Heated Windscreen

[moley551]

The passenger side of my heated windscreen has stopped working, has anyone fixed it without replacing the windscreen, I will check for power and lose connections at the weekend, but I've not heard anyone fix the fault without a new windscreen, that will be number 6 in this van...

[loot]

Oh dear

My screen got a whack in the crash and there is a crack going across the bottom edge of the whole screen where the lines are but just out of view from inside the van, the heated parts still work fine

Can't really help with yours I'm afraid.

Stupid thing tho is how do they fail? In my mind i see the positive links the top of the screen and negative the bottom and there's 1 half on each side of the screen so 2 smaller screens in effect.
But i would have thought that each element was wired in parallel and that they may if possible fail 1 at a time but still clear the screen rather than complete death instantly.

I think the connection of the ribbon to the glass is the failure point it must be.

[Eurotransit]

Not verified in the Transit Custom fusebox yet, but in all the granada/scorpio's we've had with heated windscreen, the halves were fused seperately. In theory it could just be a fuse... Which would beg the question why it has blown.

I agree with Loot though, I've seen my share of failed screens. Both full halves as well as single or bundled strands not working anymore. I've always wondered myself how these break, being fully incorporated into the glass, so not subject to damage from cleaning the screen etc.

[moley551]

Well found the fault with the windscreen, the pictures speak for them selves!!

[moley551]

All fixed, just used an eye crimp instead of the spade tag and made a hole in the foil connection, then bolted the two together..better than new

[customal]

nice find
where was the fault on windscreen ?
going to try and find mine

[moley551]

There's two connections behind each A pillar trim, the lower one is an earth so the copper foil is bolted to the pillar the upper one is connected to the live tag, you can see the edge of the headlining in the picture. It looks like the tag is spot welded to the copper foil and then covered in soft plastic. Mine looks like the spot weld isn't in the center of the tag but half off the edge I'd bet this is the common failure point.
I've added a picture of the earth tag it's just behind the small speaker that needs unplugging from the trim.

[S60r]

Great find Moley...very satisfying sorting problems yourself. Im sure this post will be helping many people now and in the future.

[TallPaul]

I bet everyone who has had numerous replacement screens (me included), have all had this exact fault! Much better to repair rather than cut out and replace an original screen methinks. I wish I'd looked at mine first.

[moley551]

As a follow up to the repair, I'm now fully convinced the repaired passenger side, clears slightly quicker than the drivers side, about 5 seconds faster for light condensation, I assume the drivers side also has a crap connection.

[Stephen R]

Hi all i know this is an old post but I have a Ranger and a C max with non functioning quick clear, wondering if this would be a simillar issue so does anyone know if it is.
Thanks

[loot]

It should be. They should be the same.

1st. Look through the screen to see the wiggly elements to confirm it is the same type of screen.
2nd locate the fuses in the fix it literature.
3rd remove the plastic trims from both pillars.
4th acquire a multimeter set to 12v
5th both spade terminals will likely be + live red so put that probe to 1 and the black probe to a chassis ground and activate the screen, you should see 12 to 14v (likely 12v but anything over 9 will be real).
Test both sides individually like that.

I don't know if the ranger is identical but most parts of it are. The user manual should give some info

[Altransit]

I'm sure that I read on here (some time ago!) that these quick clear screens were biased to the left, i.e. the screen started on the left (passenger) side before the right. I don't have one so I can't check

[Stephen R]

OK so took off the pillar and checked no ribbon but now a pillar cover that doesn't clip back correctly wife not happy, I do have 2 wires that cobnect to the screen at the top and when I switch the quick clear on passenger side has 9.0v and driver 5v max. Sorry this is on the c max, the truck my brother has at the moment. So if I have 9v I should be heating yes unless the screen itself has failed.

[loot]

I would say yes, the low voltage should be because the screen is drawing the amps. The connectors to the screen sometimes fail. If you have heated mirrors they usually are on the same circuit and do get warm when turned on. See if that is the case and that they do.