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frost sensing heated wiper blades

Gah! Fifty bucks a copy?!?

Back home, I used to use rubbing alcohol in the washer tank in wintertime - the alcohol didn't freeze, and it bound with the water to depress its freezing point and help to strip the ice. Just be sure to start with a good scraping (which you should do anyhow) - and if you start getting sleet, just wash the window from time to time.

I'd be little worried about putting heat on a cold glass windscreen - unless it's a VERY little heat (not enough to do any good.) Ever see a coffeepot blow up because someone rinsed out a hot coffeepot with cold water? And thats Pyrex!

5-90
 
somehow i was afraid that the whole "hot water on cold glass" discussion would come up on this. lol

hopefully i can kill that part of the discussion quickly by stating that there are actually factory and aftermarket systems out there that heat the washer fluid for "fast winter de-icing". so obviously there is some tolerance in the windshield glass that it seems to be able to take it.

i was just wondering if anybody had any experience with something like these heated wipers cuz it would be kinda cool. currently i use my remote start with the defroster set to clear the windshield, but sometimes i either forget or can't set it in time, and it would be nice to have a "backup" plan.

ok fine, i'll admit it.....i'm lazy and don't scratch the ice off my vehicle if i can help it. lol i like gadgets that help me to be as lazy as possible. :)
 
Yeah - it's just if I don't know how much it's going to heat things up, I'm a bit worried. Especially if it's localised like that...

Try the alcohol bit. If you can get straight ethanol, that works best - but isopropyl (rubbing) alcohol works also. Hell, denatured alcohol would probably be just fine - and you can get larger cans of that at the hardware store.

I grew up around ice - and this worked well in my 1966 Bug (just because I could change the windscreen in 20 minutes, didn't mean that I wanted to... I had to come up with something that worked without being a problem...)

5-90
 
RenegadeStang said:
Just like the adding alcohol bit, the Rain-X De-Icer formula washer fluid works wonders at cutting through snow and ice. Used it for several winters.
Click to expand...

Use alcohol when you expect ice. Use Turtle Wax (or any other "hard" paste wax) year-round - since it will help shed rain as well.

5-90
 
It's called defrosters....their right there on the heater controls....just give your self a little more time to get the windshield cleared off.....Used to live in Michigan (22yrs) Start up vehicle....defrost on full....lock doors..2 sets of keys...go back in house....couple cups of coffee...30 mins later windows clear..vehicle nice and warm.......
 
churky89 said:
It's called defrosters....their right there on the heater controls....just give your self a little more time to get the windshield cleared off.....Used to live in Michigan (22yrs) Start up vehicle....defrost on full....lock doors..2 sets of keys...go back in house....couple cups of coffee...30 mins later windows clear..vehicle nice and warm.......
Click to expand...

scorpio_vette said:
currently i use my remote start with the defroster set to clear the windshield, but sometimes i either forget or can't set it in time, and it would be nice to have a "backup" plan.
Click to expand...

and here in wisconsin (well in milwaukee and surrounding areas at least) it's illegal to leave your vehicle running with the keys in it. they had so many vehicles stolen during winter months because people leave them running that you get fined for doing that now. you have to either have a remote start, or sit in the car while you warm it up.


i've used the rain-x windshield de-icing washer fluid before, but the problem with that is that when you use the washer fluid, the wiper come on right away and they get all messed up on the ice. and if i use the spray can with the de-icer, then i might as well just scrape the ice and safe the money.
 
2 observations.
I don't think the heat will harm the windshield. My dad's town and country has defroster wires in the windshield under the wipers, so that's a localaized heat source of a very similar capacity.

I also think that those wiper blades would be completely worthless for snow and ice removal. THe description sounds to me like it's simply meant to keep snow and ice off the blades, not like it's warm enough to melt snow and ice on the windshield.
Even if it were, you'd have to clear the windshield at the very least, your wipers can't move even a 1/2" of accumulated snow on the windshield.
 
87manche said:
I don't think the heat will harm the windshield. My dad's town and country has defroster wires in the windshield under the wipers, so that's a localaized heat source of a very similar capacity.
Click to expand...

Agreed - we used to have a car that did the same thing, and in relatively mild (-5degC) winters this wasn't a problem.

I also think that those wiper blades would be completely worthless for snow and ice removal. THe description sounds to me like it's simply meant to keep snow and ice off the blades, not like it's warm enough to melt snow and ice on the windshield.
Click to expand...

Also agreed. Our usual method of removing snow and ice was to take a kettle full of warm (not hot) water and pour it onto the windscreen, then turn the wipers on to keep the glass from icing over. Rubbing alcohol in the washer fluid also helped with this - and I kinda suspect that alcohol in the washer fluid is as effective at keeping snow and ice off of the blades as heating them would be.

Then again, I never lived anywhere that got severely nasty weather, just moderately nasty weather :D
 
Would cracking a window in the vehicle help at all, to reduce the window from icing?

I know things on the incie might ice.....I swear I heard this somewhere before though.
 
I guess no one has driven in a blizzard. Granted the moments were few and far between, but there were moments when those heated blades would have been well worth the $50.

Fred
 
well i know you dont have to worry about the heat wrecking the glass. My old man has a 86 BMW m5 21 winters in michigan 310,000 miles and he fills up a big ole bucket of hot water all the time in the winter sloshed it on the windsield and takes off for work. Never any problems with the glass i think its the orignal windshield.

What about auxillary nozzle and auxillary windshield resevior. Have a second set of nozzles and have lots of the ice melting rainx mix in there or there is a few solutions you add to regular windshield solution, or go to the dollar store and buy a bunch of cheap 70 % Isopropyl alcohol bottles. With that idea you dont trash your soft good rubber edge on the ice, you can pre melt with your aux nozzles, and when the ice melts you can crank up your regular wipers.
 
Fred said:
I guess no one has driven in a blizzard. Granted the moments were few and far between, but there were moments when those heated blades would have been well worth the $50.

Fred
Click to expand...


I've driven in blizzards....

$50 would be better spent stopping at the next motel and sleeping thru it.
 
Had that happen once on the Illinois tollway.....

Just had to stop off once to clear the wipers of the sticky snow mix that was sticking to them causing them to smear the windshield. Luckily there are oasis's on the Illinois tollway for such an event like that....or a tasty snack and a tank of gas, whatever you need :)

Edit - You can also buy Anco Winterblades for that reason, but when we used them on a car, they seemed to really squeak and stick to the windshield too much......not sure why, even after cleaning the blades with alcohol. Finally ditched them this summer for some Michelin wipers......

I use standard Anco on the Jeep, might move up to the metal Michelin wipers sometime.....
 
Yes its true heated fluid bottles do exist. My winter car (not the XJ) is an Audi and it has a "cold weather" package. This consists of a heated fluids bottle, heated windshield washer noozles, heated headlight washer noozles, heating door locks, and my favorite... heated seats. No problems with thermo shock. I had never tried/heard of putting alcohol in the line sounds like a good tip except wont it dry out and crack the windshield fluid lines?
 
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