My guess too is that it is a defective defroster line....I have had many cars tinted and use the defroster quite often and have never seen this happen myself (or heard of that happening to someone else either)...... I think that this is a warranty issue and that Tesla should cover the claim..... and not blame it on the tint.....especially with how many countless Teslas have tinted windows......
Rear Window Tinted and now Defroster line melted the tint. Thoughts?
I had my rear window tinted with a single piece of SunTek ceramic tint. a month ago ( took delivery of Model 3 end of October) With the weather getting colder I started to use my read defroster and noticed that a segment of the defroster line has melted were it covers the defroster line. I went to Tesla today for service and they said the overheat was caused by the tint and because I tinted the rear window I voided the warranty and ff I have to replace the glass that would not covered by the warranty. I also showed the tint place that I had the tint installed at and they said that the tint should not have melted since its automotive grade tine and that most likely I had a defective defroster line. Attached are some pics. I wanted to get some feedback if anyone has had a similar experience and what they did to find a resolution, Thanks in advance.
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Defective defroster line or not, once the rear window was 'modified' by tint film Tesla can void the warranty on it. Not saying its right or wrong, just what it is.My guess too is that it is a defective defroster line....I have had many cars tinted and use the defroster quite often and have never seen this happen myself (or heard of that happening to someone else either)...... I think that this is a warranty issue and that Tesla should cover the claim..... and not blame it on the tint.....especially with how many countless Teslas have tinted windows......
Possible moisture and or small air bubble trapped under the film heated by the wire is my guess as to cause.
Well the fact that they documented that there was after market tint already on the rear window makes it challenging to use the " what tint approach...lol Well if anyone has any suggestions via me having to pay for a new rear glass and new tint job, I am all ears.
Good point as to moisture or something else being there allowing overheating to occur.......but your right.....once "modified".....they could do what they want at that point....Defective defroster line or not, once the rear window was 'modified' by tint film Tesla can void the warranty on it. Not saying its right or wrong, just what it is.
Possible moisture and or small air bubble trapped under the film heated by the wire is my guess as to cause.
One of my other cars is more....."modified"......but I quickly realized that when doing so and understood the "pay to play" rule......
If the defroster lines are slightly raised it's gotta be hard to get everything out from under the film along the sides of the defroster lines.Good point as to moisture or something else being there allowing overheating to occur.......but your right.....once "modified".....they could do what they want at that point....
One of my other cars is more....."modified"......but I quickly realized that when doing so and understood the "pay to play" rule......
Aside, I had the same issue with my track car. Lost 2'nd and 4'th at a track weekend. Took it to a performance oriented Ford dealership. Tranny was stock and they rebuilt it under warranty as it wasn't modified. Roll cage, 5 point harness's, brake cooling ducts and all.
Tranny was probably the only stock part left on the car!
A tint job is a bit more tamed then a fully modified track car..lol
A car company cannot void any warranty unless they can prove your modification caused the failure. They’d have a hard time proving tint caused a glass failure since it’s generally accepted that tint is harmless to automotive glass. I’d go back in and push the issue. I’ve had 20+ cars, all tinted and never heard of this.
Tint film is harmless to automotive glass. It doesn't look like the glass was damaged. It's the defroster. And the Tesla defroster is the most kick-ass defroster I've ever used! It puts out some serious heat, and quick. Bye bye, ice and frost!A car company cannot void any warranty unless they can prove your modification caused the failure. They'd have a hard time proving tint caused a glass failure since it's generally accepted that tint is harmless to automotive glass. I'd go back in and push the issue. I've had 20+ cars, all tinted and never heard of this.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't the point of ceramic tint to reflect heat? And if it's reflecting 90% of the heat right back to where it's generated, isn't it possible that it's dramatically increasing the temperature of the heat source? And that this kind of increase in heat could cause the film and/or the heating element to overheat?
Does Tesla even recommend aftermarket tints be applied over the defroster element? That's the only way this would be a warranty issue (if the element was approved for heat reflecting tint films). You break it, you fix it. That's what my father taught me when I was 8 yo.
I did ask Tesla what time of film they would recommend and they said ceramic film is the correct film to use for the rear window, which is what I had installed.
Oh, OK, I wasn't aware it was officially approved by Tesla (to put a ceramic film over the electric defroster). I'm actually surprised by that.I did ask Tesla what time of film they would recommend and they said ceramic film is the correct film to use for the rear window, which is what I had installed.
It doesn't matter if they recommend it or not. The simple fact is that tint doesn't hurt windows. They can't void a warranty because they don't recommend it. Bottom line is if the defroster got hot enough to melt something, it got too hot. Reflecting heat doesn't multiply it. It's a Tesla but it's still just a car. They had to know people in hot climates would apply window tint.Tint film is harmless to automotive glass. It doesn't look like the glass was damaged. It's the defroster. And the Tesla defroster is the most kick-ass defroster I've ever used! It puts out some serious heat, and quick. Bye bye, ice and frost!
Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't the point of ceramic tint to reflect heat? And if it's reflecting 90% of the heat right back to where it's generated, isn't it possible that it's dramatically increasing the temperature of the heat source? And that this kind of increase in heat could cause the film and/or the heating element to overheat?
Does Tesla even recommend aftermarket tints be applied over the defroster element? That's the only way this would be a warranty issue (if the element was approved for heat reflecting tint films). You break it, you fix it. That's what my father taught me when I was 8 yo.
I called Tesla before I had my tint installed and asked them if there was anything to be concerned about. They told me just to be careful not to let water run in behind the dashboard. That's far from "you will void your warranty if you install tint".
Are you saying the window was damaged or wasn't damaged? And that the tint film caused it or didn't cause it?It doesn't matter if they recommend it or not. The simple fact is that tint doesn't hurt windows.
Wow! That's news to me!They can't void a warranty because they don't recommend it.
Reflecting heat doesn't multiply it? I'm learning a lot here today. So this solar cooker is a scam?Bottom line is if the defroster got hot enough to melt something, it got too hot. Reflecting heat doesn't multiply it.
Because I'm having trouble understanding how you're going to cook food with sunshine if reflecting heat doesn't multiply it? What is 100 times 1.5? That's right, 150. You see, we just multiplied 100 by 1.5 to get 150.
Are you suggesting this problem was not the result of the rear defroster building up too much heat under the solar film but, instead, from solar radiation on a hot day?They had to know people in hot climates would apply window tint.
The dashboard? Isn't that by the windshield? I thought we were talking about whether or not Tesla approved putting solar tint over the rear DEFROSTER elements?I called Tesla before I had my tint installed and asked them if there was anything to be concerned about. They told me just to be careful not to let water run in behind the dashboard. That's far from "you will void your warranty if you install tint".
It surprised me when I thought you said Tesla approved solar film on the defroster wires.
No, focusing heat is not multiplying it. You can't get something from nothing, that's thermodynamics.Reflecting heat doesn't multiply it? I'm learning a lot here today. So this solar cooker is a scam?
Because I'm having trouble understanding how you're going to cook food with sunshine if reflecting heat doesn't multiply it? What is 100 times 1.5? That's right, 150. You see, we just multiplied 100 by 1.5 to get 150.
I don't even know where to begin. Reflecting heat doesn't multiply it. Focusing it does. As to the warranty. Read up on the magnusson moss act.Are you saying the window was damaged or wasn't damaged? And that the tint film caused it or didn't cause it?
Wow! That's news to me!
Reflecting heat doesn't multiply it? I'm learning a lot here today. So this solar cooker is a scam?
Because I'm having trouble understanding how you're going to cook food with sunshine if reflecting heat doesn't multiply it? What is 100 times 1.5? That's right, 150. You see, we just multiplied 100 by 1.5 to get 150.
Are you suggesting this problem was not the result of the rear defroster building up too much heat under the solar film but, instead, from solar radiation on a hot day?
I'm not implying anything about the windshield as it's not my car. All I'm saying is what he was told was a load of bull and Tesla will warranty the glass and defroster IF it's bad. In this case if the defroster is bad, I think a case could be made for them to also have to pay for retinting the back window since it is their defect that melted the tint.
Think of it this way, if you set a heating element in an oven to 250 degrees, it will reach 250 and stop. If you add extra layers of insulation the oven will become more efficient but it will not raise the temperature, it will still stay at 250 degrees.
So if a heating element in a defroster normally doesn’t melt tint and one day it melts that tells you that the element got much hotter than it should have, not that the trapped heat got hotter than the element was emitting.
So if a heating element in a defroster normally doesn’t melt tint and one day it melts that tells you that the element got much hotter than it should have, not that the trapped heat got hotter than the element was emitting.
Thanks Mase. Im picking up my car tomorrow. They said the Application of the tint caused the line to be damaged possibly from putting the tint on and then lifting it off to align the tint. Its hard to point fingers since I dont have any close ups of the defroster line before and after. Its tough having owned my Model 3 less than 3 months and needing to possibly shell out $$$$ to replace the whole glass roof if I want to address the defroster line and an new tint job thats only 1 month old that wasnt cheap as you all probably know for the single piece install. Sigh.
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