Rear heated window!

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fishsponge

New Member
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Location
Cambridgeshire, UK
I just spent all evening learning how to remove the rear door panel and associated items (handle etc...) because this morning, when I tried to reattach the wire to the passenger-side window strips, the wire fell down inside the door :(

Having managed to get everything apart (and back together again!) I accidentally snapped off the connector from the window :mad:

See attached image.

So... this leads me to my questions... what is the part called that I need, where can I get one from and how do I fit it?

Thanks in advance!
 

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You will be able to resolder that on.

I had to do it on a santana, which has the same rear glass as a defender, and it looks like the very same issue as yours. same shaped break and everything.

if youre not good at electrical soildering then find someone who is, use a fairly low temp iron and solder it back together.

i was very suprised how well it worked when i did it!
 
Thanks for that. You know it hasn't actually fallen off the window, right? Part of it is still attached to the window and part of it is still attached to the wire. It's actually snapped in half.

Is solder really going to be strong enough to hold that together long-term?

Also, on the wire running up the door, it's split and one fork isn't attached to anything. Is this normal? I can't find anything to attached it to, but ought to find out...
 
Yeah exactly, the spade connecter has come away from the base plate.

If there is any good metal there to solder to (clean it up, it wont flux if its corroded) then it will be as strong as ever.

it was a soldered joint in the first place!! solder is the best solution for this one.

if the wire has broken you need to find the other end...?
 
you might,(not sure here) solder it back on and try a continuity test to make sure your getting a good connection

A continuity test? How is that performed, exactly?

The tools I have to hand are a 240V soldering iron with no transformer (presumably a rather hot one!), some screwdrivers, sockets etc... and various types of pliers! If you are assuming I have a multimeter you'd be wrong, unfortunately!

Can't I just mist up the back window with our plant mister, turn the switch on and wait 5 minutes?

Yeah exactly, the spade connecter has come away from the base plate.

If there is any good metal there to solder to (clean it up, it wont flux if its corroded) then it will be as strong as ever.

it was a soldered joint in the first place!! solder is the best solution for this one.

if the wire has broken you need to find the other end...?

The part that has broken isn't a soldered joint actually - it's metal that has snapped. Also you say it won't "flux" if it's corroded. That's something i've never heard of before! Well, i've heard the word "flux" before, but have no idea what it means...

And the wire was snapped off at the top end and then fell inside the door. I've rethreaded the wire up the door, poked it through the hole and crimped another spade connector to the end of it.

I then pushed the spade connector onto the "spade" that was fixed to the window. It was at this point the metal connecter attached to the window snapped in half.
 
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Yep a multimeter, its a test that sends a signal down the wire to make sure the current is getting to the end, from the switch to the end of your broken wire, You can as you say mist the window and try it that way:)

The solder should hold it, if that fails chemical metal???? but I dont no if the current would go through that
 
A continuity test? How is that performed, exactly?

The tools I have to hand are a 240V soldering iron with no transformer (presumably a rather hot one!), some screwdrivers, sockets etc... and various types of pliers! If you are assuming I have a multimeter you'd be wrong, unfortunately!

Can't I just mist up the back window with our plant mister, turn the switch on and wait 5 minutes?



The part that has broken isn't a soldered joint actually - it's metal that has snapped. Also you say it won't "flux" if it's corroded. That's something i've never heard of before! Well, i've heard the word "flux" before, but have no idea what it means...

And the wire was snapped off at the top end and then fell inside the door. I've rethreaded the wire up the door, poked it through the hole and crimped another spade connector to the end of it.

I then pushed the spade connector onto the "spade" that was fixed to the window. It was at this point the metal connecter attached to the window snapped in half.


Take it to a garage!! :doh:
 
I think i'll take it to the garage... god knows what temperature my 240V, no transformer soldering iron run at, and i'd hate to trash things more than they are already!

Was kinda hoping to fix something myself instead of paying £50 for the privilege of having my rear window working again!

I think i'll have to settle for the £50 this time.

Thanks for the advice, people!
 
Since when have multimeters been sending signals down wires to check current, I normally use a multimeter switched to amps for that.
I must get myself one :rolleyes:

fishsponge, remove the blue spade connector you don't need that and solder the wire direct.
First trim the end of the wire to show bare copper 'tin' the copper end and the remaining bit on the glass and then with the iron solder the two together ideally with a 15-18watt soldering iron, the type you would use on a PCB.
You could use a 60 watt iron and don't use it at it's full heat but then you still will have to be quick although the tip may be to big for this small job.

5mins and job done :D
 
Since when have multimeters been sending signals down wires to check current, I normally use a multimeter switched to amps for that.
I must get myself one :rolleyes:

fishsponge, remove the blue spade connector you don't need that and solder the wire direct.
First trim the end of the wire to show bare copper 'tin' the copper end and the remaining bit on the glass and then with the iron solder the two together ideally with a 15-18watt soldering iron, the type you would use on a PCB.
You could use a 60 watt iron but then you will have to be quick although the tip may be to big for this small job.

5mins and job done :D


You no what I mean :p
 
fishsponge, remove the blue spade connector you don't need that and solder the wire direct.
First trim the end of the wire to show bare copper 'tin' the copper end and the remaining bit on the glass and then with the iron solder the two together ideally with a 15-18watt soldering iron, the type you would use on a PCB.
You could use a 60 watt iron and don't use it at it's full heat but then you still will have to be quick although the tip may be to big for this small job.

5mins and job done :D

You say 5 mins... but not once i've managed to find someone with a soldering iron local to me! It'd actually be quicker to buy one probably!

I've no idea how many watts my existing soldering iron is, but i certainly wouldn't use it on a PCB. It's hot enough to make wood go brown!

Does anyone know if the wire that goes up the side of the door (the black one with a fork in it) should attach to anything else?

As it travels up the side of the door, it forks. One "arm" of the fork goes up the door, out the hole and should attach to the window. The other "arm" of the fork is attached to nothing. Is this normal?
 
Is it a single wire that then forks or is it a twin cable? get the heated window working first then look for something electrical not working I will look at a wiring diagram and see if there's something.

If you can use your iron and the bit is not to big for the job then use it, the important thing is the amount of heat, so heat up the iron until the solder starts to melt on the bit and then unpug the iron as you have just enough heat to melt solder and do the job.
Use multicore solder but i'm sure you know that.
 
it appears to be a single cable that forks.

I looked at the wiring diagram myself earlier, but I can't make any sense of it. Obviously the lines are the wires, but what the icons dotted about the place are, I've no idea!

As for multicore solder, I've never heard of it. I have a spool of solder, but what type it is I've no idea. If by multicore you mean "made of multiple cores", this clearly isn't. It's just one core wrapped around a spool...
 
Ah, ok... i don't have any of that then. I don't knowingly own any flux either.

I think i'll let me local garage deal with this. Becoming too much for me, sadly!

i only have to attach two pieces of metal together, but have no way of doing so!
 
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