Porsche Enthusiasts Club Forum

This happened to me last week and I was so surprised how hard it was to identify a means to fix it back on. I didn't want to deal with any soldering with heat onto the glass as I had visions of it exploding.

There appear to be a number of conductive epoxy kits in the US for repairing this but they are not available here and the postage from the US plus the outrageous price of the kit put me right off.

I called an auto electrician to replace it. They didn't do it. I called a windscreen fitter. They didn't do it.

I therefore steeled myself to solder it back on. I purchased a more powerful 50w soldering iron so that I would need less time to heat up the tab and to hold it on the glass thus reducing the potential for a heat shock shatter. Once I had everything I set up a heater in the boot of the car to warm up the hatch gradually. After 30 mins I then started to heat the hatch with a stroking motion with a medium level heat gun paying particular attention to the edge where it joins the frame. Once I'd done this I tinned the tab with a load of solder on the two connection points and heated the tab up so that the solder was active. Another quick dose of heat gun then I offered up the tab to the glass (after donning safety goggles!). I then held the soldering iron on the tab for about 6 seconds to ensure a good connection.

No dramas and a fully working demister.

Why they don't sell the repair kits over here I don't know. I even called locktite and they confirmed no UK version.

Thought I'd share my experience.

very well done soldering the tab back on. Probably the best solution. I have tried these conductive expoxy glues in the past and found they were not very conductive. Rear screen heater takes a lot of amps so very likely the glue would get very hot and the screen would stay cool.

I think the conductive epoxies are just regular epoxies with a load of aluminium filings in them. And I don't know anyone who has had a good experience with them!

Well done with the soldering. That must have been a very satisfying solution!


Oli.