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Rear Defroster Broken Solder Joint Repair

Lorah740

New Member
Joined
Jul 7, 2016
Messages
5
Location
Bethlehem, PA
Since the rear glass and the frame around it expand and contract at different rates and eventually cause the frame to crack and break, would this repair work? Could I cut out the flat piece of copper and solder in a flexible and braided  piece of wire so the connection has a little flexibility? I would still have to figure out how to repair and fill the missing piece of frame. I'm thinking of piecing in a thin piece of aluminum and epoxying it to the frame and filling the void with some black silicone. Again, it would let the glass and plastic move at different rates without cracking.
 
do a search on "cracked rear frame" or the like, there have been several threads on the problem, I used JB Weld on mine, it lasted quite some time.  As far as the solder joint, it sounds feasible, give it a try
BTW  welcome to the club and enjoy the wealth of information you will find here.


Didit
 
What did you think of the replacement glass you got from Ebay? I've seen that one too but it seems too cheap. Especially when a new on from the dealer is $800!
 
Lorah740 said:
What did you think of the replacement glass you got from Ebay? I've seen that one too but it seems too cheap. Especially when a new on from the dealer is $800!

Perfect fit, no blemishes or imperfections in glass. 100% match. Can't tell the difference except the new one is tinted whereas my original was un-tinted.
 
I think Safelight sells new rear glass too.
 
This is best done with a hot air re-work station. Not a soldering iron. As a couple already mentioned, really easy to break the glass with prolonged high heat against it (soldering iron). With the re-work station, it's like a heat gun that has adjustable sized tips to spread the heat but still focus it to an area vs a spot. I did this on my drivers side one and worked like a charm. Still have to be very careful because it can (and will) break the glass too if you don't move it around enough

My problem is on the passenger side all the solder pulled off the glass, so my method doesn't work. Going to try JB weld on that one now  (y)
 
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