Windscreen washer heater - Anyone tried this?

[discool]

These were in accessory shops thirty odd years ago.
A copper pipe through a plastic bottle. You cut your heater pipe and inserted the copper pipe then cut the washer pipe and connected to nipples on each end of the plastic bottle.

They were crap. If you didn't have enough anti-freeze additive in the washer then it either froze in the jet or the moment it hit the windscreen. Well it certainly did in my MkII Granada just outside Aberdeen!! Couldn't see a bloody thing, swung into a layby, touched the brakes and slid straight into a tree smashing the nearside headlight.

Ah, the good old days.

Plain water in the summer then the correct strength antifreeze in the winter... then they worked.. 30 years ago ho dear mine is around 40

 

[landowner]

Boiling water hitting a frozen windscreen?
Could be interesting.

Dont think I'll bother, got a heated screen anyway

 

[Azzimuth]

Just had a look on RAVE and the classic had heated jets, with a thermostat by a headlight.

I've got a heated screen too, but not much good when your jets freeze! I was up in Glasgow 2 years ago at xmas and even with premixed decent washer solution both windscereen and headlight washer froze! Not great on a motorway when the spray drys on your screen!

 

[discool]

Dont think I'll bother, got a heated screen anyway

The reason I don't have one fitted but warm water does clear the screen better.
I burnt out my MFU for keep the screen switched on so I don't recommend doing that to oftern.

 

[landowner]

Just had a look on RAVE and the classic had heated jets, with a thermostat by a headlight.

I've got a heated screen too, but not much good when your jets freeze! I was up in Glasgow 2 years ago at xmas and even with premixed decent washer solution both windscereen and headlight washer froze! Not great on a motorway when the spray drys on your screen!

Dont know how you lot would have managed before windscreen washers were fitted

 

[Azzimuth]

Dont know how you lot would have managed before windscreen washers were fitted

Lean out the window and spray anti freeze?
The saying with **** and wind in has to be considered though

 

[DEFENDER90-DAZ]

Could always use a 12v water heating coil powered through a thermostatic switch that opens/breaks at 50 degrees to warm the water in the reservoir................

Some good ideas - quite like the copper pipe and brake line idea BUT if it gets too hot it could break the windscreen!!!!

Wouldn't fancy paying £100 to buy a system though!!

Daz

 

[Pikey]

Just put some fooking antifreeze in the washer bottle FFS

 

[discool]

Dont know how you lot would have managed before windscreen washers were fitted

I've always had washers and with manual operation once but my dad (bless him) use to stop, get out and wipe with a rag.

I never had heated rear screen that was only once also

 

[Azzimuth]

Just put some fooking antifreeze in the washer bottle FFS

Where's the fun in that

Anyway, if I plumb a pipe round the exhaust I'll put a tap on the end to make tea with? No sense doing half a job :lol:

 

[Dippypud]

Just put some fooking antifreeze in the washer bottle FFS

Nooooooo, it'll feck yer paint ...you might not care

but some do ...

put meths in with yer water ....yer washer water FFS

If you're having problems with the nozzles freezing up rather than the stuff in the bottle, buy a couple of metres of tubing and extend the windscreen washer pipe so that it wraps round and round your radiator top hose after leaving the pump. This works a treat.

 

[Mr Noisy]

Right fellas!

Best break this down for y'all!

Daz was right, i have this fitted:

After trying to make my own and failing (copper pipe too thin wall, brake pipe too small bore) I decided to buy this, was about 20 quid.

NOW REMEMBER I have a v8, so coolant temps tend to be nice and hot, hotter than a diesel no doubt. This is fitted to a heater hose which is on the hot circuit, rad hose takes ages to warm up.

Even then, this doesn't really work

I get a hot squirt, but it doesn't give me a constant warm flow. Ok it might raise the temperature to an extent, but I wouldn't say it was hot!!

Not had chance to test if it stops motorway freezing because it wasn't cold enough last year. Lets just say I expected warm water and I don't have it. Maybe it's better than nothing but its not incredible

Maybe it's because this is aluminium not copper.

Other things:

Mercedes cars used to have a heater circuit built into the reservoir, just a coil of pipe plumbed in to heat the fluid, very nice. Won't stop line freezing and no doubt would chill by the time it reached the screen too!

And heated jets are not to heat the fluid but to defrost them, no matter how much antifreeze you use, the frost gets into the semi filled jet, mixes with the screenwash and freezes the jet internally.

So the ideal solution is a heated screen (got) and heated wash (got) with heated jets (not got). I haven't had much jet trouble because the d1 location is kinda heated by the warm air coming out of the engine bay, again a v8 bonus!

Cheers

 

[Dippypud]

Right fellas!

Best break this down for y'all!

Daz was right, i have this fitted:



After trying to make my own and failing (copper pipe too thin wall, brake pipe too small bore) I decided to buy this, was about 20 quid.

NOW REMEMBER I have a v8, so coolant temps tend to be nice and hot, hotter than a diesel no doubt. This is fitted to a heater hose which is on the hot circuit, rad hose takes ages to warm up.

Even then, this doesn't really work

I get a hot squirt, but it doesn't give me a constant warm flow. Ok it might raise the temperature to an extent, but I wouldn't say it was hot!!

Not had chance to test if it stops motorway freezing because it wasn't cold enough last year. Lets just say I expected warm water and I don't have it. Maybe it's better than nothing but its not incredible

Maybe it's because this is aluminium not copper.

Other things:

Mercedes cars used to have a heater circuit built into the reservoir, just a coil of pipe plumbed in to heat the fluid, very nice. Won't stop line freezing and no doubt would chill by the time it reached the screen too!

And heated jets are not to heat the fluid but to defrost them, no matter how much antifreeze you use, the frost gets into the semi filled jet, mixes with the screenwash and freezes the jet internally.

So the ideal solution is a heated screen (got) and heated wash (got) with heated jets (not got). I haven't had much jet trouble because the d1 location is kinda heated by the warm air coming out of the engine bay, again a v8 bonus!

Cheers

A lot of Ford Mondeos have heated jets ... have a rummage in a scrappy might be able to cobble summat up

 

[Azzimuth]

Thanks Mr Noisy,
Like your heater pipe, but if it doesnt really do the job then probably not worth the effort. I might look for some heated jets at some point. The RR ones are bonnet mounted I noticed so it'll need a bit of fiddling.
In the mean time got the results of an MOT failure to sort out, and see how much money I have left

 

[thought it was mine!]

some of the vauxhalls had heated jets most of carltons did.

 

[DEFENDER90-DAZ]

Think you could use some copper pipe spliced into the heater pipe with a length of brake line coiled round it for the heat transfer part

Daz

Got my arse in gear today and fabricated something similar:

Installed silicone turbo hose (5mm id) from the washer bottle pump to a coil of copper brake line that is wrapped around the heater inlet hose. I used 4ft of brake line for the coil and ended up with 12 coils wrapped tightly round the hose. The silicone pipe is a tight fit over the brake line and i've cable tied it tight to prevent it from coming off. I used an old piece of radiator bottom hose as an insulating jacket over the coil and cable tied it in place. I run silicone hose from the other end of the coil to the washer pipe at the bulkhead - using a 2" piece of brake pipe as a joining spigot and cable tied for a good seal.

I left the non return valve in the system - close to the washer bottle so it doesn't take ages for the water to reach the screen. I tested the washers and they are now more powerful than before and are shooting over the roof - so i'll need to sort out the direction of the jets. Hopefully using the silicone hose it will insulate the water when it gets colder later in the year.

I had all of the stuff lying around so it hasn't cost me anything to make

I'll try and put a pic up in a bit.

Daz

 

[discool]

Sounds good Daz and saves the cutting into the heater hose, looking forward to the pic or even two.

 

[DEFENDER90-DAZ]

I'll go and do a pic now............

Daz

 

[DEFENDER90-DAZ]

Here you go! I have decided to run silicone hose from the coil up to the washer jets and not how it is in the pic.

Daz

 

[Goody8]

I knew I had one somewhere its made by AWAB