Repairing all the tracks on rear demister - bin it or paint?

[sgtBerbatov]

I have a Peugeot 107, and it's currently my daily driver as my Corolla is still up on blocks waiting for me to sort it out. The weather - as you might have seen - has gone a bit cold so I need to demist the rear window every morning.

Now last year I remember 2 tracks were broken on the rear window which didn't cause an issue. However, this year the rear window doesn't demist at all. On closer inspection all of the tracks are broken.

Why? Well we got married this year and the mother in law thought it'd be all cute etc to tie a banner around the car and stick a "Just Married" sign in the back window. I cleared the plastic that was wrapped around the car, which had transferred its paint to the car which I can't get off, while the wife took off the Just Married sign. The sellotape they used ripped the heating elements off the window.

Now I know I can buy liquid metal to connect the lines, but I've read that the resistance of the paint is quite high. Can I get away with painting all the tracks together or do I risk causing the window to smash when the element is turned on? Or should I just take it off and replace it with a second hand boot lid?

[sgtBerbatov]

TooMany2cvs said:

When I've tried the "element repair" paint in the past, it's simply not worked - my presumption is that there's a non-conductive layer over the conductive element itself, so it doesn't make contact. It'd make sense if there was, otherwise there's a risk of short if you've got something metallic in there.

I've seen it done and it's looked fairly simple to achieve. But I don't know of anyone doing lots of tracks in one area. But it makes sense, if it doesn't stick it's useless.

kev b said:

I have used conductive paint many times with success however the area must be completely clean and the gap not too large.

I dont think you will have much success if inches of track are missing.

Also I would think you could obtain a complete tailgate in the right colour for not much more than the cost of conductive paint.

There isn't inches of track missing in one line, it's like 1cm/2cm stretches of track across multiple tracks in near enough the same area.

I've looked on eBay and so far they're coming out at around £45 but all are collection only 100 miles away up north or down south.

[sgtBerbatov]

I think I'm going to source a replacement boot lid. I've read that the paint can cause heat spots as it's often a higher resistance than the original tracks. So if I have a row of them to do it'll probably shatter the glass.

I'll have to do some hunting around scrap yards for it I think instead of online. At least I can test continuity in person rather than gambling with it online.

Thanks everyone.

[sgtBerbatov]

TooMany2cvs said:

sgtBerbatov said:

I'll have to do some hunting around scrap yards for it I think instead of online.

Can't imagine a C1/107 tailgate is going to be exactly unobtainium... It's not even as if you need to worry about the colour.

Here y'go...
£65 delivered
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/152769873499
£73 delivered
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/192383520898
£75 delivered
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/152610140191
...and loads of others.

But I've no way of knowing whether the tracks work or not. That's the problem with getting them online. Especially if they've been stored in a dodgy way. Thanks for the links though I'll see if any of them are near me.

[sgtBerbatov]

TooMany2cvs said:

sgtBerbatov said:

But I've no way of knowing whether the tracks work or not. That's the problem with getting them online. Especially if they've been stored in a dodgy way.

You aren't going to be able to test one in a scrappy, either.

sgtBerbatov said:

Thanks for the links though I'll see if any of them are near me.

Those prices include delivery to your door...

I can throw a multimeter at it to test continuity though when I'm at the scrap yard. I can't do it online.

The top one you sent though isn't too far from me, so I'm going to go pay them a visit at the weekend.

[sgtBerbatov]

Glassman said:

Prices vary; who's doing it; size of company; OE/aftermarket parts; geographic location...

An aftermarket glass between 175-300 ish, fitted; OE (at a guess) around 350-500.

£300????

Let's look at the kid with the stone snowball again....

[sgtBerbatov]

Glassman said:

sgtBerbatov said:

£300????

Let's look at the kid with the stone snowball again....

If anything we'll all feel like we've contributed, come premium renewal.

It's what I like to call: Socialist Car Repair.

Everyone chips in to help fix your comrades car.