Rear window defroster unsoldered?

[mergedown]

I’ve had the dealership fix mine twice so far, and it just became detached again.

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[Gremlin]

Same

I’ve had the dealership fix mine twice so far, and it just became detached again.

Same here. Scheduled to repair on the 10th. Annoying problem to have.

 

[ps2baseball]

going on 4 weeks for my glass

 

[CherryWrangler]

For those who got it fixed by dealers, did you check if it is working properly ? I got back mine recently and during a rainy day i figured out that the heating elements were not working. Going to bring it back to the dealer again.

 

[rfm8os]

For those who got it fixed by dealers, did you check if it is working properly ? I got back mine recently and during a rainy day i figured out that the heating elements were not working. Going to bring it back to the dealer again.

I had one of the tabs re-attached by the dealer back before the winter. I had been waiting for a frosty morning to try it out but have not had the rear window overly frosted to date this winter. But, the few times I have tried to use it it doesn't really seem to be doing anything at all. I have been dragging my feet but should really bring it back and have them check it.

 

[00Sebby]

What I noticed when mine popped of was that after I soldered the terminal tab back on and plugged the cable back onto it, the cable seemed stretched with the window open. It was almost straight between the small u-clip and where it plugs up to the glass. It relaxes as the window closes but it looks and feels tight with the window opened. So to prevent it happening again, I introduced slack in the open position and used a small zip tie to keep the slack between the u-clip and the plug. So far, it's held up. Maybe those of you that haven't had the tab pop off or has been repaired could try the zip tie thing to prevent it from happening.

 

[Bob K]

What I noticed when mine popped of was that after I soldered the terminal tab back on and plugged the cable back onto it, the cable seemed stretched with the window open. It was almost straight between the small u-clip and where it plugs up to the glass. It relaxes as the window closes but it looks and feels tight with the window opened. So to prevent it happening again, I introduced slack in the open position and used a small zip tie to keep the slack between the u-clip and the plug. So far, it's held up. Maybe those of you that haven't had the tab pop off or has been repaired could try the zip tie thing to prevent it from happening

When I got my Jeep (about a year ago) the cable was detached, so they replaced the whole rear glass. I did the zip tie and mine became detached today. Back to the dealer I go....

 

[00Sebby]

When I got my Jeep (about a year ago) the cable was detached, so they replaced the whole rear glass. I did the zip tie and mine became detached today. Back to the dealer I go....

Mine held up through yesterday and now it's for someone else to worry about if it lets go. Unless Jeep brings back a modernized, yet true to the classic version of a Grand Wagoneer, I have reached the end of my Jeep trail.

 

[WranglerMan]

Well I just joined the club, noticed mine was detached on the passenger side and the solder job looks week..

Service Advisor said tech will determine if he can solder but said lots of times they have replaced the back glass, last few months of my warranty left on my 2018 so glad it’s covered, guessing the solder jobs are hit and miss on fixing this ?

 

[viper88]

Well I just joined the club, noticed mine was detached on the passenger side and the solder job looks week..

Service Advisor said tech will determine if he can solder but said lots of times they have replaced the back glass, last few months of my warranty left on my 2018 so glad it’s covered, guessing the solder jobs are hit and miss on fixing this ?

Today is your lucky day. JEEP is hosting a roundtable today with JEEP engineers, executives, designers, developers.

You can ask why the rear defroster fails.

Here is the link to the thread...

https://www.jlwranglerforums.com/fo...estream-roundtable.49622/page-15#post-1098235

 

[Fire Burns]

My tabs came of months ago (2018 JLUR) and finally went to see the dealer two weeks ago. Rather than a repair they told me the whole heating element was fried. They ordered me a whole new window, which they installed last week. I've yet to try them out because I live in sunny CA and have had not need.

But I guess my question is, why would the entire heating element be fried and why are so many of these going bad? Is it possible its not the windows and tabs at all but maybe the input? Did they perhaps run too much juice to these such that they burn themselves out, or "fry?" Does anybody know what wattage and amps these are supposed to be putting out? Maybe the electrical engineer wasn't talking to the window engineer who had designed for less juice? Is there an inline filter or fuse we can use to prevent reoccurrence?

I don't know. Just throwing crap on a wall. I didn't read the whole thread and maybe this has come up before.

 

[Levi8than]

But I guess my question is, why would the entire heating element be fried and why are so many of these going bad? Is it possible its not the windows and tabs at all but maybe the input? Did they perhaps run too much juice to these such that they burn themselves out, or "fry?" Does anybody know what wattage and amps these are supposed to be putting out? Maybe the electrical engineer wasn't talking to the window engineer who had designed for less juice? Is there an inline filter or fuse we can use to prevent reoccurrence?

Here's my best educated guess. There are 2 separate things going on here.
1. The initial disconnect is happening because mechanical failure. Most solders used these days are fairly brittle, and if there's any mixing of metals that means things expand at different rates as they heat up, which makes the connection more likely to break when you open the window. I'll bet mixing some led into the solder kit would make the joint 1000x more stable, but I doubt it's legal these days especially in California. The cable coming off by itself would not "fry" the heating system.
2. After the tab is loose, but making a loose connection, it will spark. This sparking is what will fry the internal electronics. They're designed for constant current, not a ton of current then none, then a ton, then non. This high frequency noise is bad for most modern solid state electronics, and burns out small resistors, which is basically what the lines on the glass are.

That's my best guess without sitting down with a schematic and a scope. I'll bet both resoldering (if the internal electronics are still fine) and replacing the glass have about the same short life expectancy.

 

[WranglerMan]

Today is your lucky day. JEEP is hosting a roundtable today with JEEP engineers, executives, designers, developers.

You can ask why the rear defroster fails.

Here is the link to the thread...

https://www.jlwranglerforums.com/fo...estream-roundtable.49622/page-15#post-1098235

I would ask them a lot besides why it failed like why did they bury the ESS battery along with a host of other things

 

[WranglerMan]

What I noticed when mine popped of was that after I soldered the terminal tab back on and plugged the cable back onto it, the cable seemed stretched with the window open. It was almost straight between the small u-clip and where it plugs up to the glass. It relaxes as the window closes but it looks and feels tight with the window opened. So to prevent it happening again, I introduced slack in the open position and used a small zip tie to keep the slack between the u-clip and the plug. So far, it's held up. Maybe those of you that haven't had the tab pop off or has been repaired could try the zip tie thing to prevent it from happening.

Did you have to pop the glass bonding tab out of the connector and then snap it back on after using the epoxy on it.

 

[wolfdog]

As said in the thread somewhere above, I've had five failed repairs! Either real solder (useless) a new rear window real solder, failed but the solder stuck, still didn't work? Finally another dealer found that the wiring harness may have been bad all along and replaced it. I noticed that the leads to the window with the new rear harness were longer and all been well ever since!

That may have been why some of the fixes with conductive epoxy solder never worked even if it did hold!!! I used that solder in my 2012 JKU and that worked right off and worked til I traded!! We have a 2015 Cherokee Trailhawk and use the rear tailgate much more than the Wrangler and always works!

Try not to get too frustrated and Good Luck!!!

Go Jeep!!!