Repair Rear Window Defroster Tab and Grid - Better Than Original

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This was a successful, inexpensive repair of a rear window defroster with a broken connector tab and several broken grid lines. The final repair is stronger than original and far less expensive than having a new window installed. Demonstrated on a 2012 Chevrolet Suburban. Thanks for watching.
To Get The Job Done:
Acetone to clean the surface. Fingernail Polish remover is the same.
Copper Strap (plumber's tape) amzn.to/2CnSY5n
Copper foil tape (I paid about $6 for the roll) amzn.to/2FdCcqE
Conductive glue (copper and silver glues. Under $30 for both. The copper paint works faster) Standard Epoxy (non-conductive). I already had some J.B. Weld and it worked well. Short piece of copper wire. Soldering device. Pliers and sockets to remove rear window.
-Soldering Iron: amzn.to/3fR2Q5r
-New Replacement Tab: amzn.to/2YcWkQD
-Kit that includes copper defroster paint: amzn.to/2DQKILQ
-Copper Lock Conductive Glue: amzn.to/3llO0Hu
-Sciplus 400 Electrically Conductive Solder in a Jar: amzn.to/2IqYnuZ
-Electrically Conductive Epoxy, Silver Adhesive 2.5gm: amzn.to/3lj4ro6
-Silver conductive Glue (It works but takes up to a week to fully dry & become conductive): amzn.to/3eNmct2
-J-B Weld Quick Setting Epoxy (NOT Conductive): amzn.to/3piTgxZ
-Socket Set: amzn.to/3kHLYl5
-Single needle Nose Plier: amzn.to/3anjY1u
-Needle Nose Plier Set: amzn.to/3aq2v8H
-New Support Struts for 07-14 Suburban, Tahoe, Yukon: amzn.to/2E73VsC
-New Rear Window Tahoe, Suburban, Yukon, Yukon XL, Denali, Escalade 2007-2014: amzn.to/3kmzLnS
PROTECTIVE GEAR:
-Face Masks: amzn.to/3D0zCiW
-Safety Goggles: amzn.to/3fZQfNq
-Safety Goggles (2-Pack): amzn.to/2PX2eR5
-Ear Protection Ear Muffs: amzn.to/3QOBMrq
-Ear Plugs: amzn.to/3CZJHfR
-Shop Gloves: amzn.to/3aGzAgV
-Nitrile Gloves (6-mil): amzn.to/3awjyWQ
Video Index:
0:10 Window Removal
1:02 Prepping the window
1:34 The new Tab Base
1:47 Prepping the Grid Lines
2:01 Copper Foil Tape layout
2:25 Epoxy for Tab Base
2:44 Tab Placement
2:50 Reinforcing the "Good" tab
3:02 Soldering wire to the copper tape
3:32 Foil Folds Coated with epoxy
3:43 Meet the conductive glues (Copper paint is STILL better)
4:15 Connecting the grid lines to the copper tape.
4:38 Finished Repair
4:55 Testing, Testing. A okay.
5:10 Re-installing window.
6:14 Successful field test.
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[@Xmonders]

Good idea

[@peterburt2905]

Thanks for posting then video. Very helpful. Cheers

[@ScubaMoto]

Peter Burt: I'm glad it helped. Thanks for the great comment and thanks for sharing.

[@pasqualeparente9776]

You seem to have a wealth of knowledge. Do you install defrost professionally. Is there another way to repair for more expensive vehicles so it looks cleaner?

[@ScubaMoto]

pasquale parente: Thanks for the comment and the question. I agree aesthetics matter and I did later improve on the appearance of this repair by masking off the repair and painting the entire repair black to match the surrounds. It makes quite a difference but you will still see the repair. The risk of painting the copper foil tape is that if you need to come back and bond to it, you will need to strip the paint to get a conductive bond. Fortunately, this repair has needed no follow up work. The very best aesthetic repair is always to simply replace with a new glass with new defrost attached, but the cost can be 10 to 20 times the cost of this repair. FWIW, the repair shown in the video is still working at 100%. Thanks again for the comment and for sharing.

[@mverga2265]

Hey quick question. When attaching the copper foil tape to the grid, why to you need the permetex conductive glue to make contact with the grid? Isn’t the adhesive on the copper tape already conductive?

[@ScubaMoto]

mverga 22: Thanks for the great question. The glue on the foil tape is very strong but it is not conductive so the back of the tape is not connecting to the grid. Soldering usually won't work because the factory gridlines are too fragile to solder so conductive glue works best and is easy to use. If you lay down new grid lines using very narrow foil tape, then there is a way to carefully solder foil tape to foil tape but you MUST replace EVERY grid line to get an even defrost. If your window has NO grid lines or if more than half are broken, then that might be the better fix. I hope that all made sense. Thanks for watching and for sharing.

[@mverga2265]

So only if you replace every gridline with the foil. The current can still produce heat to defrost? I figured the copper foil tape didn’t have enough resistance to defrost.

[@ScubaMoto]

mverga 22: You have to use a very narrow foil for grid lines so that they will heat up. And it's important to replace them all so that the resistance is the same for each grid line. And you still have to solder to the vertical side busses. You can't simply lay copper on copper and expect a good connection. You need a conductive bond. I should probably do that video sometime. I just need a window that needs it ;-D.

[@pauldobson9379]

Don't have the copper plumbing tape but what do you think about using a penny? I think it is just copper coated aluminum and only costs 1 cent.

[@ScubaMoto]

Paul Dobson: Absolutely. I've used a penny for this. If you brush or sand it, you can solder the tab and wire to the penny and then epoxy it to the glass the same way. I just had the copper plumbing tape on hand and found it easier to solder to and easier to work with. Thanks for the question and good luck with it.