How To Fix Rear Window Defroster Wire

Minivans are sooo handy. Y'all tin can cram virtually of the Free World in the back. Like, for case, that viii-ft. aluminum ladder yous just bought. You didn't even accept to tie the dorsum door shut--there was just enough room to shut the hatch with the ladder resting on meridian of a pile of stuff. And it rode across town without incident. Except that information technology shifted astern a couple of inches, into the window and the electrical spade lug that carries current to the defroster grid, neatly popping it free of the drinking glass. To add together to the injury, the grid is scratched in 3 places, clear down to the bare glass, causing an open up circuit that will leave a 6-in.-wide swath of frost across the window come wintertime, correct at eyeball level.

These electrically conductive, heated grids on the rear window are literally painted onto the glass. They're reasonably tough, but it's possible to damage them by letting cargo rub against the drinking glass, or by scraping off a window sticker or the tinting motion-picture show. Even a credit card tin harm the filigree, and so limit anything that touches the glass to a clean rag and some window cleaner.

Bad news: A new rear window tin be more than $400, including installation. Good news: Y'all can fix information technology yourself for less than 10 bucks. Actually. Start by going to the auto parts store and picking up a rear-window defroster-grid repair kit and/or a defroster tab repair kit, depending on the harm yous need to set.

Window Prep

Begin the repair process by using your soft fabric and window cleaner to thoroughly remove all clay, dust, dog drool, ice foam smears and greasy handprints from the rear window. Clean it inside and out considering you need to be able to come across through the glass to discern the breaches in the grid. More im-portant, yous need to give the conductive pigment or adhesive a clean surface to stick to. Where'southward That Scratch?

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Nosotros removed this Escort tailgate from the machine to make the photography easier. You can pinpoint hard-to-see scratches in the grid past chasing the voltage drop with a multimeter.

You'd think it would exist piece of cake to discover a scratch deep enough to interrupt the menstruum of electric current through the filigree, just experience says otherwise. So, elevate out your trusty voltmeter. Really, even a 12-volt exam calorie-free will work. Turn on the defroster filigree. Measuring from 1 side of the filigree to some other, you should see bombardment (system) voltage a little over 12 volts. You marked which line or lines in the grid didn't work on that last cold or rainy morn, right?

Put the probes of the meter on the damaged grid line at both ends, right where the grid connects with the wide bus bars. Move ane probe--information technology doesn't matter which--to the center of the line. If yous now read half dozen volts, the scratch is not in between the ii probes. If you read the aforementioned system voltage, 12 volts or so, the break is in between the former probe location and the new 1. Only motion the probes until you straddle the location that has full system voltage spanning it. Now it's time to plough off the defroster grid and the ignition switch--defroster grids are loftier-current items. Leaving the grid powered upward for more than a few minutes will drain the battery.

If you have a very sensitive ohmmeter, you can find scratches this way by measuring the resistance along the filigree, without powering upwards the system. I've done this on windows that were off the vehicle, like when I checked a grid on a junkyard liftgate of questionable provenance before I lugged it home.

Keep Inside the Lines

Okay, got all the breaks in the grid lines identified? Use a grease pencil on the outside of the glass to mark them. Now clean the area you need to patch with lacquer thinner, mineral spirits, rubbing alcohol or cheap vodka to remove any last oily fingerprints or rest. The kit we bought had a pare-and-stick mask to be applied to the glass. For a neater chore, but use some masking record and make the repair but as broad as the grid. Don't touch on the surface or you'll go out fingerprints. Shake the small vial of conductive paint thoroughly, and simply brush the paint over the scratch. Wait a minute and add a 2d coat. Wait a minute longer, and remove the masking. You can use the defroster within 15 minutes or and so.

Tab A Into Slot B

The procedure for repairing broken-off electrical connectors is almost as straightforward. Similarly, make clean the expanse with lacquer thinner or alcohol to remove any oily residue. Nosotros took a small file to remove a couple of burrs, and then the tab would lay flat on the glass. Our kit came with a vial of accelerator to complement a modest pouch of conductive agglutinative. Snap the glass vial of accelerator to release it into the applicator swab, and wet the surface of the glass and the back of the tab. Let it to dry for five minutes. Knead the adhesive pouch for a minute or and then, and snip off a corner. Put a couple of drops on the tab, and lightly printing it to the glass for 60 seconds. Don't glue your fingers to the tab or the glass--and don't ask how we know this is a bad idea.

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Permit this adhesive to cure at room temperature for 24 hours before trying to reattach the wiring harness or using the defroster.

Source: https://www.popularmechanics.com/cars/how-to/a2073/4221212/

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