I need to repair one line break (2mm) in my rear window defroster. I don't wish to spend $10 on a repair kit. Is there a way to do this on the cheap with a little creativity, perhaps? Just wondering.
Thanks!
Find someone else that needs a repair and split the cost of a kit.
I'd have thought $10 was cheap compared to replacing the glass.
Find ten people that need the repair and split the costs.
Or , if you are that cheap, buy a kit and sell ten shares for $2 each. You will make a profit, and still have your repair !!!
$10 is cheap! If you think it is not, then don't fix it, the electricty it will use will cost you gas and if you think a $10 repair is too much, you can't aford the extra gas.
And maybe the start of an empire.
Actually, I'm sure you can't fix 10 with one kit. You can however glue 2 rear view mirrors with one capsule of glue. However a little farther down the aisle, they sell three capsules of the same glue, and they say it works on glass, for the same price. They just don't say it works on rear-view mirrors, but it does.
I doubt it, but I"ve never looked closely at the kit. CAn you see what is inside without opening it?
You guys are the best. LMAO! }:O)
I'll take that as a 'no', then.
Happy new year, everyone.
The only way is to use conductive paint. Soldering anything into the gap is out of the question, as it will destroy the contact points.
If you expect to be doing DIY stuff for years to come, then spring around $25 for some conductive epoxy, like this stuff:
Ive got two tiny tubes of the stuff I bought back in the '80s that still works fine when I thaw them out in my trouser pocket for a half hour before use. A few of the "non-solderable" things I can remember fixing with the stuff are:
A field winding termination on the shaded pole fan motor in our last microwave. It was wound with aluminum wire, not copper, and the start end of the winding had cracked off its crimped termination, leaving only about 3/8" of wire exposed. A blob of conductive epoxy kept that motor running fine 'till the microwave's maggie finally went to heaven.
Fixing a "loose disconnection" between cells on a small solar panel battery recharger used on camping trips.
Attaching leads to small NiCad battery cells when I didn't have any tabbed cells handy.
And, just last week, repairing a broken joint between an armature winding lead and a commutator bar in a small power tool's motor. I beefed that one up by winding a few turns of thin string soaked with non-conductive epoxy around the armature to cover that connection, and all the similar connections around that armature as well.
Happy New Year,
Jeff
The last one I bought (years ago) had a small cardboard aperture to help make the lines straight, and a tiny bottle of paint with copper filings in it. It didn't work worth a damn; after it dried a few days and I turned on the defroster, the repaired areas smoked and the repaired lines were still not functioning.
(snip)
Ya beat me to it, Jeff. But if he isn't into electronics, he can just buy the 10 buck window kit, and make sure to seal the little bottle carefully, and put all the stuff in a rolled-to-remove-air ziploc bag in the freezer, for the next time he scratches the heat stripes. That is where I keep my superglue, and it lasts for years. Applied carefully, those kits work well- my van has a repaired stripe that has worked for six years now, and I haul a lot of crap in that thing.
aem sends...
Sounds like you didn't scuff/clean the original lines well enough to get a good contact, or maybe didn't overlap it enough, and ended up making a resistor. Last kit I used went on like you described, but it worked fine. Glass has to be super-clean- no windex, smoke, rain-x, whatever residue can be there. I used contact cleaner, and didn't have any problems at all.
aem sends...
Sounds exciting!
I had also heard that the kit works. So far, in my '95 Lebaron, all the lines work.
They say iirc not to melt snow with the heater. Has anyone broken the window that way? I've used it for snow with no problems so far.
What problems might there be?
Actually I know it works on rear view mirrors, because I bought the cheaper stuff and my mirror was still there 4 years later when I got rid of the car. The first time I did it, it fell off however. Got to master technique.
Why would they say that. Here in Canada we all use it to melt snow, solid ice from freezing rain, fog and condensation either inside or outside. Got to do it if you want to drive anywhere without a long wait.
I thought they said it. Maybe they don't. At the very least, I don't remember exactly what they say!
Fog and condensation, of course. OK, the reason they would say it is that all the heat comes from the lines, and if there is enough ice on the window, it might happen that the glass would get warm right by the wire, and remain freezing cold halfway between the lines. And then break, like one can break a glass by pouring hot water in a very cold glass.
Well I drive forward most of the time, so if there is snow on the window, I go anyhow. :) I remember when there were no side-view mirrors except on trucks.
>
I thought $10 was on the cheap? Sorry, no help.
tom @
I'm guessing:
Perhaps some pla> I need to repair one line break (2mm) in my rear window defroster. I don't
Actually it doesn't work that way. Melting ice on the window causes some of the ice to melt over the line but the melted water runs down to the areas between the lines helping to melt the ice there. It never gets hot because the cold water and ice absorb the heat as it melts.
And then
Yes, my wife tried to speed up the melting of ice on her windshield once, and only once using hot water.
It is not good to drive with the rear window obscured, also that is why we now have heated side-view mirrors that work the same as rear view windows.
((snipped__
Then you shouldn't say that they said it. Never saw that written on any car that I have that has a rear window defroster.
It doesn't break the glass. They tell you to remove excess snow because it takes a long to melt it. BTW driving around with the windows blocked by frost or snow is not only stupid, it is dangerous and illegal in many states.
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