noise, or both..... often, people self-dbl glaze for noise though in Romsey I am not sure why that would be an issue - cold and heat on the other hand makes sense, and any "captive air" basically achieves some insulative properties though if the seal isn't adequate, probably won't achieve much.

It is possible the dust etc. was already in there when they were dbl glazed. Anyway, this is my long-winded way of saying I doubt there's an easy way to clean them other then removing the glass and going for it ...... definitely not a job for shakey hands! I am imagining large panes/glaziers gloves/large flat tables and rugs for the panes while cleaning..... and NO young kids around to "help daddy" with what he is doing today.

Sing out if you'd like a visit and second opinion - happy to help, if I can

BTW I lived in a house in West Perth that had dbl glazed windows :)

success!

Looks they did the double glazing just to make life my difficult. When the house was built the only noise around here would have been the mooing of the cows.

The panes of glass are only 300mm x 400mm or there abouts. Just lots of them.

Killmore Steve,

Don't think I need a second opinion, but if you're in the neighbourhood, stop by and I'll give you a beer or a cuppa.

Grunt

you could save half your effort by taking one of the panes out, and then not putting it back

if you can see no reason for having it double-glazed (either heat or noise) then why bother