 Poster: A snowHead
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We were having trouble preventing our bonnet mounted washers / jets from freezing up so we have 2 solutions
Solution 1
We stuck blue tack like a dome/iglu shape over the jets and had a gap for the water to jet onto the windscreen. Blue tack does not freeze and it prevents the direct wind chill. it does no permanent damage to the bonnet paintwork on removal.
I know it looks stupid but it works when you really need it - so who cares.
Solution 2
Mobil -40c windscreen washer solution, (Not Halfords crap). run your washer solution down and pour this in neat.
good luck
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Or buy a car with a heated washer jet system like a ford Mondeo ( not as cheap as options 1 and 2 though ) 
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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slidergirl, Loving the blue tack idea 
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Great blue tack tip.....look forward to seeing you on Dragons Den sometime soon
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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Windchill will not affect the washer fluid. Windchill is an effect on skin and I believe it has been discussed at some length on this forum. Thats not to say that blue tac will not act as an insulator against the ambient temperature though.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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| Basil wrote: |
| Windchill will not affect the washer fluid. Windchill is an effect on skin and I believe it has been discussed at some length on this forum.... |
I'm pretty sure It does.... the second it leaves the nozzle. That's why it sometimes leaves the nozzle OK then freezes on the screen.
I used this recently (in the Alps) with no problems.
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Buy a Ford with heated screen and nozzles and use neat concentrate 
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Its kind of ridiculas really. My car has electric seats which I don't need but I can't see where i'm going if its very cold 
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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| Kel wrote: |
| Buy a Ford with heated screen and nozzles and use neat concentrate |
Don't you think buying a 'new' car just for a few weeks skiing is a little overkill?
All you need is decent screenwash!
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allanm, A 10mph wind at an ambient temp of 5 degress give a chill factor of -1, rain does not freeze as it falls under these conditions, it will feel cold but the temperature is 5 degrees. If you base the windchill factor on the speed of your car, say 50mph the windchill effect will be -11 degrees. 60mph at 10 degress = -3. We often drive under these conditions in UK and the rain does not freeze in the windscreen.
It is the ambient temp which determines the freezing point of water. Windchill is an effect on skin.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Basil, Latent heat of evaporation (of the volatile component in the liquid) may cause the screenwash to cool after it leaves the nozzles.
It is incorrect to use 'windchill' figures as these take other factors into account.
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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| Kel wrote: |
| Buy a Ford with heated screen and nozzles and use neat concentrate |
I've got that but my nozzles still freeze (concentrate should be stronger).
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| allanm wrote: |
| Basil wrote: |
| Windchill will not affect the washer fluid. Windchill is an effect on skin and I believe it has been discussed at some length on this forum.... |
I'm pretty sure It does.... the second it leaves the nozzle. That's why it sometimes leaves the nozzle OK then freezes on the screen.
I used this recently (in the Alps) with no problems. |
Wind chill will accelerate an object down to the ambient temperature but will not take it below that. Therefore if you have just defrosted your windscreen and drive off it may well freeze up again quickly. Also therefore it does effect 'things' other than just skin but not in the way most people think!
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You know it makes sense.
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manicpb, My understanding is that the term 'windchill' applies to humans / animals and is largely heat loss due to conduction and convection (OK, to a much lesser degree evaporative cooling, e.g. sweating).
The evaporation of the screenwash/water mix off the windscreen or the nozzle by the 'wind' may well reduce the temperature to below ambient soley due to evaporative cooling, so is not the same as 'windchill'.
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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allanm, ok valid point however in laymans terms I think I'd have no worrys as refering to evaporative cooling as 'windchill' especially in the windscreen example.
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Poster: A snowHead
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| Quote: |
Also therefore it does effect 'things' other than just skin
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How can windchill generate skin?
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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TBH I just don't get this.... I never have a problem with freezing washer jets!!
All I do is buy the standard stuff from virtually anywhere (halfords was a blue bottle, now a white one was also on B2G1F in the autumn) at the start of the winter drain the washer resevoir fully fill with Halfrauds stuff and then continue to use neat throughout the winter.
I've never found front or rear jets to freeze up.... and that's in a variety of vehicles some with insulation and some without..
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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marcellus,
I expect many people (inc. me) dilute it.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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Samerberg Sue,
Tend to put winter screenwash in the car after the first time it freezes. I should really put it in when I change the tyres over. Screenwash is expensive (esp from the motorway garage) but a lot cheaper than a crash.
Not sure how corrosive it is but my understanding is that the minus 60 stuff (concentrate) should be diluted and the other stuff is ready made / mixed.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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Samerberg Sue, you're not confusing ScreenWash with AntiFreeze? The latter I think is corrosive but I don't think the former is (willing to be corrected on this).
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peura, no I'm not. I can remember being told about it by my mechanic in the UK after he spotted me pouring the stuff undiluted on to the screen one morning in desperation (late for work and screen thick with ice.). I had a Volvo 940 estate and his workshop was just across the road from my house. He came over and tutted about the seals around the windscreen and the wipers and made me wipe it all off (ice came off too thank God!). He helped as well as he was a wee bit taller than I am (about 30cms cos I'm a short-@rse).
That was over 16 years ago at least, so things may have changed. My point is that putting stuff that is good to -40°C+ undiluted into your screenwash in the UK seems a bit like using a sledgehammer to crack a nut! We get much lower temperatures for much longer and only need to use diluted screen wash.
,
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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Samerberg Sue, fair enough  .I do know there are warnings about not using anti-freeze as a screenwash but had not (until now) heard of any problems with screenwash. Hence I had assumed that stuff the manufacturers would make sure that the stuff we'd be spraying over our cars wasn't corrosive.
Agree we don't need to use -60C stuff undiluted but I'm always mystified by the way some works "down to -2C", hardly seems worth the it.
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| peura wrote: |
Agree we don't need to use -60C stuff undiluted but I'm always mystified by the way some works "down to -2C", hardly seems worth the it. |
That would be the summer stuff, designed to remove bugs and their associated entrails, not designed to help with icing.
Personally I just let the car heat up in the morning. The screen warms up nicely, the only reason for screenwash in cold weather is to clear the grime off the road.
The only reason I see for having screenwash that doesn't freeze in low temperatures is so that it doesn't freeze in the bottle, so they still work. I've never had a nozzle freeze, but based on the above it sounds like I don't use the washers anywhere near as much as others.
I'm also a bit surprised that people can't tell the difference between anti-freeze (for your radiator, if it freezes then you'll probably knacker your rad, or even worse crack your engine block) vs screenwash. Then again, the majority of callouts for breakdown recovery seems to be to change wheels for people these days 
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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On one occasion last year I drove from Lyon to Vallandry, in the early hours, with Halfords -20 screenwash, it was cold. Screenwash froze on the screen. Real PITA. For just a couple of quid more you can buy -60 stuff (e.g. Comma Xtreme) which didn't freeze under similar conditions. It's a tiny sledghammer... perhaps $5 over the season?
I really don't see what all the fuss is about??
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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| Monium wrote: |
The only reason I see for having screenwash that doesn't freeze in low temperatures is so that it doesn't freeze in the bottle, so they still work. I've never had a nozzle freeze, but based on the above it sounds like I don't use the washers anywhere near as much as others.
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I commute daily from Merthyr Tydfil to Cheltenham, leaving home about 6:45, so a lot of my driving in the winter is at negative temperatures, on roads with a lot of grime being sprayed up, so I need to use the screen washers a lot.
I found that the standard UK types froze in the nozzles regularly, but for the last year or so I have been using the Lidl one, diluted about 3 or 4 to one. That keeps on working down to at least -9.
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| slidergirl wrote: |
| We were having trouble preventing our bonnet mounted washers / jets from freezing up so we have 2 solutions |
Have you tried weeing on them?
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You know it makes sense.
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| Quote: |
Have you tried weeing on them?
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Yes, but it's really hard to keep your balance, especially round corners, and my OH complains that the size of my backside obscures his vision of the road.
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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Poster: A snowHead
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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| Quote: |
If you have a Ford keep the heated screen permantly on
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Had two fords, a jag and a range rover (all Ford products at the time) the heated screen was the best gadget i have ever had on a car, ever. Its tragic you can't get them on other makes. I now have a G*rman car which, it pains me to admit, is brilliant. But it would be perfect with a heated screen.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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Unfortunately, Ford own the patent on the technology used to embed the fine wires in the windscreen glass, so don't expect to see it on major competitors any time soon, although I think a couple of 'lesser' manufacturers have it licensed. Personally, I find my BMW defrosts the windscreen quite quickly, albeit that a Ford-type solution would be better.
As mentioned, prior to your Alpine trip, the recommendation is to steadily increase the concentration of full-winter screenwash until it's running at 100% concentration, undiluted right down to the washer jets. A lot of 'cheaper' 3rd-party stuff is less concentrated and so it's not always an apples-to-apples comparison on price.
I have a wrap-over combined summer heat/winter frost screen roll thingy, which only cost £5 or so. Which is also useful if the car is parked outside and it snows heavily.
If you own a BMW go for the 5 litre BMW full winter concentrate with anti-freeze [83 12 2 298 207 the last time I purchased one]
But be careful - google-based shopping won't necessarily return the right (+full winter +anti-freeze) variant of the product. Once you factor the dilution to the same °C protection, it's about 2x the cost of the average 3rd-party product. But on a newer model, it won't gunge the screenwash motor, as some 3rd-party concentrates will. It works out at about £1/month more for the BMW 5L stuff than Halfords, which seems worth it given the £300+ cost of a garage repair of the pump if it gunges up. Note that in your (recent model) BMW manual it explicitly says not to use anything other than BMW concentrate, so even if you're in warranty, you pay.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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Heated windscreen available on Volvo, (used to be part of Ford).
Had one on a V40, absolutely brilliant piece of kit.
Was a £2600 option on the V60.......................
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Yeah, I've got one on my v60cc , first frosty day after nightshift I happily pressed the button to see the defrost in action.
Only to find that it was faulty, and only the passenger side of the screen was clear.
It took 3 months for a replacement screen to come into stock for my warranty to fit..
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Ouch!
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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@LaForet, VW group has a heated windshield available as an option and it has no wires. Also, Subarus have a small area where the wipers sit handled like the rear window. The VW approach uses a layer of silver particles embedded in the glass-no wires. I got one about two weeks ago and while I did go skiing (Mammoth) it was 40-60 degrees f so I couldn't test it. It does block radar so detectors and toll transponders don't work except in the very small spot up by the RVM (radar detector too large to fit here but some toll transponders will). It was a rather expensive option but I've pined for something like this many times so once it appeared I had to try it. Stay tuned until around late November.
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I'm not quite sure why this deserves a thread? Our local supermarkets all sell -30C ready to pour washer fluid. Never seems to cause me a problem.
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FAQ
