--
Jeffry Wisnia
(W1BSV + Brass Rat '57 EE)
The speed of light is 1.8*10e12 furlongs per fortnight.

My son just bought a used car which has an antenna mount for a satellite
radio stuck on the outside of the rear window.

It's a lump about 1-1/2" square with a short male threaded antenna
starter piece sticking out of it.

He's no intention of getting a satellite radio and asked me how to
safely remove that piece.

There's a matching lump on the inside of the glass which I assume is
inductively or capacitively coupled to the outside piece, but he's not
much concerned with that one and if it happens to be stuck over one of
the defroster grid lines he's better off not messing wwith it.

I presume the outside piece he wants to remove is adhesively attached to
the glass and wondered if the folks here here can recommend a safe way
of removing it without risking damage to the rear window.

Thanks guys,

Jeff

--
Jeffry Wisnia
(W1BSV + Brass Rat '57 EE)
The speed of light is 1.8*10e12 furlongs per fortnight.

Jeff Wisnia wrote in
:

My son just bought a used car which has an antenna mount for a satellite
radio stuck on the outside of the rear window.

It's a lump about 1-1/2" square with a short male threaded antenna
starter piece sticking out of it.

He's no intention of getting a satellite radio and asked me how to
safely remove that piece.

There's a matching lump on the inside of the glass which I assume is
inductively or capacitively coupled to the outside piece, but he's not
much concerned with that one and if it happens to be stuck over one of
the defroster grid lines he's better off not messing wwith it.

I presume the outside piece he wants to remove is adhesively attached to
the glass and wondered if the folks here here can recommend a safe way
of removing it without risking damage to the rear window.

Thanks guys,

Jeff


heat gun and razor blade? [on low heat]

or acetone.[risky to paint,plastics and gaskets]

you have to soften the adhesive somehow.

--
Jim Yanik
jyanik
at
localnet
dot com

On Thu, 25 Mar 2010 16:49:18 -0400, Jeff Wisnia
wrote:

My son just bought a used car which has an antenna mount for a satellite
radio stuck on the outside of the rear window.

It's a lump about 1-1/2" square with a short male threaded antenna
starter piece sticking out of it.

He's no intention of getting a satellite radio and asked me how to
safely remove that piece.

There's a matching lump on the inside of the glass which I assume is
inductively or capacitively coupled to the outside piece, but he's not
much concerned with that one and if it happens to be stuck over one of
the defroster grid lines he's better off not messing wwith it.

I presume the outside piece he wants to remove is adhesively attached to
the glass and wondered if the folks here here can recommend a safe way
of removing it without risking damage to the rear window.

Thanks guys,

Jeff

I'd take a putty knife and see if I could slide it under the antenna.
(The ones I'm thinking of are stainless, and very thin, flexible but
strong.)

Jeff Wisnia wrote:
My son just bought a used car which has an antenna mount for a satellite
radio stuck on the outside of the rear window.

It depends on the adhesive used. Some used that foam double
sided tape, That's easy to separate with a sharp knife. Then
you can remove the remains with a single edged razor blade.

You can also see how far you can disassemble the units down
to just the part that is stuck to the glass and work from
there with a razor blade and perhaps a bit of solvent applied
sparingly to loosen it.

Obviously, you don't want to dribble MEK, Acetone or Xylene
on any of the soft parts or paint on the vehicle.

Jeff

Brass rat eh? "Tech Hell" at it's finest.


--
“Egotism is the anesthetic that dulls the pain of stupidity.”
Frank Leahy, Head coach, Notre Dame 1941-1954

http://www.stay-connect.com

On Mar 25, 6:08*pm, Jeffrey D Angus wrote:
Jeff Wisnia wrote:
My son just bought a used car which has an antenna mount for a satellite
radio stuck on the outside of the rear window.

It depends on the adhesive used. Some used that foam double
sided tape, That's easy to separate with a sharp knife. Then
you can remove the remains with a single edged razor blade.

You can also see how far you can disassemble the units down
to just the part that is stuck to the glass and work from
there with a razor blade and perhaps a bit of solvent applied
sparingly to loosen it.

Obviously, you don't want to dribble MEK, Acetone or Xylene
on any of the soft parts or paint on the vehicle.

Jeff

Brass rat eh? "Tech Hell" at it's finest.

--
“Egotism is the anesthetic that dulls the pain of stupidity.”
Frank Leahy, Head coach, Notre Dame 1941-1954

http://www.stay-connect.com

A single-edged razor blade and lost of small sliding strokes back and
forth. Patience will be a virtue here.

On Thu, 25 Mar 2010 16:49:18 -0400, Jeff Wisnia
wrote:

I presume the outside piece he wants to remove is adhesively attached to
the glass and wondered if the folks here here can recommend a safe way
of removing it without risking damage to the rear window.

The permanent variety are attached with some form of SuperGlue
(cyanoacrylate adhesive). Try one of the numerous SuperGlue removers.
http://www.acehardwareoutlet.com/%28zbzfh255g1wousz0ehw2y255%29/ProductDetails.aspx?SKU=13218

If it's glued with a 3M sticky pad, as is common on rear view mirrors,
just heat it with a heat gun or hair dryer and it will fall off.

--
Jeff Liebermann
150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com
Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558

Hi Jeff,

Jeff Wisnia wrote:
My son just bought a used car which has an antenna mount for a satellite
radio stuck on the outside of the rear window.

There's a matching lump on the inside of the glass which I assume is
inductively or capacitively coupled to the outside piece, but he's not
much concerned with that one and if it happens to be stuck over one of
the defroster grid lines he's better off not messing wwith it.

I presume the outside piece he wants to remove is adhesively attached to
the glass and wondered if the folks here here can recommend a safe way
of removing it without risking damage to the rear window.

I spend a lot of time dealing with adhesives stuck onto
things (labels, "anti-theft mounts", etc.).

Since I am usually interested in removing them *without*
damaging the cosmetic finish of the item to which they
are attached, I am deliberately methodical and
conservative in my approach.

Labels are easy -- you can usually soak solvents *through*
them (though metalized labels like inventory control tags
and RFID tags are problematic).

For the sort of thing you are faced with, I would start with
a *small* (1.5") "putty knife". A *good* one -- not some
piece of crap from a discount store. The better knives
are thinner and made of a more flexible steel.

YOU WANT ONE WITH SLIGHTLY ROUNDED "CORNERS" (lest they end
up digging into the plastic coating on the safety-glass).

Try to work the center of the blade under a *corner* of the
antenna mount.

PATIENCE IS A VIRTUE :

Your goal isn't to try to pry it off -- yet! Rather, you
want to *slowly* make progress under the metal/plastic
part by coaxing bits of adhesive to give up their grip.

As you make progress on a "corner", it gets harder to continue
making progress as your (assault) "front" becomes larger.
So, keep moving the direction of attack so that you are
addressing a newly formed corner.

E.g., a four sided region becomes *five* sided as you make progress
on that first corner. So, move to one of the *two* corners
most recently created to replace that one corner initially
attacked. That corner new will then eventually become the
*sixth* side, creating yet another corner, etc.

Depending on how large the area is and the strength of the
adhesive, I imagine you may need to get half way through the
area before you can expect to force it off (eventually, your
patience will wear thin : )

You will probably end up with a bit of adhesive left on the glass.
You will need a combination of elbow grease and solvent to
remove this. Patience is, again, a virtue! Start with the
mildest solvent you can and gradually work your way up to
more aggressive solvents.

I always start with water (won't help *you*), then alcohol,
then mineral spirits. At this point, you typically haven't
damamged any of the surfaces you are working with
(notable exception is styrene).

Beyond that, its a judgement call based on the material:
MEK, acetone, xylene, benzene, and the other "ene's"
(polyethylene, marlene, charlene, etc.).

Note many of these are nasty -- read the MSDS before using.

One thing I have found surprisingly useful is a cleaner (?)
found in the 99c stores called "Awesome". It is probably
as nasty (biologically speaking) as any of the others
but seems to work well without risk of literally
soup-ifying some plastics (it will take the finish patina
off of plastic parts, though!).

If he (or you) don't want to be *patient*, then just replace
the entire window :-/

Have fun!

D Yuniskis wrote:
Hi Jeff,

Jeff Wisnia wrote:
My son just bought a used car which has an antenna mount for a
satellite radio stuck on the outside of the rear window.

There's a matching lump on the inside of the glass which I assume is
inductively or capacitively coupled to the outside piece, but he's not
much concerned with that one and if it happens to be stuck over one of
the defroster grid lines he's better off not messing wwith it.

I presume the outside piece he wants to remove is adhesively attached
to the glass and wondered if the folks here here can recommend a safe
way of removing it without risking damage to the rear window.

I spend a lot of time dealing with adhesives stuck onto
things (labels, "anti-theft mounts", etc.).

Since I am usually interested in removing them *without*
damaging the cosmetic finish of the item to which they
are attached, I am deliberately methodical and
conservative in my approach.

Labels are easy -- you can usually soak solvents *through*
them (though metalized labels like inventory control tags
and RFID tags are problematic).

For the sort of thing you are faced with, I would start with
a *small* (1.5") "putty knife". A *good* one -- not some
piece of crap from a discount store. The better knives
are thinner and made of a more flexible steel.

YOU WANT ONE WITH SLIGHTLY ROUNDED "CORNERS" (lest they end
up digging into the plastic coating on the safety-glass).

Try to work the center of the blade under a *corner* of the
antenna mount.

PATIENCE IS A VIRTUE :

Your goal isn't to try to pry it off -- yet! Rather, you
want to *slowly* make progress under the metal/plastic
part by coaxing bits of adhesive to give up their grip.

As you make progress on a "corner", it gets harder to continue
making progress as your (assault) "front" becomes larger.
So, keep moving the direction of attack so that you are
addressing a newly formed corner.

E.g., a four sided region becomes *five* sided as you make progress
on that first corner. So, move to one of the *two* corners
most recently created to replace that one corner initially
attacked. That corner new will then eventually become the
*sixth* side, creating yet another corner, etc.

Depending on how large the area is and the strength of the
adhesive, I imagine you may need to get half way through the
area before you can expect to force it off (eventually, your
patience will wear thin : )

You will probably end up with a bit of adhesive left on the glass.
You will need a combination of elbow grease and solvent to
remove this. Patience is, again, a virtue! Start with the
mildest solvent you can and gradually work your way up to
more aggressive solvents.

I always start with water (won't help *you*), then alcohol,
then mineral spirits. At this point, you typically haven't
damamged any of the surfaces you are working with
(notable exception is styrene).

Beyond that, its a judgement call based on the material:
MEK, acetone, xylene, benzene, and the other "ene's"
(polyethylene, marlene, charlene, etc.).

Note many of these are nasty -- read the MSDS before using.

One thing I have found surprisingly useful is a cleaner (?)
found in the 99c stores called "Awesome". It is probably
as nasty (biologically speaking) as any of the others
but seems to work well without risk of literally
soup-ifying some plastics (it will take the finish patina
off of plastic parts, though!).

If he (or you) don't want to be *patient*, then just replace
the entire window :-/

Have fun!

You didn't mention this, but I'll assume you know - If you apply a few
drops of rubbing alcohol to the putty knife blade edge, it will help
prevent the adhesive's sticking itself back down when the blade is
removed to work on another corned. The alcohol is more a lubricant than
a solvent in this case. If alcohol dries too quickly, sometimes a spray
lubricant like WD-40 works well in its place. It just takes more cleanup
after...