Rear hatch defroster tab separation repair

The contact tab on one side of the rear hatch window on my 2000 Yukon XL came off last winter at 28,000 miles. (More GMC quality construction at work.) The tab took a little of the conducting substrate with it from the glass.

I seem to have three options:

-replace the entire rear glass for $700 plus labor (you can imagine what I had to say about GM when I got that price) or try to find a good used rear window for half that

-have a glass shop try to solder the tab back on (I understand that this risks shattering the glass if it is over-heated)

-use a conductive epoxy to put the tab back on

My question is, has anyone successfully tried the second and third options and has anyone tried them without success?

- GRL

Reply to
GRL
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Some conductive epoxies are very good. But they probably will not handle the current, ( Its around 30amps for the rear defroster)

You can try adhesive copper foil, it will make an electrical bond, plus give you the needed surface area. You can solder to the foil then place the foil onto your defrost grid.

The best solution if replacement. Get a quote from safelight or some other glass place. Qoute on OEM and aftermarket windows (OEM perfered).

Cheers

Reply to
Martin Riddle

The conductive epoxies I've seen are sold for this purpose. The current should not be a problem as long as the epoxy resistance is low. After all, power dissipation is i-squared R.Low resistance means little heat to damage the epoxy.

Where would one get this adhesive copper film? If the adhesive is not conductive, then it would still not work, right? So is it really any better than conductive epoxy?

- GRL

Reply to
GRL

GRL wrote: "The contact tab on one side of the rear hatch window on my 2000 Yukon XL came off last winter at 28,000 miles. (More GMC quality construction at work.) The tab took a little of the conducting substrate with it from the glass. I seem to have three options:

-replace the entire rear glass for $700 plus labor (you can imagine what I had to say about GM when I got that price) or try to find a good used rear window for half that

-have a glass shop try to solder the tab back on (I understand that this risks shattering the glass if it is over-heated)

-use a conductive epoxy to put the tab back on My question is, has anyone successfully tried the second and third options and has anyone tried them without success?"

Try looking in google:

Here is two how to articles:

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Here is a link to a kit:

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Sarge

Reply to
Sarge

I've soldered a couple of these back on with no problem. First you need to clean the area on the glass real good. Then lightly tin it I use a tinning paste for that so it tins fast and lessens the heat applied to the glass. Then I clean up the tab and tin it. Then I put enough solder on it to flow out when it is heated again. Then hold the tab on the glass and heat it up till the solder flows and bonds. Let it cool and reinstall the wire.

Reply to
Steve W.

I have done both many times with good results. A product that generally works pretty well is something called "solder it" silver bearing solder paste. It is a low melting point eutectic solder - melts at 430F. The tube I have is from Unival Corp, Pleasantville New York.

Reply to
nospam.clare.nce

Sorry didn't read all the posts so this may have been suggested. I know at Canadian Tire stores in Canada they sell a defroster repair kit. Looks like liquid copper to me. Possibly just use some adhesive (like they use for rear view mirrors) and use the copper liquid to make a good connection. Robert

Reply to
Robert

I fixed one on my T-Bird years ago. I just bought the epoxy kit at AutoZone and followed directions... It lasted 10 years, last I knew...

PoD

Reply to
Paul of Dayon

odd, when I asked the people at autozone about a product for that purpose (same thing on my tbird), they said all they had was the kits to fill in the "wires"..nothing to adhere the tabs.. do you remember the name of the product?

Reply to
Dark1

It's been years ago - I found it in the glue aisle. It may have been someplace other than AZ but I usually go there first. My next stop is NAPA, if they don't have it it's not made. The shop manual listed a factory kit but I know I didn't go to the dealer for it. I expect it was made by Loctite or someone similar.

PoD

Reply to
Paul of Dayon

I just bought some at Autozone to fix a ReplayTV remote. It's called Permatex Complete Rear Window Defogger Repair Kit. And it does come with adhesive too. I hope this helps.

Bob

Reply to
Bob M

I tried the AutoZone kit (Permatex, I think) and it did not work worth squat. The epoxy never polymerized. I think the hardener was bad. Very disappointing. Maybe it had sat on the store's display too long.

- GRL

Paul of Day> I fixed one on my T-Bird years ago. I just bought the epoxy kit at AutoZone

Reply to
GLitwinski

Local glass shop guy tried soldering the tab on today. He got the tab to stick to the conductor strip, but when he tried to put the wire lead on it pulled the strip off the glass. So he heated and removed the tab.

I called GM customer assistance for help with a replacement window today. I am at under 30,000 miles, so we'll see what they can do.

This is all just such a pain.

- GRL

Reply to
GLitwinski

You don't mean that you solder directly to the glass, right? You mean the conductive grid?

- GRL

Reply to
GLitwinski

Take the truck to an auto glass shop to get it repaired. My wife's car had the same problem and the glass shop "glued" it back together. It's UGLY, but it now works perfectly.

Dave.

Reply to
davidjjsmith

DON'T use the crappy tire product. I did and it was a waste of time and $$$. See my other post for the proper solution. (BTW... the repair was done 2 winters ago and it's still holding fine)

Dave

Reply to
davidjjsmith

It's interesting how quick you are to blame GM build-quality for this problem. These tabs normally come off because the dumb-ass owner or his spouse or kids are careless and break them when putting in cargo!!! You break it - buy a new one cheapskate! If you can't afford to service your vehicle, buy something you can afford to maintain, maybe a Kia or a Hyundai!

Reply to
Grayfox

I blame GM because the reason the tab fell off is that it was poorly attached by GM or whoever they bought the window from. If you look at where the tab is located, you will see that it is near impossible for a person to damage the tab. It is up high and at the extreme outer part of the window well away from potential cargo damage. The only one who has ever driven the truck is me and I never got near the tab with anything...until it fell off.

I will refrain from answering you in kind, since you clearly speak from total ignorance.

-GRL

Reply to
GRL

In 35 years as a mechanic - and that goes back to before the inception of heated rear window glass, I have NEVER seen a tab fail due to poor quality of the glass/grid. I HAVE seen problems with the workmanship of the soldering on of the tab, but in that case, the tab falls off without damaging the substrate. There is only ONE thing that will remove the tab and substrate together, and that is PHYSICAL DAMAGE. That can be caused by cleaning the window - or too much unsupported cable hanging out and SEVERE vibration.

"Don't confuse me with facts, my mind's already made up"

Reply to
nospam.clare.nce

In this case, the tab fell of leaving all but a tiny part of the substrate. Interestingly, there was little sign of solder on the substrate or the tab. Looking at the other tab, still attached, there is a very noticeable bead of solder between the substrate and tab. Not so on the one that fell off.

It fell off in the middle of last winter. The truck had not transported anything larger than bags of groceries all winter and it had worked at the start of winter. It is only driven on city streets in Michigan. (Not California-smooth, but not pot-hole city either.) I have NEVER had a tab come off before this as far back as my hard riding '73 Capri. Noticed it was broken when I heard the flexible wire with tab attached rattling against the rear glass and/or roof pillar.

I think it was just a poor solder joint that eventually weakened and fell off.

Have you ever had luck fixing this with conducting epoxy? I'm tempted to give it a try with the FrostFighter product. Nothing to lose.

- GRL

Reply to
GRL

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