Tint Rubbed off Rear Defroster Grid

[wafflecougar]

Hello, I just had my windows tinted and ran into an issue. The rear windows defrost grid was broken by them squeegeeing the tint on. They told me it should still work but I find that hard to believe. Any thoughts or advice would be appreciated. Thanks.

[mudpaw]

Any broken trace will not heat. If they told you it should still work they lied to you. Get your money back and send them the bill for having the traces repaired.

Looking at your picture, they really f'ed up the tint installation. I count 5 broken traces. I had my windows tinted at Ziebart. My wife and I have had a few cars tinted by them and have always been satisfied.

[Walt White Coupe]

That's one reason why I never tint the rear window. Any attempt at removal can do the same thing.

[Opie55]

Originally Posted by mudpaw

Any broken trace will not heat. If they told you it should still work they lied to you. Get your money back and send them the bill for having the traces repaired.

Looking at your picture, they really f'ed up the tint installation. I count 5 broken traces. I had my windows tinted at Ziebart. My wife and I have had a few cars tinted by them and have always been satisfied.

^ This. It will not work. Not sure how a gap that big can be fixed. You may need a new window.

[mudpaw]

Originally Posted by Opie55

^ This. It will not work. Not sure how a gap that big can be fixed. You may need a new window.

There are kits available to repair the traces, but the tint will need to be removed. This undoubtedly will cause more damage.

[FlyinLowSD]

Concur could be fixed after tint removal.

They weren’t exactly lying, but didn’t provide a complete story either: each complete line should work just fine to warm the surrounding glass, and eventually defrost the whole window. Those lines that are broken across the horizontal will not function properly. (Almost like a printed circuit board… a metallic line conducts the energy, in the form of gentle heat across the window.) The horizontal lines are connected in parallel, so a fault at one does not cause the others to be useless. Unless the vertical connector(s) at either end is/are broken also, you’ll still have defrosting action.

If you have documentation of the condition beforehand, should absolutely hold them responsible for repair and re-tint. Rear windows are definitely a tricky business. What I wonder though, is, if these broke while they were squeegeeing, where did the broken pieces go?

[Opie55]

Originally Posted by FlyinLowSD

Concur could be fixed after tint removal.

They weren’t exactly lying, but didn’t provide a complete story either: each complete line should work just fine to warm the surrounding glass, and eventually defrost the whole window. Those lines that are broken across the horizontal will not function properly. (Almost like a printed circuit board… a metallic line conducts the energy, in the form of gentle heat across the window.) The horizontal lines are connected in parallel, so a fault at one does not cause the others to be useless. Unless the vertical connector(s) at either end is/are broken also, you’ll still have defrosting action.

If you have documentation of the condition beforehand, should absolutely hold them responsible for repair and re-tint. Rear windows are definitely a tricky business. What I wonder though, is, if these broke while they were squeegeeing, where did the broken pieces go?

I wondered how they did that squeegeeing as well. I bet they messed up a piece, pulled it off, which pulled off the elements, and put on a new piece.

[Walt White Coupe]

I've never seen the reason for tinting the rear window in the first place. First, it's dangerous backing up at night. And second, because of the slope of the rear window, the natural tint from the factory along with the sunscreen makes that window rather dark without anything else added.

[wafflecougar]

Originally Posted by Opie55

I wondered how they did that squeegeeing as well. I bet they messed up a piece, pulled it off, which pulled off the elements, and put on a new piece.

Exactly, they did one round of tint which broke the lines, then peeled that off breaking more along the way. After that they gave it another try without telling me. It's hard to see but if you look closely in the picture you can see some small pieces of the broken lines still under the tint. My main issue is that from how they explained it they put the tint on the side opposite of the heating elements so how did they rub off?

[Opie55]

Originally Posted by wafflecougar

Exactly, they did one round of tint which broke the lines, then peeled that off breaking more along the way. After that they gave it another try without telling me. It's hard to see but if you look closely in the picture you can see some small pieces of the broken lines still under the tint. My main issue is that from how they explained it they put the tint on the side opposite of the heating elements so how did they rub off?

That makes zero sense. The heating grid is applied to the inside of the glass. The side opposite would be the outside of the window. But you should ask them to explain exactly what that means and then post it because we all like a good laugh.