The tab that attaches to the window grid for my rear defroster fell off last year. I tried the Permatex repair kit with the supposedly conductive glue last winter. It worked for about a week and then quit again. When I investigated, the tab came off the window from just wiggling the cord. The adhesive was still tacky and had not hardened. I assumed it was just too cold for the adhesive to cure properly, so I waited all summer long before attempting to repair it again (wanted warmer weather for drying but cool enough to get the window to fog for testing). Well, last week I bought another Permatex kit and followed all the instructions word for word. I sanded down the tab completely, I cleaned everything well, I mixed the glue thoroughly. I even re-attached the tab to a different clean spot on the wide grid area rather than re-attach it for a third time at the exact same location on the window grid. It does not work. The fuse looks fine, and there is a higher resistance between the tab and grid on the bad side than on the good. This leads me to believe that the glue is no good again, and there is a poor electrical connection even though it is physically connected well.

What can I do to repair this thing right? When I call repair shops, they all use the same repair kit I bought, or they claim no repair kit works and I need to buy a new rear window with the tabs affixed by the factory. This seems like BS to me as someone somewhere uses a high quality conductive adhesive to attach it in the first place, so it should simply be a matter of obtaining the factory quality adhesive. The only other method is to solder it on, but that looks difficult to do upside down and in a corner, plus I do not have that equipment.

Anyone have any suggestions?

 

I soldered mine back in. It's a little bit of a pain to do upside down, but not bad at all. You can buy everything you need at Home Depot or Lowes for about $20.

 

Any tips on how to do it? What material/wire did you use to melt? Any danger in damaging the grid or glass from the heat?

a)Melt solder onto tab and then quickly stick it on the grid?
b)Melt the solder onto the grid and then stick the tab on?
c)Try and hold everything close together and melt the solder between the tab and the grid?

 

1. Clean the tab, the grid, and the soldering iron (use the widest tip that came with it) with isopropyl alcohol.
2. Melt a little, little bit of solder onto the iron.
3. Put flux (if it doesn't come with the iron, it will be sold right next to it) onto the tab and the grid. It doesn't take much.
4. Hold the tab on the grid like you were waiting for the glue to dry, but don't touch the metal because it will get very hot. I held the wires.
5. Hold the tip of the iron to it until you see the solder melt.
6. Take the tip away and hold the tab on place.
7. In about 1 second, it will harden back up, and you are done.
Hope this helps.