You know the kind... Lots of little lines on the glass, with, somewhere on each end of the window, a connection for power.
One of my connectors came off the glass (it was like that when I got the car) so today, I decided I was going to fix it. Obviously, it must be metallic, and it sure looks a lot like it was soldered on. So I broke out the soldering iron, and went to work. No biggie - just a quick dab of solder, and I'm good to go, right?
NOT!
After a MAJOR struggle to get the solder to stick, I finally got the beast re-attached, and was around the corner in the shop getting my "toys" put away, when I heard a sort of dull thump noise, followed by the sounds of many hard, tiny pieces of something falling on/near the car, as well as sounding like some of it/them may have been rattling down the trunk lid. Didn't think it was the pea-=sized hail that was falling, since the car was pulled up under the shed to keep the soggy off as I worked, but couldn't figure out what it could actually be, so I finished getting stuff put away.
When I got done, I went around the corner to pull the car out into its usual parking spot, and found my rear window *GONE* - just a pile of safety-glass crumbles on the back deck, seat, trunk lid, and some on the ground. Awww, hell! Obviously, I got the glass too hot, and as it cooled, it stressed and broke. That thoroughly sucks. But nothing to be done for it now. Fortunately, I've got a replacement rear window from the wreck back in May (Factory original, so unless the body is tweaked, no hassles about putting it in the one that runs), so tomorrow (deluge permitting...) I'm going to take it down to the glass shop and have them put it in.
Meanwhile, the replacement window has the exact same problem: The little connector widget (more or less like a spade connector) is no longer attached to the glass. I'm beginning to wonder if this wasn't a problem for this model ('82 Mazda 626) since I'm two for two with 'em.
So, before I go breaking another window, does anybody know an effective method for reattaching the little connector that DOESN'T include having to heat the darn thing? Is it at all possible, or am I out of luck?
I'm almost inclined to think that a variation on spot-welding was used to attach it in the first place - perhaps the connector was tinned with a thick layer of solder, then "arced" onto the connector pad? Or maybe I'm hopelessly off base? Regardless, I'd REALLY like to have my rear defroster functional again, preferably without having to buy a whole new window to do it. Especially when all that's actually needed is a way to reattach the terminal so the wire has someplace to connect.
First smart-aleck to say "super-glue" gets the wires attached to his 'nads and the juice turned on! :)