Rear window heater (de-fog) element

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DRPM635CSi
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Rear window heater (de-fog) element

Post by DRPM635CSi »

I couldn't find any threads specifically about this, but my rear window heater element has many broken bars in it. Not really much of an annoying issue in Australia I'll admit, so one or two broken lines I can live with, but now it's got to the point where I think only 3 or 4 actually work and all the others are broken.

The basics first I guess. Car has green (A/C-fitted) factory coloured glass. Rear window is not cracked or broken or has any other reason to be removed. I have tried the little DIY kits that you can supposedly 'repair' broken heater element lines with using copper-rich paint. Useless. Works for about 5 minutes then breaks again and looks utterly shit.

Simple questions:
1) Are there companies who can professionally reapply a heater element to an existing rear screen?
2) Are brand new rear screens still available for purchase?
3) Will a new rear screen send me broke?
4) Does anyone have any other brilliant suggestions for how to restore a non-functional rear screen heater element?
songzunhuang
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Re: Rear window heater (de-fog) element

Post by songzunhuang »

I'm very interested as well. I got a continuity tester to check my defroster and there were so many broken lines that I gave up. Would be great to fix.
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Pod
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Re: Rear window heater (de-fog) element

Post by Pod »

DRPM635CSi wrote:I couldn't find any threads specifically about this, but my rear window heater element has many broken bars in it. Not really much of an annoying issue in Australia I'll admit, so one or two broken lines I can live with, but now it's got to the point where I think only 3 or 4 actually work and all the others are broken.

The basics first I guess. Car has green (A/C-fitted) factory coloured glass. Rear window is not cracked or broken or has any other reason to be removed. I have tried the little DIY kits that you can supposedly 'repair' broken heater element lines with using copper-rich paint. Useless. Works for about 5 minutes then breaks again and looks utterly shit.

Simple questions:
1) Are there companies who can professionally reapply a heater element to an existing rear screen?
2) Are brand new rear screens still available for purchase?
3) Will a new rear screen send me broke?
4) Does anyone have any other brilliant suggestions for how to restore a non-functional rear screen heater element?
Seems obvious to me that you should be looking for a good second-hand rear 'screen. Seems to be the simplest way to resolve your problem at low cost.
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DRPM635CSi
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Re: Rear window heater (de-fog) element

Post by DRPM635CSi »

Yeah I can't imagine that being a very successful search where I live to be honest. I never see another E24 round here. They just don't exist anymore. Long gone. Even if I was to stumble across a rear screen somewhere, it would be on the other side of the country for sure and there'd be no way of knowing whether the heater wires were intact before commiting oneself to huge expense just in shipping. Most likely is that it would be in worse condition than the faulty one already in my car.
Pod
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Re: Rear window heater (de-fog) element

Post by Pod »

DRPM635CSi wrote:Yeah I can't imagine that being a very successful search where I live to be honest. I never see another E24 round here. They just don't exist anymore. Long gone. Even if I was to stumble across a rear screen somewhere, it would be on the other side of the country for sure and there'd be no way of knowing whether the heater wires were intact before commiting oneself to huge expense just in shipping. Most likely is that it would be in worse condition than the faulty one already in my car.
Yes, see your point. Its a shame as I have several, but on the other side of the World :(

I once owned an American car (I think it was a Dodge Charger) with a rear demist fan fitted into the parcelshelf which worked whilst the engine was running. If your misting problems are not excessive, maybe this is a way around the problem :-k
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Brucey
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Re: Rear window heater (de-fog) element

Post by Brucey »

I have fixed broken elements in other cars using special silver-bearing paint. The trick to doing a neat job is (of course) to mask the area to be treated using tape that gives a sharp edge.

However my 6er remains unfixed; only the lowest four bars work at all and it is pretty much a waste of time switching it on these days! Fortunately I don't often drive the car on cold mornings, so it isn't the end of the world, just mildly irritating.

cheers
~~~~~~~~~~~~Brucey~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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