"mm" wrote in message
...
On Sun, 31 Dec 2006 21:31:44 -0500, "EXT"
wrote:


"mm" wrote in message
. ..
On Sun, 31 Dec 2006 21:24:07 GMT, wrote:


"clifto" wrote in message
...
mm wrote:
On 31 Dec 2006 13:52:44 GMT, DC wrote:
I need to repair one line break (2mm) in my rear window defroster. I
don't
wish to spend $10 on a repair kit. Is there a way to do this on the
cheap with a little creativity, perhaps? Just wondering.

I doubt it, but I"ve never looked closely at the kit. CAn you see
what is inside without opening it?

The last one I bought (years ago) had a small cardboard aperture to
help
make the lines straight, and a tiny bottle of paint with copper
filings
in it. It didn't work worth a damn; after it dried a few days and I
turned
on the defroster, the repaired areas smoked and the repaired lines
were

Sounds exciting!

still not functioning.

Sounds like you didn't scuff/clean the original lines well enough to get
a
good contact, or maybe didn't overlap it enough, and ended up making a
resistor. Last kit I used went on like you described, but it worked
fine.
Glass has to be super-clean- no windex, smoke, rain-x, whatever residue
can
be there. I used contact cleaner, and didn't have any problems at all.

I had also heard that the kit works. So far, in my '95 Lebaron, all
the lines work.

They say iirc not to melt snow with the heater. Has anyone broken the
window that way? I've used it for snow with no problems so far.

Why would they say that. Here in Canada we all use it to melt snow, solid

I thought they said it. Maybe they don't. At the very least, I don't
remember exactly what they say!

ice from freezing rain, fog and condensation either inside or outside. Got

Fog and condensation, of course. OK, the reason they would say it is
that all the heat comes from the lines, and if there is enough ice on
the window, it might happen that the glass would get warm right by the
wire, and remain freezing cold halfway between the lines.

Actually it doesn't work that way. Melting ice on the window causes some of
the ice to melt over the line but the melted water runs down to the areas
between the lines helping to melt the ice there. It never gets hot because
the cold water and ice absorb the heat as it melts.

And then
break, like one can break a glass by pouring hot water in a very cold
glass.

Yes, my wife tried to speed up the melting of ice on her windshield once,
and only once using hot water.


to do it if you want to drive anywhere without a long wait.

Well I drive forward most of the time, so if there is snow on the
window, I go anyhow. I remember when there were no side-view
mirrors except on trucks.

It is not good to drive with the rear window obscured, also that is why we
now have heated side-view mirrors that work the same as rear view windows.