Car de-icing

[Dominic]

It was frosty this morning.

I passed somebody chiseling the ice off their car windscreen with a scraper.

Now, IMHO, using a scraper to get ice off your windscreen is a very bad idea. For two reasons.
One, it's a lot of work.
Two, it puts microscopic scratches into your windscreen that make it easier for ice crystals to form, therefore increasing the amount of frost you'll have and making it harder to scrape off.

So I thought I'd start this thread - devoted to the best ways of getting your car de-iced.

IMHO, the quickest, easiest, and best way to remove ice from your car is:

Start your car. Set the heating to maximum and direct it at the windscreen (and door windows if necessary). Turn on the rear heating elements too.

Now, go and get a large jug or kettle and fill it with cold water. COLD water, NOT warm and ABSOLUTELY not hot. Too great a temperature leap will make your windscreen crack. You want COLD water from the COLD tap.

Pour the water over the windscreen and it will melt the ice off. Hit the windscreen wipers and they will remove the water. You will now have a dry, iceless windscreen.

With no effort at all.

See? Good, isn't it.

You don't actually NEED the heater, it just helps to stop the ice re-forming. Plus it gets rid of condensation inside. And it involves no effort and does no damage to the screen.

On the other hand, you don't always have a big jug of water available. So, method two. It's very important that you notice the subtle differences between this method and the above whinge. What you do is this:

Remove the ice with a scraper

Hypocrisy? Moi? No. What you do is this:

Start the car as above with the heater on full. Wait until the ice starts to melt - won't take long, little melt patches will appear at the bottom of the screen (or wherever your heater directs the air.)

Using a RUBBER-EDGED scraper, usually marketed as a squeegee-type water remover, slide the ice off the screen.

What's important here is that the ice will have started to melt where it touches the warm screen - it should slide off effortlessly. Do NOT chisel away at stubborn ice. Wait until the underside melts. This should be an effort-free sliding removal of ice. NEVER scrape, and NEVER use a hard scraper.

Oh, and those de-icer sprays - don't use them either. These will dissolve the ice, but they also dissolve rubber. That includes your wiper blades and the seal around your screen.

So, that's my contribution. We've got plenty of people here who live in colder places than I do. Any additions or rebuttals..? Advice on removing snow from the car..? etc

[aclivity]

<font color='#810541'>

Originally Posted by [b

Quote[/b] (Dominic @ Oct. 21 2003,14:36)]Oh, and those de-icer sprays - don't use them either. These will dissolve the ice, but they also dissolve rubber. That includes your wiper blades and the seal around your screen.

I think that used to be the case but modern cars use glue rather than rubber seals to hold the windscreens on (the windscreen is now part of the car structure) and also the de-icer chemicals have been developed over time so they don't have the same rotting properties.

[arty93]

<font color='#000080'>Dom

You really are a legend, only you could write a 469 word post (i'm bored at work too ) about scraping ice off your car.

Keep up the good work &nbsp; &nbsp;


Paul

[JohnD]

Originally Posted by [b

Quote[/b] (arty93 @ Oct. 21 2003,15:55)]Dom

You really are a legend, only you could write a 469 word post (i'm bored at work too ) about scraping ice off your car.

Keep up the good work    


Paul

<font color='#F52887'>you MUST be bored to actually count them (or c'n'p it to a word doc) but I do agree, Dom is a god of the postings! both he and Bren should get their own fanzine sorted, or is this it?

[arty93]

<font color='#000080'>(Cut n Paste into a word doc for the word count)

Can you imagine a post as detailed as one of Doms PLUS all the big words of wordy wordysmith Bren, i'd never get any work done (although my boss would argue i do very little anyway!)


Paul

[Lou]

Ah, but........cold water will re-ice very quickly on your screen and you will get those pretty little ice swirls forming. &nbsp;Lovely for your bathroom window but rubbish for driving. &nbsp;A windscreen that it not 100% clean and dry allows a thin layer of water to bleed across the screen which due to its low mass quickly reaches freezing temperature. &nbsp;It takes a long time for a car engine to warm up enough, to heat the air enough to warm the windscreeen all over enough to stop this happening.

On the other hand, luke warm water splashed quickly acros the whole screen doesn't have enough thermal energy to crack the screen by the time it has melted the ice. &nbsp;It also increases the time to re-icing by *gently* warming the layer of water left, and also the windscreen surface.

Of course, too hot and your windscreen will shatter in lots of little pieces. &nbsp;)

Mind you that goes for washing your car on a hot day too, and just how many people have shattered their windscreen doing that I wonder?

Lou

[Dominic]

Originally Posted by [b

Quote[/b] ]but........cold water will re-ice very quickly on your screen

That's why as soon as it's washed away the ice, you turn on the wipers and remove all the water

In case nobody's guessed, my workload has kinda dropped over the last few days...

[MATTBIN]

Dom's been my hero for ages - you lot get your own &nbsp;

You all heard the story of how my wife cleared or attempted to clear our car windscreen? No? Oh good a new audience.

The drive is very steep so last year after it had snowed and she wanted to clear the screen fully before going off to work, she knows I hate car drivers who dont, she hit the starter motor to start the engine using the key as per normal so as to blow warm air over the screen, once it had warmed up enough. Now unfortunately we always leave the car in gear, she fortgot. So the car strolls off down the rode, rear wheels sliding on the ice sideways, front wheels being turned by the engine, great these injected cars - virtually stall proof, with her half hanging out of the car as she hadnt actually got in it.
It stopped when it hit the neighbours car.
Fortunately she bailed out, was relatively unhurt and didnt hit any other pedestrians either.

It happens.

Matt

[Mark Davies]

<font color='#000080'>

Originally Posted by [b

Quote[/b] (Dominic @ Oct. 21 2003,14:36)]Start your car. Set the heating to maximum and direct it at the windscreen (and door windows if necessary). Turn on the rear heating elements too.

Now, go and get a large jug or kettle and fill it with cold water.

Come back and find your car is gone because you left it unattended with the keys in and engine running.

Phone police and insurance company to report theft.

Muppet! &nbsp;

[Bikerbill]

Keep the car in a heated garage, the inside is like toast as well. &nbsp; &nbsp; I suppose you could take out the windscreen and replace it with a sheepskin coat, gloves and earmuffs