Side Mirror Defrost kits

cherrington17 · 10-02-2007, 07:55 PM

Do they exist... or if they don't... how would i go about making one w/o melting anything behind the mirror?

I can't be the only member who gets incredibly annoyed when the side mirrors are so iced that they are completely useless.

also, we now know some members are taking their side mirrors off to put leds behind them... so the lens on some are removable...

how, where, cost??

and anyone know any frequently wrecked cars that might have defrosters... i can hit a local junkyard and take a mirror apart to see just how they are wired...

Oldsnut · 10-02-2007, 08:00 PM

If you can find a GM car that has them and transfer the wiring along with the mirror over to your car. My Aurora has mirror defrost on it but cannot measure it at this time, my wife has the car right now. It automatically goes on with the defroster.

cherrington17 · 10-02-2007, 09:01 PM

that would be the ideal solution... so i'm looking for an aurora that i could possibly dismantle, eh?

i don't necessarily need the wiring.. just the kit thats in the mirror housing. i can just wire that stuff into the defroster switch.

i know they have like aftermarket seat heaters and rear window repair kits... but does anyone know of a place that might sell the heater cores for the defroster setups? (incase local junks don't have any cars that i can piliage)

Cliff8928 · 10-03-2007, 03:38 AM

They usually don't sell them separate in most cases. The defroster element is actually attached to the glass.

cherrington17 · 10-03-2007, 08:11 AM

hmm... if thats the case... what could be rigged up, that would allow something to reliably heat, that would de-ice the mirror from behind?

Oldsnut · 10-03-2007, 11:34 AM

I just measured the Aurora mirror and the Alero, it will not work. The Aurora mirror is 1/2 inch shorter and a slightly different shape.

I would look at other GM models or even other makes.

[ion] C2 · 10-03-2007, 12:13 PM

i usually, er, wipe the mirror frost off before i go anywhere, doesn't come back

cherrington17 · 10-03-2007, 12:16 PM

is there just an thin aluminum film on the back of the lens to make it mirror reflective... or is that actually in the glass itself?

i'm wondering if i had some kind of heat source wrapped in thin copper wire, then just looped the wire that back and forth on the back of the mirror, if it could slowly heat the glass enough to melt ice/snow... ?

but i've never actually seen back there, so i have NO idea how much room i have to work with, or if thats even possible w/o destroying the mirror itself.

Quote:

Originally Posted by [ion] C2

i usually, er, wipe the mirror frost off before i go anywhere, doesn't come back

Several times a year my car gets totally coated in ice. and if i'm driving a longer distance, i'm stuck with only my rear view (which sucks w/ our B+C pillar blindspots) I'm not talking just your usual frost coating... thats easy to get rid of.

[ion] C2 · 10-03-2007, 12:29 PM

oh right, i remember that picture of the ice coated alero, was that yours?! :O

cherrington17 · 10-03-2007, 12:46 PM

indeed it was. not to mention, i'm parked outside all winter long. so it gets nailed by buffalo's finest weather systems...

makes me wonder if i could rig up some circuit at work and tweak it until the piece of metal connected to it, its a steady 50-60F. i think that'd be plenty hot enough...

just gotta get my nerd friends to figure out how much current that is, and how to wire up something to 12V to be able to uniformly heat a length of thin wire to about that temp...

..then find just where the power wire is that allows the defroster to shut off after x amount of time...

cavaliers60 · 10-03-2007, 01:09 PM

The only problem with doing that is you got a plastic backing on the mirrors so you risk melting that.... Also if it gets too hot in the mirror, you could melt other stuff if you're not careful...

cavaliers60 · 10-03-2007, 01:12 PM

Here's a pic of the inside of the mirror housing... I have power mirrors, not sure if you do or not or what the difference is. All that crazy wiring I have in there is now gone. haha

Cliff8928 · 10-03-2007, 01:34 PM

The heating element is between the glass and the plastic backer on cars that have it original.

You can see the element on the mirror on the left in this pic (the stripes in the middle)

cavaliers60 · 10-03-2007, 01:37 PM

Nice pic cliff.

cherrington17 · 10-03-2007, 02:57 PM

so if it were to be done... you'd have to have some wicked thin wire, and possibly do a couple small coils, somehow stuck to the inside of that inner circle.... hmmm..

thanks for the pics guys.

unless the pic on the right (cliff's pic) is a "non heated" mirror... cuz that would just blow. w/ that plastic back there i don't see a way it could/would be done... (unless carefully heating and scraping the plastic could result in an access to the mirror)

cavaliers60 · 10-03-2007, 06:27 PM

I'd see if there's a way to take the back plastic piece off, then cut it...

cherrington17 · 10-03-2007, 06:48 PM

^ well duh.

of course thats gonna be tried first....

steve-o · 10-03-2007, 09:14 PM

My heated mirrors are a window scraper.

SIUlero · 10-04-2007, 09:21 PM

they make aftermarket stick-on rear window defroster grids. I put one in my cutlass years ago...didn't do the best install, but it works for the most part....would be better if I was more careful installing it. I think i ordered it through jc whitney, and it sounds like exactly the thing for this if you can get access to the backside of that glass.

and cavaliers60, he said he was only going for 50-60 degrees....no worries about the plastic melting when it has to withstand at least twice that on the hottest summer days

pawzbear · 10-04-2007, 10:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cherrington17

I can't be the only member who gets incredibly annoyed when the side mirrors are so iced that they are completely useless.

mmm...yah.. have this problem ALL the time. damn brutal NC winters!! lol