Rear Defroster connection question.

[sp33d1nc0rs1ca]

O.k., so on the Wife's Corsica the connector that the plug plugs onto has broken away from the glass. Solder and all. My question is what is the best way to "reattach" the connector so that the defroster works again? Because for some reason i just don't feel comfortable soldering on glass. Thanks guys.

[Carson21R]

thats pretty much the only way.

[sp33d1nc0rs1ca]

Yeah I figured that. But I've also heard that there is some kind of conductive glue or epoxy???

[Carson21R]

that 'might' work but soldering it back is the best way.

[sp33d1nc0rs1ca]

O.k., well one of my coworkers is excellent with welding and soldering where as I am so-so. i just don't trust myself to do it. lol. thanks Carson.

[beretta]

i have the same problem on my 96, been like that since i bought it. i held the wire on one day and it does work, just never got around to soldering it back on. maybe ill do that tomorrow now that im thinking about it.

Just clean it up good use a fine grit paper and clean it up fairly good wipe it off clean. get some solder paste and slap a bunch on the wire and on the glass, get your soldering iron or gun good and hot heat the solder on the iron then touch on the wire the paste (flux) should do its job and the solder should roll right on the connector.

I used to always try heating the wire and the surface i wanted the solder to go on. but i have learned an easier way, just make sure you got lots of paste on the connector side and the wire, heat the solder on the iron and touch it on the wire the solder should roll right off where you want it to go, you could try putting some solder on the wire first then hold the wire in place and just hit it with the iron.

I hate using soldering guns, the tips always screw up for me, and i only use a iron, let it heat up for 5-10 minutes so its at max temp you want it to be hot as possible to make the job easy

i would throw i piece of cardboard or whatever underneath the working area so you dont burn nothing with solder dropping

[sp33d1nc0rs1ca]

Thanks beretta. I appreciate it. I friggin' hate irons too. I took this coming week off for shits and giggles to use up the rest of my vacation time since it doesn't rollover to next year, so maybe I'll try it sometime this week.

[DTMAce]

One of these days, I have to fix my rear window on the Base. Only 3 or 4 of the lines actually work. lol

Going to have to pull the tint, fix the lines. Ugh.

[sp33d1nc0rs1ca]

ugh Chris that sucks! I hate stripping tint on rear windshields. I do however have a way to do it simply. take a black trash bag and cut it to cover the entire inside of your rear windshield. then soak (and I mean SOAK) your window with windex that HAS ammonia. then apply the bag to the window so it sticks to the window and sqeegee out the excess. best thing to do is let it sit in direct hot sunlight for about 4 hours to bake. then carefully peel and the tint should come off with the bag with not much off a sticky mess. then just wipe down the window with ammonia or adhesive remover as to not damage the defroster lines with a razor blade or similar tool.

[beretta]

I soldered my wire back on in my 96..... if your going to attempt this.. be very very very very very carefull when cleaning the contact side on the window, i used like 2000 grit paper just to scuff the surface so i could get a good solder to it. but it is very very very frigen thin.

I was able to quickly solder to it, i first put a few small dabs on the connector then held it to the window with pliers and simply heated each side of it up until it melted.
It did work but i was afraid my first attempt was not holding well so i removed it and attempted to add more solder the second time only i ended up removing part of the contact area on the window from all the heat and messing around.

I ended up just moving down a little on the surface, there is 1/2 inch area that comes out where the connector goes, the 3rd attempt was just below the original location and once i stuck it i didnt play with it anymore.

So clean the connector with some gritty paper and use very fine paper on the window part, put lots and lots of paste on the area where your going to be soldering, get some on the connector, and just hold it up into place heat it up until the solder melts and hold for a few to 5 seconds till it cools and stays, if you move it to quick and depending on the amount of heat you may pull it back off if the solder hasnt cooled enough. should be fine within 5 seconds or so.

The second attempt i tryed to get a little solder on the window as well but its pretty difficult to solder upwards when the solder rolls to the lowest point on the iron, if you slightly tap it against the window you might get a few splashes up there but its a little tricky lol.

Just some fyi... if you going to try this... do it in the daytime... i tryed to do it at night and was a pain in the %#$ cuz i couldnt see a darn thing.

[DUBS28]

I need to fix the on on the '88 haven't even looked to see if this is the problem or not but if it is then this is a very informitave thread Have had the '91 for over 5 years ad couldn't tell you if it works or not, it never leaves the garage when its cold, lol.

[beretta]

Unfortunately my beretta is all i have on the road right now so sadly its going to get driven in the winter for a little while anyways. the other day i had to go out and was snowing and i couldnt see the car anymore from all the crap stuck on the sides and under it so sad lol.

Mine is working now, but the tint makes the window fog up quicker when its damp or cold and doesnt always clear off, it melts the snow off it pretty good though but most of the time i still have a glaze of fog on the tint itself