DIY car rear window heating repair

In detail: do-it-yourself car rear window heating repair from a real master for the site my.housecope.com.

Many drivers are interested in what to do if the heating located on the rear window does not work? This is not just a whim, but a vital necessity, allowing you to always see what is happening from behind.

If, when looking in the rear-view mirror, the driver sees nothing but fog, then the risk of an accident increases many times over. That is why, as soon as you notice that the heating of the rear window electric filaments does not work, you must immediately start fixing it.

This is not a particularly difficult procedure, but in order for everything to go as it should, it is necessary to approach it as responsibly as possible. It is very important to follow the instructions exactly.

Before proceeding to the repair of the heating of the rear window elements, which you will do with your own hands, you need to understand the design of this device. In reality, it does not represent anything complicated.

There are two conductive tires on the sides of the rear window of the vehicle. Heating lines are located between them. Usually a high-resistance material is used to create them. The fact is that for effective operation, each thread must have a resistance in the region of 10 ohms. This is the only way to protect the glass from fogging.

The number of threads in the rear window heating is different for each car. In most cases, it depends on the length of the surface. During repairs, this exclusively affects the difficulty of detecting a break.

To repair the heating of the rear window threads, you will need to study the connection diagram of this device to the automotive electrical network. The main role here is played by the ignition lock. It is through it that the voltage is supplied to the heating system.

Video (click to play).

As soon as you turn on the heater, the current flows to the relay. After that, the contacts are closed, and the leads are connected. As a result, electricity is supplied to the heater without obstacles.

As soon as the current enters the electrical circuit of the glass heater, it begins to feed the filaments, which are connected in parallel to the general system. But that's not all. The fact is that the negative contact of the battery is also connected to the mass of the car. Thanks to this, a constant exchange of current is carried out.

As you already understood from the above material, the heating of each thread of the rear seat works thanks to the ignition key. As soon as it is in the ON position, the entire system is activated.

Many drivers are outraged by such a decision of the designers, but in reality it has its own logic. The fact is that the rear window heater consumes a lot of electricity. Usually this figure ranges from 10 to 25 A.

So that you better understand how much 25 A is - let's make a visual comparison. In order for one car headlight to shine at least 5 A. In fact, one heater is equal to 5 headlights.

To fix something, you first need to diagnose the breakdown. For a number of signs, you can first find out what exactly is the reason for the failure of heating the threads. So an inoperative rear window defogger indicator, when the button is pressed, indicates a faulty fuse.

An illuminated indicator and non-heating heating filaments located on the rear window indicate a malfunction in the relay. In turn, poor contact in the electrical circuit leads to too slow fogging of the glass.

It is with this that you need to start the procedure for restoring the normal operation of heating all the threads of the rear window. First, look at all the lines visually. If nothing is visible, you can use the search techniques that have been developed by other drivers who are facing the same problem:

If at first glance, when examining the rear window, you did not find a break in the heating lines, you should not immediately proceed to more complex methods. To get started, just turn off the heating. In a place where the glass is not heated, a characteristic strip will appear.
Take a voltmeter, activate the rear seat heating. Place one probe on the weight of the machine, wrap the other with foil. At the same time, slowly move along each line until you reach the middle. The standard voltage is 5 V. If it drops below, then you have found the break. A jump to 12V also means a break.
There is another option for using a voltmeter. To do this, connect the plus to the terminal to the corresponding heating contact. The second probe must be moved slowly along the line. Moreover, this must be done on the side where the negative terminal is located. A drop in voltage means that you have found an open circuit.
Ohmmeter. An ordinary pointer device will work best. When you turn on the device, you must select the mega mode. Connect the probes to the heating leads on the rear window. Ordinary cotton wool soaked in distilled water is suitable as a connecting element. Follow the line. The reaction of the arrow will mean that you have found the place of the cliff.

As soon as the breakage point in the heating threads of the glass behind is found, you can proceed to a full-fledged repair.

There are many techniques for repairing threads that are responsible for heating the glass of a car in the back. For example, you can take a regular repair kit for the corresponding part. The advantage of this option is that you do not have to look for additional parts and tools. Everything will be in one package.

Some of the best kits for re-heating damaged rear window heat lines are made by Permatex and Quick Grid. They all have similar components.

The repair kit allows you to restore about 10 centimeters of the damaged thread. Usually there are ready-made lines in the set. All you need to do is install them correctly.

The algorithm itself for repairing the heat lines of the rear window using a repair kit is very simple. You need to replace the damaged thread and apply the compound where the damage was.

At the end of the work, remove the template. The heating must not be turned on for at least a day after you have done everything. Otherwise, all the work will be useless and you will have to redo it again.

The second method of repairing the heating of the rear window heat lines with your own hands is to use a conductive paste. Just apply it to the area where the threads were broken. Wait 24 hours. After that, all functions of the heating lines will be restored.

Of course, the use of a repair kit and thermal paste has its advantages. They are easy to operate, and the result of repairs with these heating filaments made from a special material for the rear window is always high. However, you still need to buy them. And this takes time and money. In some cases, both with the first and with the second, some difficulties are possible.

Read also: DIY nexia tachometer repair

It is not surprising that domestic and foreign motorists have come up with a whole set of various methods that can help in the shortest possible time with the help of the means at hand to restore the broken lines.

In order to bring to life the first popular method of repairing the heating of the rear window threads, you will need paint and shavings. To get the shavings, you need a copper-brass block and a file. The color of the paint doesn't really matter. However, it is preferable to match the threads.

The shavings and paint are mixed one to one. As a result, you should get some kind of dough from these two elements. In order to make a stencil, ordinary scotch tape will work.

After the stencil is applied to the surface, turn on the heating filaments with a resistance of 10 ohms for the rear window. Only then apply the repairing mixture. As soon as the dough hits the damaged area, a specific hissing sound will be heard.

The main plus of the paint and shavings technique when repairing a heated rear window is that you don't have to wait. As soon as you hear an easily recognizable hiss, you can immediately enter the track without fear of fogging up the rear window.

The second popular method of repairing a heating installed on the rear window has some differences from the first. The mixture also uses shavings, but the paint is replaced with glue. BF-2 is ideal. Its restorative qualities will be more than enough to restore damaged threads.

The third popular method of repairing the heating filaments attached to the rear window is conventional soldering. To do this, you need a flux and zinc chloride. Of course, you can't do without solder either. The vein that you will use during your work must be silver plated. Alternatively, copper can be used.

As you can see, traditional methods allow you to restore even the most serious breaks in the heating lines on the rear window of a car with minimal costs. Unfortunately, unlike ready-made pasta, you have to make the composition yourself. And this takes time and effort.

The heating of the high-resistance threads of the rear window can be repaired by hand. You don't even need to buy a repair kit or paste for this. Enough tools at hand in the form of a bar and paint.

There are such malfunctions in the car in which you can drive as before, but they constantly bother you, cause unpleasant feelings. Such malfunctions include the failure of the glass heating circuit at the rear of the car.

Usually, this electrical circuit is always amenable to repair. And there are troubles with these threads for the following reasons:

crack in the window;
failure of contacts;
open circuit;
natural wear and tear of a part of the track on the window;
mechanical scratching of the track.

The most common thread break occurs on the window. Sometimes it can be determined visually, but more often with the help of an instrument. Next, we will figure out how to diagnose, and how to repair the heated rear window.

We will analyze the step-by-step process of repairing the heated rear window when the thread breaks with our own hands. Useful for us:

electrical tester;
conductive adhesive used for glass repair;
tin foil;
Scotch;
thinner, clean cloth.

Read also about the ban on tuning SUVs and replacing the parking brake cable VAZ 2114.

You can buy special glue for repairing heated rear window at a regular auto shop. We start repairing damaged heating threads by turning on this system with a button in the cabin.

First of all, we determine the place of the gap. To do this, turn on the tester in the voltmeter mode and, applying the foil to the thread on the window, check the thread through the foil with a probe, moving from the positive contact. In this case, we apply another probe to the negative contact of the heater.
At the break point, the voltage will jump from zero to several volts.
Next, wipe the gap with a solvent.
We glue the tape on the top and bottom of the thread, leaving a distance for the thickness of the thread.
We apply conductive glue for repairing heating threads with a syringe or brush. It all depends on what is offered in the set with glue. In addition to the empty space in the gap, we coat about another centimeter of each end of the whole thread.
We remove the scotch tape. We wait about 24 hours until the glue is completely dry.
We remove the excess, wipe the place of repair.

This is how the damaged threads of heating the rear window are repaired with their own hands.It is clear that you will have to buy a set with glue beforehand.

Now let's talk about how to repair broken rear window heating contacts. To do this, you must first understand the principle of building this electrical circuit.

It turns on only when the ignition is on, an additional relay is responsible for this. It supplies power to the system button. When the button is on, the lamp lights up in parallel and the switching relay, powered by the fuse, is activated. Then the voltage is supplied to the heating threads.Repair of glass heating contacts consists in restoring their performance. To repair any faulty rear window heating terminal, we need:

multimeter;

screwdriver;

soldering iron, solder, rosin.

All the manipulations described below are available on the Internet as a video with the title: "DIY glass heating repair." We will write further in words. So the actions are like this.

We check all the elements of the circuit to find the location of the malfunction. First, we look at the fuse.
Next, we check the serviceability of the button by measuring the contacts with a multimeter when it is turned on.
We check the relay, when it is triggered, the corresponding contacts should give out a voltage of 12 V.
We measure the voltage of the connector at the rear window.
We check all the wires going from the button and relay to the heating track system, see what the state of the insulation is, if there is a short circuit to the car body.
We restore the faulty place by replacing the terminal, additional insulation or soldering the contact.

This is how the contacts for heating the rear window of the car are repaired. If the open circuit is on the threads, then we find a specific place according to the algorithm already described above with the help of a tester. Further, in the absence of purchased glue, you can fix the thread break like this.

brass or copper bar;
file;
red paint;
Scotch.

Then we do this.

Use a file to prepare brass or copper shavings.
Mix the paint with shavings in a 1/1 ratio.
We turn on the heating.
We glue the adhesive tape on top and bottom of the faulty area, leaving a distance commensurate with the thickness of the thread. We clean this area.
We apply a composition of paint and shavings.
We wait for drying for a few minutes. We remove the scotch tape.

Here is such an interesting technology. There is another option for restoring the lost section of the heating track in the absence of special glue. Let's consider it on the example of a specific car.

To repair the heated glass in the rear of Renault Logan, we need to use the following accessories:

copper sulfate (purchased at a fertilizer store);
battery electrolyte (sold in any auto shop);
a piece of copper bar with a diameter of about 6 mm;
a piece of regular cloth.

This method is called electrolytic. You need to make the following manipulations.

Wrap the end of the bar with a piece of fabric so that the tip hangs down slightly, and, moreover, fix it so that it does not fall off.
You can prepare a solution for work in the following proportion: half a glass of water plus two teaspoons of copper sulfate, literally a hundredth of the electrolyte. Stir everything.
We connect a bar with a rag as an electrode to the positive terminal of the car battery. In this case, the contact of the thread on the glass with a minus of the chain must be serviceable.
The resulting positive electrode is dipped into the solution and driven along the lost area of the heating track. The copper from the solution should cover the entire area.

This method works well for all small scratches. In addition, it is not as difficult to perform as it might seem at first glance.

However, if you still do not want to do anything yourself, it is enough to contact a car service, where the entire electrical circuit will “ring” completely, quickly find the place of the defect and professionally fix it.

And what is the price for glass heating repair is spelled out in the following table.Here it is - with average data for large Russian cities.

Mon 20 Aug 2012

Category: Do it yourself

It began to get colder on the street and in the morning more and more often the first thing to do is to press the rear window heating button. But the HORROR, you turn on the heating and find that not all the threads are heating. What to do? Replacing glass is not a cheap pleasure, it remains to repair on your own. Generally Recommended Repair Methods

heating threads of the rear window, according to those who have tried, leave much to be desired - the ineffectiveness of inexpensive conductive adhesives, and the high price of proprietary mixtures.

And in the vastness of the network I met an interesting repair technology, the reviews of those who tried it were more than enthusiastic:

Description of technology.

Of the reagents, copper sulfate is needed - better known as copper sulfate (used in plant growing and construction), and sulfuric acid - an electrolyte from a battery is quite suitable. From the tool - a piece of copper (preferably copper - not brass.

Several pieces of copper wire folded into a bunch are quite suitable) of a tube or rod with a diameter of 6-10 mm and a strip of fabric 20-30 mm wide and about half a meter long. At the end of the bar, wind a strip of fabric halfway up its width - you should get something like a brush. Above, you need to put a bandage of thread so that the fabric does not unwind.

Electrolyte preparation - not to be confused with akka electrolyte - it is also not difficult. A couple of teaspoons of copper sulfate are poured into half a glass of water, and stirred until dissolved. Not completely dissolved - not scary, do not pay attention. In the resulting solution, you need to add 0.2-0.3% percent of concentrated sulfuric acid or 0.5-1% electrolyte for the battery - this is about half a teaspoon of electrolyte for these half a glass.

Well, the process itself. Both terminals of the glass are connected to the "mass" (if the glass is installed in the car and at least one heating thread is intact on it, nothing needs to be done), and the "plus" of the battery is connected to the tube with a rag.

We moisten the positive electrode in the solution and start actively and continuously rubbing the thread break for 3-5 minutes. A current passes through the solution, which transfers copper ions from the electrode to the heating filament. With a slight damage to the thread, the gap is completely tightened with copper, with large gaps, the copper-plated areas should be irradiated with an unheated soldering iron and a jumper made of a thin wire should be soldered.

There is no need to limit the current as after a few seconds, the anode is passivated and limits the flow
current. It should not be forgotten that the solution contains sulfuric acid - such a concentration is harmless to the skin, but
on clothes in a week - two holes appear (Therefore, I do not advise carrying out the process without removing the glass, although this is quite possible.

A couple more ways ... ...

- turn on the heating on the fogged glass and in the place of the break the glass quickly sweats with a stain, and the whole thread with the break does not sweat.

- to detect a break in the rear window defroster wire, turn on the ignition and turn on the rear window defroster.
- connect one probe of the voltmeter to the mass of the car, and wrap the second probe with foil and move the foil along the heater conductor.
- Connect the voltmeter probe in the center of each wire of the rear window defogger. If the voltmeter shows a voltage of about 5 V, then the heater conductor is working properly. If the voltmeter shows a voltage of 0 V or 12 V, then there is a break in the heater conductor.

- to locate a break in the heater conductor, connect one probe of the voltmeter to the positive terminal of the heater, and move the second probe along the conductor of the heater from the side of the negative terminal of the heater. The point at which the voltage indicated by the voltmeter will drop from a few volts to zero is where the heater conductor breaks.

- ohmmeter, in kilo mode, or better than mego.One probe clings to one terminal of the heater, the second one to the other terminal of the heater. Take a piece of cotton wool soaked in distilled water and lead it along the strings of the heater, follow the kilo readings, the megohmmeter at the break point, the arrow jerks.
- it is better to use an analog ohmmeter (with an arrow).
- works if there is a break in one place ...

Directly repair threads:

In all the methods listed below, you must first clean the conductive strip from varnish (better - with a bent steel wire, a paper clip) until a metallic sheen appears and degrease.
1st method (conductive paste):

- the broken conductor of the rear window defroster can be restored using conductive paste.
- before starting the repair, turn off the heated rear window and allow time for the glass to cool.
- being careful, clean the heater conductor and rinse it with alcohol.
- use adhesive tape to mark the area to be repaired.
- Apply electrically conductive paste approximately 20 mm from each end of the damaged conductor.
- After drying the electrically conductive paste, the rear window defroster can be used for 24 hours.