Ex Member Posted January 24, 2010 Share Posted January 24, 2010 http://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/methanol-water-d_987.html Methanol Concentration (% by mass) 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 Temperature oC 0 -7 -18 -26 -40 -54 -71 <-73 <-73 <-73 <-73 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
timc1967 Posted April 11, 2018 Share Posted April 11, 2018 I hope its OK to resurrect this tech advice topic. I like the idea of heated washer jets, but I also like simple solutions. So I was wondering if anyone had tried simply to route the washer piping via a hotter part of the engine. Some sort of non-flammable piping required, water washer fluid would arrive at the jets as hot as you like. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ex Member Posted April 11, 2018 Share Posted April 11, 2018 That does not help the jets. If you use a fluid that freezes, the jets freeze and there is no way to get the warm liquid to the jets. It also freezes in the container. Hot water on a cold windscreen also leads to broken glass. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
timc1967 Posted April 11, 2018 Share Posted April 11, 2018 Certainly I would use fluid mixed appropriately for the season. But it's a good point about hot on cold glass! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Troll Hunter Posted April 11, 2018 Share Posted April 11, 2018 The other issue, which is really difficult to do anything about, is that under the laws of physics the methyl alcohol will tend to evaporate from the screen wash at the very tip of the spray nozzle. In theory, at least, this could raise the freezing point of the liquid right at the tip to a value above the ambient temperature, and hence it would freeze, although any ice film could be very thin, and easily broken/washed away, when the spray is next used. One option to counter this, if it proves to be a problem, would be to have a NRV in the supply line just inside the bonnet, so that that line section benefits from engine compartment heat, and add a very small drain hole immediately above the NRV. This would allow screenwash to drain from the washer tip, thus preventing freezing. Admittedly, the small drain hole would allow some loss of screenwash when the washers are actually being used, but provided the hole is really small, this should not be a significant loss. Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arjan Posted April 11, 2018 Share Posted April 11, 2018 I seem to remember that my Soft Dash had heated nozzles for the windscreen washers. As I always use screenwash fluid we have no freezing problems. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mmgemini Posted April 12, 2018 Share Posted April 12, 2018 A simple, for some, solution. On my Defender I moved the windscreen washer jets to the bonnet behind the spare wheel. Simple ? I also bought a length of washer pipe and a connector. I wrapped the extra washer tubing around one of the water heater pipes. Now I have warm water to the 'screen # Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FridgeFreezer Posted April 12, 2018 Share Posted April 12, 2018 A couple of options: - Fit heated jets from some other car - Epoxy a couple of resistors or PTC's into the Defender washer plastic casting Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StuWhitby Posted April 12, 2018 Share Posted April 12, 2018 From what I can tell the problem in the UK isn't with the washer fluid freezing. If it was doing that it would do it in the pipes and in the bottle, and it's not doing that. The difference between somewhere like the UK and Canada is that in Canada during winters it never gets up near freezing, where in the UK it's up & down between about 4-6 during the days and -5 at night during an average winter week. Sounds like we have it easy, but what happens is that in the UK we get frost condensing on stuff every night, so every morning there's a new layer of pure ice sitting on top of the washer jets. The washer fluid may be liquid, but the pump doesn't have the power to push it up into the ice to melt it. That's why we end up with frozen jets here despite using pure washer fluid, and picking that ice out of the jets isn't practically possible. Heated jets would be the best solution IMO. It shouldn't take much to melt the ice on top. Or maybe just a squirt of de-icer straight into them. My wife was very thoughtful when she met me and bought me a "Danish Design window scraper". It's stainless steel. Danish designers get drunk lots... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Howitzer Posted April 12, 2018 Share Posted April 12, 2018 I fitted Peugeot 405 wiper mounted screen washers, ran the screen wash pipe around the upper heater hose and removed the NRV from the line. we saw -36 and never had a problem with it freezing. i use the purple berry Halfords screenwash mixed 50/50 (I like the smell) and have never had an issue in the uk. Simple and cheap. Dave! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.